One of My Rare Public Service Announcements

It seems like all the leisure reading I do is pretty much on the toilet, basically going through the stack of magazines that arrive at the apartment every month.

Anyhow, I was reading the latest Rolling Stone, and there is a really disturbing article about how iPods are likely going to lead to increasing deafness among the U.S. population.

A study showed that, with over-the-ear headphones with a player set at level six (out of ten), you can safely listen to music for only an hour a day. For most in-the-ear headphones, like the earbuds that come with most MP3 players, the acceptable time at that level is less -- around 30 minutes for some models before you've exceeded your safe daily dose.

30 minutes really doesn't seem like much.

And be wary of turning it up all the way. Though in Europe, the decibel level on iPods are capped at 100 db by law, in the U.S. the iPod can crank up to about 130 db.

Rock concerts are bad for your ears too, and not only for the audience. Pete Townsend and Neil Young are among musicians who have reported hearing loss.

By 2030, 78 million Americans are expected to have some degree of hearing loss. Apparently it's cumulative, and doesn't really hit a lot of people until their 40s.

To link it to movies, it isn't clear if sitting through a two-hour action film with a bombastic soundtrack will do any damage. But if hearing loss in the population becomes a huge problem, movies will have to be louder just so the afflicted will be able to hear them.

And in a few decades, large swaths of the older audience just might be too frustrated to sit through a talky movie where they can't pick up a lot of the dialogue.

So, before you curl up with your iPod to listen to music while exercising, or commuting, or just hanging out... just think about your ears.