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The World Health Organisation (WHO) is [worried / worrier] that 1.1 billion teenagers and people in their twenties and [fast / early] thirties are damaging their hearing [at / by] listening to loud music. It says nearly half the young people in middle- and [high-income / high-outcome] countries risk hearing loss because of the "unsafe use" of [personally / personal] music players, including smartphones. Loud music in nightclubs, bars and at sporting events also [increases / increase] the risk. The WHO recommends a safe [limit / limitation] of listening to music for just one [hourly / hour] a day. The WHO director for injury [prevent / prevention] , Dr Etienne Krug, told the BBC that: "What we're trying to do is raise awareness of an issue that is not talked about enough." He said hearing loss is [easily / easy] preventable.

Dr Krug said keeping the [volume / voluminous] down and limiting the use of personal audio [device / devices] to less than one hour a day would save a lot of people's [listening / hearing] . However, he also said that, "even an hour can be too [many / much] if the volume is too loud". Ralph Holme, a biomedical researcher, explained how loud noise can [damaging / damage] ears. He said: "Loud sounds damage your hearing [by / as] killing off thousands of little hair [sells / cells] in the inner ear. The cells [detect / detest] different pitches of sound through vibration…but they are very fragile and if they vibrate too much [due / dew] to loud sounds for too long, they get damaged and die." He warned that: "The problem is they don’t grow back and the ear can [not / no] longer detect sound."