New EU standards for manufacturers of personal music players

[Guest tsutton]

Some people may be interested in this... so I thought I'd share this with you all

11.45am – 12.15pm Tuesday 29 September 2009, London, EC1Y 8SL

NEW EU STANDARDS FOR MANUFACTURERS OF PERSONAL MUSIC PLAYERS

Meglena Kuneva, European Commissioner for Consumer Affairs will present details of an EU mandate to develop new standards for personal music player manufacturers – including MP3 players and mobile phones that play music through headphones.

This follows evidence from the EU Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) that 5-10% of personal music player listeners risk permanent hearing loss, if they listen to a personal music player for more than one hour per day each week at high volume settings for at least 5 years. RNID’s Don’t Lose the Music campaign also found that 66% of MP3 player users were listening to music louder than 85 decibels. Such sound levels, according to the World Health Organisation, can cause permanent damage to hearing over time.

There will be opportunity to ask the commissioner and RNID about personal music players and hearing loss and find out more about how the standards will affect consumers, manufacturers and the music industry.

When: Tuesday 29 September

Venue: RNID 19-23 Featherstone Street London EC1Y 8SL

Who:

Meglena Kuneva European Commissioner for Consumer Affairs,

Jackie Ballard, RNID Chief Executive

Emma Harrison, RNID Director of External Affairs

Mark Downs, RNID Executive Director of Science and Enterprise

www.dontlosethemusic.com

www.rnid.org.uk

For more information, please contact:

Siobhan Sheerin Senior Press Officer on 020 7296 8229 or [email protected]