Public health watchdogs have been with us throughout the ages, seeking to protect us from unwittingly endangering our own well-being. Such groups and individuals have helped to convince people of the dangers of chain smoking Lucky Strikes, to avoid rats during times of plague and to stop taking radium suppositories as daily supplements.
However, as the nature of this work means singling out dangerous products and practices as soon as possible, many claims about potential harm are made before a full case of evidence can be built, and are often found to be erroneous. These incidents fall under the category of witch hunts, and have in the past included the campaign against rock 'n' roll in the '50s, fears of a pandemic of 'Dance Fever' between 1978 and 1987 and, of course, the literal witch hunts that crop up now and then.
Not surprisingly (as these are more tolerant times), present day concerns have shifted from witchcraft to the digital music revolution and its modernist poster child, the iPod. The chief concern, as daily news updates claim, is that iPods and other portable music players are major contributors to hearing loss.
The above accusation is in one sense a no-brainer. Prolonged exposure to loud noise leads to hearing loss. Portable music devices allow people to listen to loud music more often, and studies have indeed shown an increase in hearing loss in the population in the last three decades. However, singling out iPods or even music in general is unfair based on this research alone.
For one, hearing loss is a gradual process and individuals exhibiting it in the mid-'70s would be much more likely to have acquired it in the Battle of the Bulge than from blasting 'Communication Breakdown' over and over. Not to mention that the trend of increasing hearing loss predates even the earliest portable music players.
Most audiologists ('audiologist' = instant Scrabble victory) point to the fact that hearing loss has paralleled the increasing urbanization of society and the accompanying increase in the amount of noise people are exposed to. That said, researchers do warn against trying to drown out background noise by turning up the volume on headphones, especially if you ride the underground system in London, which comes in at 90 decibels.
A relatively new claim more specifically related to iPods and other portable music players deals with the earbud-style headphones that come packaged with most of the products and are to iPod owners what four-inch heels are to Prince'an analogy sure to find its way onto the revamped SAT just as soon as the College Board becomes certifiably 100-percent batshit insane.
Pam Mason of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association explains that earbud headphones are more likely to cause hearing loss because they project sound directly into the ear canal, instead of stereos or even conventional headphones which allow sound to dissipate over a distance. Pete Townshend has recently spoke out about the dangers of headphones in general, blaming his own hearing loss on headphones rather than playing 'Pinball Wizard' at 130 db. (When deciding whose line to take on the matter, it may be helpful to keep in mind which of the above has taken more LSD.)
As the current users of iPods age, researchers may be able to get a more informed look at how exactly such devices have affected their owners. Until then however, a healthy skepticism of extreme claims made on either side of the issue is probably the best policy. And as always, Lightning Bolt must be played at full volume at all times.
