If volume levels go unchecked, listening to personal music players can lead to hearing loss, but what is being done to counter the risks?

Statistics Canada says more than a million adults across the country have a hearing-related disability, and noise-induced hearing loss is on the rise.

In fact, The Hearing Foundation of Canada estimates that up to 10 per cent of people who use personal music players at high volume for more than an hour per day could permanently damage their hearing.

Dr. Kapil Khatter is a family physician who has written an editorial in the medical journal Open Medicine, urging the government to regulate the maximum volume of music players.

"When you are listening to it, you really don't know. There is nothing that tells you what a safe level is or a safe level isn't," he says.

But that is not an idea favoured by those who love to listen to loud music. They say it should be a personal choice.

Earlier this year, the European Union mandated that music player manufacturers install alerts that pop up when the volume on a device goes above safe hearing levels.

Khatter says "This kind of flexible regulation allows the device to give you a warning more than anything else."

In Canada, the federal government is evaluating the issue, but hasn't given any indication of whether they will follow the European model.

Leslie Meerburg of Health Canada Public Affairs said in a statement "Given the recent surge in the popularity of digital audio players, Health Canada is currently evaluating their risk by studying user listening habits."

The top manufacturers, Apple and Sony, both have functions that allow users to lock the audio levels on their music players.

And while Apple did not respond questions about whether and how they warn customers about safe hearing levels, the company has several Web pages on sound reminding customers to listen responsibly, think about the volume and keep track of time.

Audiologist Calvin Staples suggests upgrading to new headphones can also help bring down the levels.

"If you are on a bus or a subway in a bigger city it's tons of noise and you want to drown that out, so you just turn up the noise to get over the surrounding environment and a noise reduction headset will turn that down."

Other experts say that avoiding ear buds, which sit much closer to the ear drum, is also a good idea.

There are also a number of applications on smart phones that allow you to monitor the decibel level and check for hearing loss.