Personal music players such as Apple's iPod will be forced to carry quieter default settings in Europe because of worries about hearing damage, senior European Union officials will announce today.

The European Commission is expected to reveal that it is mandating new "safe exposure" default levels for all MP3 players sold in Europe. Individual users who want to play music more loudly will be able to override these, but officials hope that the move will still prevent millions of users from suffering hearing loss.