A new law proposed in the European Union that would limit volume levels on iPods and other MP3 players may be a step in the right direction for preventing a potentially harmful trend among today’s youth, an ASU audiologist said Wednesday.

Zarin Mehta, an audiology professor in the department of Speech and Hearing Science, said there is little concrete evidence that extended exposure to loud noise can cause permanent hearing loss, but limiting volume is a good idea until there is further research.

“A reason which I think such regulation is prudent is that younger and younger ears are being exposed to louder and louder music,” she said. “We really do not know if early and longer exposure to loud sounds has more of a detrimental effect on long-term hearing or not, therefore, until we know that it causes no greater risk, prevention appears to be a good idea,” Mehta said.

Many ASU students said they’ve been told listening to loud music through headphones can damage hearing, but not all researchers agree this is true, she said.

Part of the confusion stems from the fact that the actual cause of hearing loss can be difficult to pinpoint, Mehta said.

Several factors, including how noise is measured, the relationships between volume and duration of exposure, and variation in individual susceptibility must all be considered, she said.

People of all ages are susceptible to noise-induced hearing loss, but students may be more at risk, Mehta said.

“Younger people — including college and high school students — probably listen to music at louder levels for longer periods than people who are older,” she said. “One reason might be social acceptance.”

For students, it’s often acceptable to walk around campus with music loud enough so others can hear it, she said, but this isn’t acceptable in professional settings.

Mehta also cited a difference in mentality between generations as a reason why college students are more prone to this trend.

“Even if they are aware loud music [may be dangerous], they may not consider it a problem because the hearing loss takes years to develop,” she said. “If they don’t see immediate cause and effect, they can’t relate to the problem.”

Some students, including film and media studies sophomore Andrew Jeffreys, have been taught the risks of extended exposure to loud noise, and agree that age may play a role in their choice to disregard the lesson.

“Most college students are probably aware to some extent that loud music damages hearing,” he said. “However, kids of this age group tend to not think much of how their choices affect them in the long term.”

Business communications freshman Kristin Roa said she also agrees that college students know the risks but choose to ignore them for several reasons.

“Students know the risks of loud music, but at this age we like to think we have a sense of invincibility, so [students think] nothing they do can be too harmful,” she said.

Students listen to music as a way to block out other noises and separate themselves from others, Roa said.

“It gives them an excuse to not have to interact with other people,” she said.

But when it comes to regulating music levels through law, as the EU has proposed, students expressed mixed opinions.

The law would require all personal listening devices, including cell phones that play music through headphones, to have a lower default volume setting for when they are first turned on. The user would then have the option to override that setting and increase volume, but a warning would appear, according to documents from the European Commission.

Russian and political science sophomore Alex Karamanova said she supports the law and thinks the creation of a similar regulation in the U.S. may be warranted.

“Most people who listen to really loud music are kids and teenagers, so there should be a regulation which would protect their hearing,” she said.

Jeffreys, however, said the law may be overstepping some boundaries because of the lack of solid evidence that loud music leads to hearing loss.

“I would have to see statistics that prove the extent of the hearing damage loud music causes,” he said.

Whether or not legislation is passed in the future, students are fully capable of controlling the volume of their own devices in order to prevent any potential damage to their hearing, Mehta said.

“Noise-induced hearing loss is a completely preventable condition, but if present, it can have significant personal and societal consequences,” Mehta said. “It is because of these societal costs that we are interested in prevention.”