IPOD EARPIECES 'FULL OF BACTERIA'

Doctors have long warned that listening to music at high volumes on iPod buds could lead to hearing loss but now they claim the earpieces are also rife with germs.

A study published in the Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences has revealed that frequent use of earphones significantly increases bacterial growth in the ear.

Researchers at Manipal university in India also found that bacteria could transfer from one person’s ear to another’s.

Harmful bacteria was found on 92 per cent of ear swabs taken from people who regularly shared their earphones with friends, compared with only eight per cent of those who shared less frequently.

Dr Chiranjay Mukhopadhyay, who led the research, said: “It is better not to share or else to clean the earphones thoroughly before sharing.”

A second study into airplane audio headsets, published in the medical journal Laryngoscope, discovered that, after an hour’s use, the number of bacteria increased from 60 micro-organisms to 650.