DURHAM – Turning down the volume on an iPod can save a person's hearing, students at the University of New Hampshire told their classmates yesterday as they worked out.

In celebration of Better Hearing and Speech month, students from the UNH chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association offered free audio tests for classmates to see if they were listening too loud as they worked out at Whittemore Center. Most students who visited had their music set above the 85 decibels audiologists recommend, but they didn't seem to mind.

"I don't listen to it for that long," said freshman Jessica Misenti of Salem. Her iPod Nano registered 112 decibels.

For reference, 85 decibels is about the level of noise geneated by heavy traffic or a noisy restaurant. The average leaf blower generates about 100 decibels, according to the Leage for the Hard of Hearing's Web site, www.lhh.org.times she listened to her iPod louder and never thought about hearing loss when doing so. After the test, she said she'd try to "turn it down a little," but said that she wasn't particularly worried.

IPods have gotten a bad rap, along with growing popularity, for being bad for people's hearing when in reality it's largely an individual issue, said Audiologist and Assistant Professor Mary Jane Sullivan.

"The blanket statements that all of them are dangerous are really incorrect," she said, adding that the vast majority of hearing loss comes from work related situations. "If you're listening at safe levels, then you're perfectly fine."

A person can listen at 85 decibels for an eight-hour period and be safe, but once the volume goes beyond that, the amount of time it's safe to listen declines rapidly, Sullivan said.

"A lot of people are not listening at levels that are potentially damaging, there may be some people who are," she said.

More than 20 students had their headphones checked yesterday to educate them about the dangers of loud music. With so many now listening to music so often, it has become more important than ever to teach them the dangers of excessive noise, Sullivan said.