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The WHO has warned that a billion teenagers and young people are damaging their hearing with loud music. Nearly half of young people in richer countries risk hearing loss because of "unsafe" levels of music on music players and smartphones. Music in nightclubs, bars and at sporting events adds to the risk. A safe limit is to listen for just one hour a day. The WHO is trying to raise awareness of an issue that is not talked about enough. People can prevent hearing loss.

Turning the volume down and listening for less than an hour a day can reduce hearing loss. However, the WHO said that, "even an hour can be too much if the volume is too loud". A researcher explained that: "Loud sounds damage your hearing by killing off thousands of little hair cells in the inner ear [that] detect different…sounds [but] they are very fragile, and if they vibrate too much,…they get damaged and die." They never regrow.