One of the annoying side effects of living in an iPod world is that I frequently find myself having to repeat what I just said, as the other person turns off/down their iPod.

And at the risk of sounding like a real old fart, I’m always muttering warnings to my kids like "it’s too loud, you know" to which they respond "What?" as they turn down their iPods. At which point, I repeat myself (again).

It’s gratifying then (at least for my personal credibility) that doctors in Australia are saying that iPod users (well, any MP3 users actually) are risking long term hearing loss as they are playing them TOO LOUDLY.

In fact, a random survey found that 25% of owners were listening at dangerous volumes - which is thought to be in excess of 80 decibels. By way of comparison, a busy street is 70 decibels and a pneumatic drill is 100.

Apparently, the first danger sign is a ringing in your ears.Or that could just be because your companion has just slapped you round the head as they get fed up with saying everything twice, everything twice.

You have been warned.

Story via W2Forum (registration required). Image from iPod Lounge.