People should listen to music for no more than one hour a day to protect their hearing, the World Health Organization suggests.

　　世界卫生组织(WHO)建议，为了保护听力，人们每天听音乐的时间最好不要超过1个小时。

　　It says 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of permanently damaging their hearing by listening to "too much, too loudly".

　　据悉，全球有11亿的青少年由于听音乐的“时间过久、音量过大”而处于可能永久性听力损害的危险之中。

　　WHO figures show 43 million people aged 12-35 have hearing loss and the prevalence is increasing.

　　WHO的数据显示，12-35岁年龄段的人群中有4300万人的听力已经在减退，而且这个人数还在进一步增加。

　　In that age group, the WHO said, half of people in rich and middle-income countries were exposed to unsafe sound levels from personal audio devices.

　　据WHO称，该年龄段内有一半人来自中高收入国家，经常暴露在高音量的个人音响设备之中。

　　Meanwhile 40% were exposed to damaging levels of sound from clubs and bars.

　　有40%的人暴露在具有损坏性音量的俱乐部和酒吧中。

　　The proportion of US teenagers with hearing loss went from 3.5% in 1994 to 5.3% in 2006.

　　在美国，青少年听力损害的比例已由1995年的3.5%上升到了2006年的5.3%。

　　Dr Etienne Krug, the WHO's director for injury prevention, told the BBC: "What we're trying to do is raise awareness of an issue that is not talked about enough, but has the potential to do a lot of damage that can be easily prevented."

　　WHO伤害预防项目的负责人艾蒂安·克鲁格博士说：“我们试图提高大家对听力损害问题的意识，现在人们对这个问题还不够重视，这已经造成了很多潜在性的损害，但其实我们预防起来也很简单。”

　　The full report argued: "While it is important to keep the volume down, limiting the use of personal audio devices to less than one hour a day would do much to reduce noise exposure."

　　“重要的是要调低音量，每天使用个人音乐播放器的时间要控制在1小时以内，这样可以有效减少暴露在噪音中的时间。”

　　The World Health Organization recommends keeping the volume to 60% of the maximum as a good rule of thumb.

　　WHO建议听音乐时把音量调整到最大音量的60%以下最好。

　　For people trying to drown out the noise of flying or train journeys, it says noise-cancelling headphones allow music to be heard clearly at a lower volume.

　　在坐火车或乘飞机时，为了不受周围噪音干扰，建议使用降噪耳机听音乐，这样可以在音量较小的情况下保持声音清晰。

　　And the WHO adds that ear plugs should be worn at noisy venues and advises taking "listening breaks" and standing far away from speakers at gigs.

　　WHO还建议在嘈杂的场所内应带上耳塞，在观看演出的时候要远离舞台，且给耳朵留出休息的时间。

　　"We do realise this is a bit of a struggle, like alcohol consumption, so many risk factors linked to pleasure are not easy to change, but we have to make people aware," Dr Krug said.

　　克鲁格博士说：“我们这可能有一些矛盾和挣扎，就像酒精消费一样，风险与快乐并存，很难改变，但我们必须得让大家意识到这个问题。”

　　But as well as calling for personal responsibility, the WHO says governments and manufacturers have a responsibility.

　　与此同时，WHO也建议政府和商家也有责任保护公众的听力健康。

　　It says clubs should provide chill-out rooms and give out free ear plugs, headphone manufacturers should set limits on the volume, and governments need to adopt stricter laws.

　　例如，俱乐部应当提供安静的房间并免费提供耳塞，耳机制造商应当限制最高音量，政府也应当出台更加严格的法律法规。

　　Paul Breckell, the chief executive of the charity Action on Hearing Loss, said: 'When listening to loud music, for every three decibel increase in level, to stay safe you should halve your listening time.

　　听力损害慈善活动的执行长官保罗·布莱克尔说：“在听分贝较高的音乐时，为保证安全，音量每提高3分贝就应当减少一半的收听时间。”

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（责任编辑：何莹莹）