EU to MP3 vendors: Turn it down!

Jake Widman
Wednesday, 30 September 2009 05:57

Your IT - Mobility

The European Union has proposed safety standards for MP3 players sold in Europe that would place a default limit on the volume they can generate. Consumers would be able to override the default but would be warned of the risks of doing so.

Last year, the EU's Scientific Committee warned that 5 to 10% of MP3 listeners risk permanent hearing loss from playing their music too loudly -- as many as 10 million people in the EU.

Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said, "It's easy to push up the sound levels on your MP3 player to damagingly loud levels, especially on busy streets or public transport. And the evidence is that particularly young people -- who are listening to music at high volumes sometimes for hours each week -- have no idea they can be putting their hearing at risk.

In response, the European Commission asked the European standards body to draw up new mandates for MP3 players.

The proposal would apply to personal music players and to phones that can play music and would make 80 decibels (db) the default maximum volume setting. That volume can supposedly be tolerated 40 hours a week, while exposure to 89 db should be no more than 5 hours a week.

Consumers will be able to choose to override the default, but the proposal would mandate "adequate warning for consumers on the risks involved, and on ways to avoid them."

The warnings might be a label on new headphones warning that they could be louder than the stock versions, or it might be a caution displayed on the player's screen.

The standards body could take up to 24 months to make a decision, based on input from scientists, consumer, and industry groups. 

Bridget Cosgrave, director general of DigitalEurope, one such industry group, said, "Consumers' safety has the highest priority for the digital technology industry....DigitalEurope looks forward to working with the European Commission and standards bodies to serve consumer interests."