Health worries for MP3 players

MP3 players may be harmful to certain heart-monitoring electronics, according to the American Heart Association (AHA.)

The group said that new research suggests the neodymium magnets used in the headsets for many players can cause harmful interference on patients with implanted pacemakers and cardioverter defibrillators.

The study found that the magnets in the headphones caused the interference when placed within 3 centimeters of the implanted device. When the headphones are kept outside of this range, the devices do not pose any risk.

"For patients with pacemakers, exposure to the headphones can force the device to deliver signals to the heart, causing it to beat without regard to the patients’ underlying heart rhythm," explained Dr. William H. Maisel, the senior author of the study and director of the Medical Device Safety Institute at Beth Israel Medical Centre.

"Exposure of a defibrillator to the headphones can temporarily deactivate the defibrillator."

This is not the first time portable media players have been accused of harming implanted medical devices. Earlier this year, the US food and drug administration conducted a study into the possiblehealth effects of the iPod following a presentation from a high-school science student.

The players were eventually found not to pose any health risk.

Nevertheless, computer hardware manufacturers are having to pay more attention to the possible side effects fo technological devices, for fear of an increasingly litigious customer base.