Hong Kong  - Music lovers on Friday were being warned to watch their volume after a Hong Kong consumer watchdog found several MP3 players on the market were as loud as jet engines.

The Consumer Council said it found eight of 27 models tested had a maximum volume that exceeded European safety standards and could cause ear damage in just over seven minutes.

Among the worst offenders were the iPod Classic, iPod Touch (second generation) and Cowon S9, all of which had a maximum volume of 119 decibels, the same as a jet engine.

The Cowon iAudio U5, Cowon O2, iriver E50, iriver SPINN and the iriver P7 measured between 100 and 104 decibels, higher than the proposed limit of 88 and 89 expected to be set by the European Union, the report said.

Ambrose Ho of the Hong Kong Consumer Council said exporters to Hong Kong should follow European limits and warned that such volumes could cause hearing damage.

"Listening to sounds louder than 108 decibels can cause hearing impairment in 7.5 minutes," Ho said.

"Given the widespread use of personal music players and the surge in the number of young people, children and adolescents in particular, exposed to such noise, the problem is one of increasing concern," he said.

Ear specialist Dr Simon Wong told the South China Morning Post that youngsters were particularly at risk because they might not take notice of warnings because symptoms of ear damage take 10 years to surface.

"An initial symptom is a constant drumming in their ears," Wong said.

An Apple representative could not be reached for comment. (dpa)