'Binge listening' in clubs causes hearing loss

Sydney, May 19 (ANI): Forget about binge drinking, it is 'binge listening' that's harming the youngsters who go clubbing.

Youngsters in Australians are apparently showing early signs of hearing loss due to night outs at pubs and clubs, where they get exposed to three weeks' worth of noise in one night.

In a new survey, Harvey Dillon, the director of research at the National Acoustic Laboratories, found that out of the 1000 people quizzed, more than two-thirds of young people reported hearing loud music at venues such as nightclubs and pubs. He also measured the sound exposure of eight people.

"Most people were getting almost no noise until they went out on the weekend, and then they were getting up to three weeks' worth of noise in one night," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Dillon, as saying.

He insisted that most people were unaware of the risks of being exposed to loud music.

He said: "Of those with the highest exposure to dangerous noise about 6 per cent thought they had no risk of hearing damage and 20 per cent thought they had a very small risk.

"You never notice the small losses but even occasional damage causes permanent hearing loss and eventually it accumulates and you do notice," he said. (ANI)