Sound Exposure Levels Experienced by University Wind Band Members

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Jennifer Stewart Walter

The purpose of this study was 1) to examine the sound exposure of wind band members in a university setting during a week of typical rehearsals and 2) to assess whether that exposure changes depending on subjects' location within the rehearsal space. Because excessive sound exposure has a cumulative effect on the ear that can eventually lead to noise-induced hearing loss, it is important to determine whether university musicians are at risk. A 100% dose of sound is the maximum daily exposure recommended by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for preventing noise-induced hearing loss. Twenty-four of 46 subjects (52%) experienced one or more rehearsals with sound levels high enough to produce >100% doses, and 17 subjects experienced a mean daily dose of sound in excess of 100% as compared to the NIOSH standards. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-61
Author(s):  
Vera B. Pankova ◽  
Irina N. Fedina ◽  
Pavel V. Serebpyakov ◽  
Leonid L. Volokhov ◽  
Natalya G. Bomshteyn

Objectives - to present a step-by-step algorithm for diagnosis, examination and assessment of professional suitability in noise-induced hearing loss. Material and methods. A group of experts analysed the evidence base, consisting of more than 200 cases of primary diagnosed occupational sensorineural hearing loss (OHL), registered by various institutes for occupational safety and health. Also, the methodological instructions on the main issues of occupational hearing loss examination were regarded. Results. The methodological and regulatory documents were developed and put in practice, allowing the hygienic and clinical specialists to follow the step-by-step diagnostic and examination algorithms for OHL. Conclusion. All specialists, involved in the diagnosis, in the expertise of the occupational impact, the assessment of professional suitability, the OHL prophylaxis, should use the unified step-by-step algorithms, presented in the regulatory and methodological documents of federal and professional significance.


2008 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 25-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santosh Kumar Nanda ◽  
D.P. Tripathy ◽  
Sarat Kumar Patra

This paper describes a fuzzy system approach to modeling of noise-induced hearing loss, one of the most dangerous effects of noise in the mining industry. Hearing loss has been considered as a function of noise level, frequency, and exposure time. The model is simulated using MATLAB for Takagi-Sugeno-Kang (TSK) inference mechanism. The model results are compared with the survey findings of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Pittsburgh and were found to be in good agreement. The model clearly brings out the salient features of the surveys concerning the variation of hearing loss with frequency for various duration of exposure times, viz., the hearing loss is not appreciable below 2kHz. The model results closely match with the NIOSH results in 2–6 kHz at 90 dB (A) and with the EPA results in 2–8 kHz at 85 dBA. It was observed that for 0–6 years of exposure, the hearing loss as per NIOSH was between 0 – 20 dB, whereas it was between 0–25 dB (not significant) as per American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology (AAOO). The model clearly shows that the duration of exposure can be used to infer the hearing loss for mining and industrial workers of different age groups.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Fligor

Abstract A growing body of evidence suggests that a small, but significant, percent of users of portable media players (PMP) are at risk for noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) from abusive use. This manuscript provides a brief review of damage-risk criteria and the methodological hurdles to accurately measuring sound exposure from earphones. The capacity of all generations of PMP exists to produce sound levels that would allow a user to exceed established damage-risk criteria. Whether or not a PMP user exceeds damage-risk criteria depends in part on the type of earphone used and the background noise that exists in the ambient listening environment. To date, estimates of noise dose from PMP use suggest that only a fraction of consumers are at risk for NIHL, but, given the extraordinary population of these devices, the absolute number affected may be quite large. Estimates of noise-induced permanent threshold shift from using PMP at high levels for 2 and 4 hours per day over a 10-year period are given, as well as an estimate of the number of people who may have NIHL from PMP use.


2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (03) ◽  
pp. 160-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Stewart ◽  
Rebecca Pankiw ◽  
Mark E. Lehman ◽  
Thomas H. Simpson

This investigation sought to establish the prevalence of hearing loss and hearing handicap in a population of 232 recreational firearm users. Hearing handicap was calculated based on four methods using pure-tone threshold data from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, and American Speech-Language and Hearing Association in addition to the self-report Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults-Screener (HHIA-S). Subjects (45 female and 187 male) ranging in age from 13 to 77 years (mean = 40 years, SD = 15.1) completed a short questionnaire regarding demographics and shooting practices followed by pure-tone air audiometry at Occupational Safety and Health Administration test frequencies of 500 to 6000 Hz. A total of 177 who exhibited varying degrees of hearing loss also received a face-to-face administration of the HHIA-S. Audiometric and HHIA-S results revealed that both high-frequency hearing loss and hearing handicap varied significantly as functions of age and occupation. Significant gender effects were observed audiometrically but not as a function of hearing handicap. HHIA-S scores varied significantly as a function of high-frequency (1000–4000 Hz) hearing loss. Correlation coefficients between the four different pure-tone methods of calculating hearing handicap and the self-reported HHIA-S were highest for pure-tone methods that do not employ 500 Hz in the calculation.


