Berlin : MP3 players are leading to more and more hearing problems in young people, with damage to the inner ear now registered in one in five 16 to 20-year olds, German doctors warned.

Hearing problems usually associated with old age are now being noticed in people as young as 20, the German association of ear, nose and throat specialists (HNO) said.

Under European Union rules, the maximum volume for portable audio devices is 100 decibels, but the HNO warned this is too loud. In workplaces, employees are required to wear ear protectors when noise levels are 85 decibels, they said. The association called on makers of the devices to behave more "responsibly" and clearly inform their customers of the health dangers of listing to music too loudly.

A study at Kasturba Medical College in Manipal had recently found that sharing in-earphones is hazardous for health, as bacteria can get passed from one user to another.

Scientists tweak protein to protect ear from noise

Afraid that listening to your iPod at high volumes could damage your hearing? Worry not, for scientists have now found the key to protect your ear from deafening noise of music players and those high sound levels in rock-shows and dance clubs. The Washington researchers genetically altered a single building block in the nAChR protein and found that altered mice were less able to hear soft sounds than the genetic alteration made in the nAChR protein did indeed "turn down" the ear.