Experts cautioned that listening to MP3 players at a high volume may turn an individual deaf in later life. Earlier, it was either laborers in noisy factories or soldiers using firearms, who ceased to hear, but now young generation listens to their music players at such a sound that may turn them deaf.

Listening to iPods and MP3 players at high volume for several hours a day are making young adults prone to deafness in the middle age.

According to Professor Peter Rabinowitz of the Occupational and Environmental Medicine program at Yale University, earphones inserted in the ear canal can intensify the volume which can reach over 120 decibels, which is equal to the noise from a jet engine.

The most frequent cause of deafness is excessive long-term exposure to noise which damages the hair cells in the inner ear. It includes mild to moderate hearing loss. About two thirds of MP3 player users listened to music at volumes greater than 85 decibels, according to the Royal National Institute for the Deaf.

Emma Harrison, of the Royal National Institute for the Deaf said, "The RNID has been working with the European Union to raise awareness of this problem because people regularly use these devices and are often not aware that they could be putting their hearing at risk".