世界衛生組織:每天聽歌超1小時傷聽力

People should listen to music for no more than one hour a day to protect their hearing, the World Health Organization suggests.
世界衛生組織（WHO）建議，爲了保護聽力，人們每天聽音樂的時間最好不要超過1個小時。

It says 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of permanently damaging their hearing by listening to "too much, too loudly".
據悉，全球有11億的青少年由於聽音樂的“時間過久、音量過大”而處於可能永久性聽力損害的危險之中。

WHO figures show 43 million people aged 12-35 have hearing loss and the prevalence is increasing.
WHO的數據顯示，12-35歲年齡段的人羣中有4300萬人的聽力已經在減退，而且這個人數還在進一步增加。

In that age group, the WHO said, half of people in rich and middle-income countries were exposed to unsafe sound levels from personal audio devices.
據WHO稱，該年齡段內有一半人來自中高收入國家，經常暴露在高音量的個人音響設備之中。

Meanwhile 40% were exposed to damaging levels of sound from clubs and bars.
有40%的人暴露在具有損壞性音量的俱樂部和酒吧中。

The proportion of US teenagers with hearing loss went from 3.5% in 1994 to 5.3% in 2006.
在美國，青少年聽力損害的比例已由1995年的3.5%上升到了2006年的5.3%。

Dr Etienne Krug, the WHO's director for injury prevention, told the BBC: "What we're trying to do is raise awareness of an issue that is not talked about enough, but has the potential to do a lot of damage that can be easily prevented."
WHO傷害預防項目的負責人艾蒂安·克魯格博士說：“我們試圖提高大家對聽力損害問題的意識，現在人們對這個問題還不夠重視，這已經造成了很多潛在性的損害，但其實我們預防起來也很簡單。”

The full report argued: "While it is important to keep the volume down, limiting the use of personal audio devices to less than one hour a day would do much to reduce noise exposure."
“重要的是要調低音量，每天使用個人音樂播放器的時間要控制在1小時以內，這樣可以有效減少暴露在噪音中的時間。”

The World Health Organization recommends keeping the volume to 60% of the maximum as a good rule of thumb.
WHO建議聽音樂時把音量調整到最大音量的60%以下最好。

For people trying to drown out the noise of flying or train journeys, it says noise-cancelling headphones allow music to be heard clearly at a lower volume.
在坐火車或乘飛機時，爲了不受周圍噪音干擾，建議使用降噪耳機聽音樂，這樣可以在音量較小的情況下保持聲音清晰。

And the WHO adds that ear plugs should be worn at noisy venues and advises taking "listening breaks" and standing far away from speakers at gigs.
WHO還建議在嘈雜的場所內應帶上耳塞，在觀看演出的時候要遠離舞臺，且給耳朵留出休息的時間。

"We do realise this is a bit of a struggle, like alcohol consumption, so many risk factors linked to pleasure are not easy to change, but we have to make people aware," Dr Krug said.
克魯格博士說：“我們這可能有一些矛盾和掙扎，就像酒精消費一樣，風險與快樂並存，很難改變，但我們必須得讓大家意識到這個問題。”

But as well as calling for personal responsibility, the WHO says governments and manufacturers have a responsibility.
與此同時，WHO也建議政府和商家也有責任保護公衆的聽力健康。

It says clubs should provide chill-out rooms and give out free ear plugs, headphone manufacturers should set limits on the volume, and governments need to adopt stricter laws.
例如，俱樂部應當提供安靜的房間並免費提供耳塞，耳機制造商應當限制最高音量，政府也應當出臺更加嚴格的法律法規。

Paul Breckell, the chief executive of the charity Action on Hearing Loss, said: 'When listening to loud music, for every three decibel increase in level, to stay safe you should halve your listening time.
聽力損害慈善活動的執行長官保羅·布萊克爾說：“在聽分貝較高的音樂時，爲保證安全，音量每提高3分貝就應當減少一半的收聽時間。”