Steve,
Matt's right and the article he links to is right. There is a difference between tuning out and hearing loss.

It could also be the cars with 10,000 Watt stereos that you can hear 10 miles away. I prefer to hear what's going on around me rather than filtering it out with constant music.

Right Michael.

Big booming cars is a real problem - in fact there is a State law against those here but who enforces it?. Also Disco joints and even movie theaters.

CNN is running a thingy right now about this very subject. In fact there was some guy at times square with a decimeter. Just normal street traffic and people was 80 kb, a siren went by and it shot up to 88 kb -- 85 is the max safe limit. So just walking the streets with out an ear bud can be dangerous.

My thoughts on the matter - IMO.

1 - Walk mans and other various (headphone) players have been around for a long time. So it is NOT only a iPod thingy.

2 - Ear Buds design, have nothing to do with hearing loss - its the volume, so don't target Apple.

IMO.
Since so many people now have iPods - brought this attention to Apple. this study should have been done decades ago.

I must have golden ears. I spent my youth listening to headphones on walkmans and portable CD players, went to more concerts than I can remember, had a stereo in my old bronco that would move the roof up and down an inch and a half and usually listened to it that way, and yet at 40 teens using their "silent" ringtones always have a look of shock when I tell them how annoying and uncomfortable they are. My wife and daughter will be listening to TV, and I'll come in and turn it down and ask them if they're deaf.

Then again, while I don't shy away from enjoying really loud music I don't listen to it for hours on end that way, and wear ear plugs when doing things like mowing. I believe the monotonous tone of a mower engine for and hour or two is *far* more harmful to your ears than the varying tone of music at the same volume.

We get tested annually for hearing and hearing shifts are recorded, which I think is bogus because the company can't control if someone is going shooting on off time with no hearing protection, or using their lawn equipment, etc. But at least I know I'm not going deaf.

What??!!??