The nation's hearing - has it all gone a bit Pete Tong?

Researchers are launching a unique mass participation study to discover if listening to loud music is contributing to the increase in hearing loss in the UK population. The scientists from the MRC Institute of Hearing Research , based on University Park campus, will be looking at how our listening past affects our hearing present. Latest figures published in the International Journal of Audiology estimate that around 1 in 6 adults in the UK have at least some hearing loss - enough to cause difficulties in communicating, especially when listening in social situations with background sounds, such as other people talking. This is an increase of around 12 per cent over the last two decades, and given the ageing population, is likely to rise further. The World Health Organization has stated that the single biggest cause of preventable hearing loss is loud noise. Hearing damage caused by workplace noise will have been reduced by the decrease in heavy industry, the legal restrictions on noise and the provision of protective equipment such as ear defenders. But what effect has loud music had on the population's hearing? The online experiment is aimed at everyone: younger or older in age, better or worse in hearing and with a wide variety of musical experiences and hearing abilities.