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The World Health Organisation (WHO) warns that a billion teenagers and people in their twenties and thirties are damaging their hearing with loud music. It says nearly half the young people in richer countries risk hearing loss because of listening to music at "unsafe" levels. Loud music in nightclubs, bars and at sporting events increases the risk. The WHO says a safe limit is to listen to music for an hour a day. The WHO director for injury prevention said: "What we're trying to do is raise awareness of an issue that is not talked about enough." He said people can prevent hearing loss.

Turning the volume down and listening to music for less than one hour a day could save many people's hearing. However, the WHO director also said that, "even an hour can be too much if the volume is too loud". A biomedical researcher explained how noise can damage ears. He said: "Loud sounds damage your hearing by killing off thousands of little hair cells in the inner ear. The cells detect different…sounds through vibration…but they are very fragile and if they vibrate too much due to loud sounds for too long, they get damaged and die." He warned that if they die, they never regrow.