A new survey shows that more than half of MP3 users are listening to their devices at dangerously high volume levels for up to two hours a day and are running the risk of hearing loss.

Of a sample of 1,000 adults who were interviewed for a Red C poll, 11 per cent of those who owned a personal music device said they had experienced either ringing in their ears or "dull" hearing as a result of listening through headphones.

More than a third of the same group said that they listened to their MP3 or another device for longer than an hour a day through headphones, according to results from the survey, which was commissioned by Hidden Hearing, a hearing aid supplier.

Audiologist Keith Ross said the survey strengthened data from Hidden Hearing centres which indicates that more young people are having their hearing tested than was previously the case.

"As a result of years of listening to personal music devices at very loud volumes, we are seeing a huge increase in the number of people, sometimes as young as 30, suffering from hearing loss which you might expect a person aged over 70 to have," he said.

In a related on-street survey, MP3 users had the volume at which they were listening to their devices recorded. The results showed that 51 per cent of those surveyed were listening at 89 decibels, while one in five was recorded at a volume above 100 decibels.

Mr Ross noted that listening to MP3 players at levels which exceed 100 decibels was akin to "standing two yards from someone operating a pneumatic drill".

"The louder the music, the shorter a time you can listen to it," he said, adding that rule of thumb was to listen to 60 per cent of the available volume on a device for no more than 60 minutes at a time.

Doctor, DJ and RTÉ television presenter Mark Hamilton, who along with musician Julie Feeney launched this year's Hearing Awareness Week yesterday, has partial hearing in one ear. He said it was vital to get the message across to young people that their actions could have a lifelong effect on their hearing.

Young people sometimes live by the phrase "live now, pay tomorrow", but they should be encouraged to take preventative measures to avoid damaging their hearing, he said.

A 2009 European Commission report by the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks found that up to 10 per cent of people who listen to MP3 players and other devices for over seven hours a week at a high volume are at high risk of permanent hearing loss after five or more years of exposure.