2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kris Chesky

The purpose of this study was to determine sound exposure levels generated in two college wind bands. Dosimeter data from a large sample of ensemble-based instructional activities (n = 43) was collected over time and processed to assess associations with predictor variables that may be relevant to this context, including indicators of time spend at various intensity levels, maximum and peak sound levels, degree of variability of sound levels over time, and the percentage of time playing music. The mean dose per event for the entire sample was 109.5% and ranged from 53.8% to 166.9%. Results of linear regression analysis revealed that regressors accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in dose (F = 128.42, p < 0.000) and a statistically significant and very large (96% variance accounted for) contribution to the prediction of dose. Findings implicate the critical role of the instructor and teaching pedagogy.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 565-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Aran Mooney ◽  
Paul E. Nachtigall ◽  
Stephanie Vlachos

There is increasing concern that human-produced ocean noise is adversely affecting marine mammals, as several recent cetacean mass strandings may have been caused by animals' interactions with naval ‘mid-frequency’ sonar. However, it has yet to be empirically demonstrated how sonar could induce these strandings or cause physiological effects. In controlled experimental studies, we show that mid-frequency sonar can induce temporary hearing loss in a bottlenose dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus ). Mild-behavioural alterations were also associated with the exposures. The auditory effects were induced only by repeated exposures to intense sonar pings with total sound exposure levels of 214 dB re: 1 μPa 2  s. Data support an increasing energy model to predict temporary noise-induced hearing loss and indicate that odontocete noise exposure effects bear trends similar to terrestrial mammals. Thus, sonar can induce physiological and behavioural effects in at least one species of odontocete; however, exposures must be of prolonged, high sound exposures levels to generate these effects.


1980 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 383-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Spencer

AbstactThe possibility of a noise-induced hearing loss occurring as a result of a high level of sucker-tip noise in myringtomy for seromucinous otitis media is discussed, A group of twenty-four ears is investigated and the noise levels generated by the suction tube are mearsured at operation by means of a probe microphone lowered into the external auditory meatus The conclusions reached are that, although the sound levels attained are at times quite high, they are not of suffcient amplitude, nor are they present for a suffcient length of time, to produce a sencori-neural hearing loss.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Elinor R. Dulay ◽  
Ma. Danica Katrina P. Galvan ◽  
Rio Joana M. Puyaoan ◽  
Angel Abraham Y. Sison ◽  
Nicole S. Natanauan ◽  
...  

Objective. The study aimed to evaluate the sound pressure levels of selected traffic enforcer sites in the City of Manila. Methods. A Brüel & Kjær Integrating Sound Level Meter type 2225 was used to measure sound pressure levels in dB(A) to estimate personal noise exposure of traffic enforcers designated at Quezon Boulevard near Quiapo Church and Recto – Rizal Avenue on a weekday and a weekend. Graphs were generated while appropriate measures were calculated for the noise exposure levels. The mean exposure levels were compared with the Philippine Occupational Safety and Health standards by computing the corresponding permissible exposure limit for each work shift using the Equal Energy Principle.17 Results. Noise exposure levels at Quezon Boulevard ranged from 75.0 dB(A) to 91.5 dB(A) with mean noise exposure level of 84.3 ± 3.7 dB(A) and 82.5 ± 2.6 dB(A) for the weekday AM and PM shift, respectively. The mean noise exposure level at Quezon Boulevard for the weekend AM shift was 82.4 ± 2.6, whereas 80.4 ± 2.8 for the PM shift. The noise exposure levels at Recto – Rizal Avenue ranged from 81.5 dB(A) to 99.3 dB(A) with mean noise exposure level of 86.7 ± 2.6 dB(A) and 86.0 ± 2.1 dB(A) for the weekday AM and PM shift, respectively. The mean noise exposure level at Recto – Rizal Avenue for the weekend AM shift was 86.7 ± 2.3, whereas 89.0 ± 4.0 for the PM shift. Conclusion. The study showed that traffic enforcers designated at Quezon Boulevard and Recto – Rizal Avenue are exposed to noise levels that do not exceed the Philippine Occupational Safety and Health standards.


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