It has become the norm for teenagers to own a personal listening device (PLD) previously the Walkmans, then the Discman and now iPods, mp3 players and smart phones. Listening to music on-the-move has increased albeit with hazardous consequences, taking into consideration that this music is delivered to the listeners via high quality earphones at very loud volumes.

According to Professor Chava Muchnik of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Communication Disorders, 25% of all teenagers are in danger of early hearing loss as a direct result of their listening habits. The availability of cheap media players and file sharing platforms has helped fuel this listening habit.

The combination of listening habits of teens and the acoustic measurements of their preferred listening levels, were the main tools used for this research by Professor Chava and her colleagues Dr. Ricky Kaplan-Newman, Dr. Noam Amir and Ester Shabtai.

The results was published in the International Journal of Audiology, clearly stating that teens have very harmful music listening habits when it comes to their PLD devices. In “10 or 20 years it will be too late to realize that an entire generation of young people are suffering from hearing problems much earlier than expected from natural aging,” says Professor Muchnik.

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a predicament that can caused by continuous exposure to loud noise. It is gradual and accumulative and can go unnoticed until the damage has been done. Professor Muchnik warns that at the present rate of exposure, we risk having a generation of teens who will suffer from hearing problems in their 30’s and 40’s, much earlier than past generations.

Firstly, the study consisted of 289 teens between the ages of 13-17. They answered questions about their preferred listening levels and the duration of their listening, on their PLDs. Secondly, the measurements of these listening levels were performed on 74 teens in both quiet and noisy environments. The measured volume levels were used to calculate the potential risk to hearing according to the damage risk criteria laid out by Health and Safety Regulations.

80% of teens use their PLDs regularly, with 21% listening from one to four hours daily and 8% listening more than four hours consecutively. Adding this information to the acoustic measurements, the data indicated that 25% of the teens who took part in the research where at a severe risk of hearing loss, warns Professor Muchnik.

Health and Safety regulations at present use industry-related benchmarks in measuring the harm caused by continuous exposure to high volume noise and this is the only available risk criteria. The professor says that an additional risk criteria must be created for music-induced hearing loss. A good example is where manufacturers of PLDs are govern by a standard that limits the maximum output of their products to 100 decibels.

Schools and parents can play a great role in increasing awareness of these dangers, she says. Teens could choose over-the-ear headphones instead of the ear buds that commonly come with an iPod.

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Five Chinese non-governmental organizations have accused Apple of adding to environmental degradation by using suppliers with known histories of environmental violations. The American company also faces strong criticisms for undermining social responsibility as its suppliers have been involved in serious work-related accidents and deaths.

A report released on Wednesday, which calls Apple out for taking “advantage of the loopholes in developing countries’ environmental management systems,” is threatening to cast a big shadow on Apple’s image.

One of the co-authors of the report Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, has been outspoken in several media outlets about Apple’s apparent disregard and unresponsiveness. The coalition of environmental groups has requested the help of businesses to map the companies’ impact on local communities;

Apple shied away from contributing to the report. Several electronics brands, including Samsung, Nokia and LG outsource all or part of their manufacturing. These orders are then picked up by suppliers with factories in, among other countries, China.

According to the New York Times, Apple spokesman Steve Dowling responded on Wednesday that the company had been aggressively monitoring its supply chain regularly.

“We require that our supplier provides safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes wherever Apple products are made,” Dowling said.

But at the same time, Apple has, according to GOOD magazine, defended its ranking in the environmental groups report as a result of their suppliers’ actions — not theirs. CNN reported that the Apple company found 80 facilities where storage and handling of hazardous chemicals was not done properly during the 2010 audit.

According to Apple’s own report, the company had requested the non-compliant facilities to correct their mistakes and document these processes but nowhere does it say if the request was granted.

Apple’s market share in China has grown exponentially and the busiest Apple store in the world is located there. Yet their presence in the mainland has caused controversy. Despite keeping their suppliers under wraps, the company has faced multiple production challenges.

The New York Times reports that one of Apple’s biggest suppliers was hit by a suicide wave among workers at several mainland facilities last year while an explosion at fire at another plant in southwest China in May killed two and injured more than a dozen.

Apple is not the only company to face harsh criticism for taking advantage of the Chinese system — several multinational corporations have, according to the New York Times, been accused of employing child labour, violating local labor laws and polluting water resources and land.

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