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They found that 9 in 10 people are exposed to noise levels above the recommended 70 dB(A) limit value. For two thirds, this exposure comes mainly from listening to their MP3 players and stereos at high volumes, even though it only represents a small fraction of their duration of exposure. 1 in 10 transit users exceeds the recommended limit exposure from their transit use alone. These results surprised the researchers, who expected to find mostly work among the exposure sources.

"I do think it's a serious problem, there aren't really any other experiences where we would tolerate having nine out of 10 people exposed at a level we know is hazardous. We certainly wouldn't tolerate this with another agent, such as something that caused cancer or chronic disease," explained Rick Neitzel, a researcher at the University of Michigan. High noise levels can not only have hearing effects, but also cause stress, sleep disturbance and cardiovascular diseases…

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