§ Dr. StarkeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government have taken to study the extent of damage to people's hearing from loud music in public places. [38176]
§ Mr. BoatengWe have commissioned no research into damage to people's hearing from loud music in public places. However, the Medical Research Council Institute of Hearing Research is currently carrying out a study entitled "hearing in young adults" which shows that for young people aged 18–25, leisure noise has increased by 200 per cent. since the 1980s. There is no evidence yet that the hazard is leading to a direct reduction in hearing function, but there is an increase in tinnitus.