Let’s face the music: Our generation has caught the iPod bug. If white strands dangling from the ears of thousands of students is not evidence enough to back this statement, Levi Strauss’ announcement of jeans with a special pocket to hold an iPod should suffice. What was wrong with pockets we had in the first place?

When parents bought their kids (and possibly you) shiny new iPods during the holidays, they probably didn’t understand the danger inherent in the trendy white “ear bud” style head phones. Audiologists across the nation are now seeing more young patients with hearing loss normally found in older adults, according to a Dec. 29 article by Lee Bowman of the Associated Press.

A scientific study in the Ear and Hearing Journal showed that of several headphone styles, the ear bud style showed the greatest volume output with the least energy. In other words, the speakers in ear bud headphones like those that come with the iPod can crank out sound at a decibel level higher than headphones with larger speakers.

The volume levels exerted by ear bud headphones, according to Bowman’s article, can reach brain-corroding levels of 110 to 120 decibels – about as loud as a chain saw, a rock concert or a jet plane during take-off. Although it does not take an audiologist to figure out that frequent and sustained exposure to such levels can lead to considerable hearing loss, the American Hearing Research Foundation states on its Web site that 15 minutes of exposure to such levels on a daily basis should be the maximum.

Hearing loss from exposure to daily loud noise, also known as occupational hearing loss, occurs when sound waves damage fragile hair cells within the cochlea. Hair cells convert sound waves into an electrical signal carried by the auditory nerve and, ultimately, to the brain. When noise is loud and frequent, some hair cells may stop functioning due to the amount of energy involved, effectively reducing a person’s ability to hear.

So as a trendy and music-loving student, what are you to do with those white ear bud headphones? You have options: You can crank up the volume and risk having your great grandfather’s hearing, rock out with the volume at a reasonable level or simply ditch the headphones and listen to the natural music of Columbus – the birds, wind and blaring car horns of angry drivers.

Dave Mosher is a senior in biology and journalism. Trendy iPod users can send their trendy hate mail to [email protected].