The evolution of quiet lawn mowers and their impact on community noise and hearing conservation

2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (2) ◽  
pp. 4896-4902
Author(s):  
Leslie Blomberg ◽  
Dave Trezza
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Conservation ◽  
Community Noise ◽  
Lawn Mower ◽  
The Us ◽  
Comparable Performance ◽  
Noise Measurements ◽  
Us Epa ◽  
Battery Technology

Noise measurements of more than 600 lawn mowers were made at 25 feet and at the operator's ear between 2004 and 2021. These data are presented and compared with the measurement of more than 60 mowers in 1973 by the US EPA. With the exception of electric lawn mowers, very little progress has been made quieting lawn mowers. Electric lawn mowers are significantly quieter than gas mowers. Recently, with improvements in battery technology, the performance of electric mowers has improved significantly. There are currently electric push, self-propelled, and ride-on mowers with comparable performance to gas powered mowers. Finally, the impacts of lawn mower noise on community noise and hearing conservation are discussed.

scholarly journals Case Study in a Working Environment Highlighting the Divergence between Sound Level and Workers’ Perception towards Noise

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (17) ◽  
pp. 6122
Author(s):  
Chun-Yip Hon ◽  
Illia Tchernikov ◽  
Craig Fairclough ◽  
Alberto Behar
Keyword(s):  
Noise Exposure ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Sound Level ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Hearing Conservation ◽  
Attitudes And Perceptions ◽  
Noise Measurements ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Excessive Noise

Excessive noise levels are a prevalent issue in food processing operations and, although there have been numerous studies on occupational noise, no single study has used a concurrent mixed-methods approach. Employing this study design allows for an understanding of the level of convergence (similarity) between measured noise levels and workers’ attitudes and perceptions towards noise. This, in turn, allows for the identification of potential challenges with respect to the implementation of hearing conservation efforts. In this study, spot noise measurements were collected using a sound level meter. One-on-one interviews were conducted with workers to determine attitudes and perceptions towards noise in their workplaces. Subsequently, the results of the noise measurements (quantitative data) were integrated with the survey responses (qualitative data) to identify convergence. The majority of the noise measurements were found to exceed 85 dBA—the criterion mandated by the local occupational health and safety legislation. Although all study participants felt that it was noisy in the workplace, a large proportion of respondents indicated that the noise was not bothersome. With workers’ perception being contradictory to the measured noise levels, it is a challenge to implement hearing conservation measures unless changes are made to raise the awareness of the risks associated with excessive noise exposure.

Fundamental Characterisation of Dredged Marine Sediments from Kuala Perlis Jetty by XRF, XRD and FTIR

2012 ◽  
Vol 620 ◽  
pp. 469-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norhashimah Ramli ◽  
Mohammad Hafizuddin Haji Jumali ◽  
Wan Safizah Wan Salim
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Marine Sediments ◽  
Xrd Analysis ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Ftir Analysis ◽  
Huge Amount ◽  
The Us ◽  
Dredged Marine Sediment ◽  
Primary Mineral ◽  
Us Epa

Dredging along Kuala Perlis Jetty results in huge amount of marine sediments which has thrown considerable challenge for disposal. This research was conducted to characterize dredged marine sediment which was collected at Kuala Perlis Jetty as potential raw material for brick production. Three different characterizations were performed namely XRF, XRD and FTIR. XRF analysis showed the presence of SiO2 and Al2O3 as major quantities. Low concentration of heavy metals namely As, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni and Zn presence in the sediment comply the US EPA guideline for brick production. XRD analysis indicated the presence of quartz as primary mineral while kaolinite and illite also present as secondary and ternary phases. FTIR analysis identified various form of minerals presence in the samples which strongly supported XRD results.

scholarly journals Indoor thermal factors and symptoms in office workers: findings from the US EPA BASE study

Indoor Air ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 291-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Mendell ◽  
A. G. Mirer
Keyword(s):  
Office Workers ◽  
Base Study ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Epa

Water reclamation and reuse criteria in the U.S.

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 451-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Crook ◽  
Rao Y. Surampalli
Keyword(s):  
Surface Waters ◽  
Water Reuse ◽  
Reclaimed Water ◽  
Water Reclamation ◽  
Water Supplies ◽  
The Us ◽  
Attractive Option ◽  
Us Epa ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The U.S

Increasing demands on water resources for domestic, commercial, industrial, and agricultural purposes have made water reclamation and reuse an attractive option for conserving and extending available water supplies. Also, many water reuse projects are implemented to eliminate a source of contamination in surface waters or as a least-cost alternative to meeting stringent discharge requirements. Reclaimed water applications range from pasture irrigation to augmentation of potable water supplies. Water reclamation and reuse criteria are principally directed at health protection. There are no federal regulations governing water reuse in the U.S.; hence, the regulatory burden rests with the individual states. This has resulted in differing standards among states that have developed criteria. This paper summarizes and compares the criteria from some states that have developed comprehensive regulations. Guidelines published by the US. EPA and the rationale behind them are presented for numerous types of reclaimed water applications.

scholarly journals Simulation of a biogas cleaning process using different amines

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (47) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo Sepúlveda ◽  
Luis Eduardo Jaimes ◽  
Leonardo Pacheco ◽  
Carlos Alirio Díaz
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Landfill Gas ◽  
Cleaning Process ◽  
Fuel Gas ◽  
Combustion Properties ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Epa ◽  
Combustible Gases ◽  
Combustion Processes ◽  
Landfill Gas Emissions

The use of biogas generated in landfills has gained importance in developing countries like Colombia. Taking into account that this biogas presents poor combustion properties that make interchangeability with other combustible gases difficult, the elimination of gases and vapors, such as CO2 and H2O, through a cleaning process, in which the biogas is converted to biomethane, improves the biogas properties as a fuel gas for general use. In this work, we simulated the generation of biogas at El Carrasco sanitary landfill in Bucaramanga, using the US EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) landfill gas emissions model. Additionally, we simulated the biogas cleaning process to extract the remaining moisture using the ProMax software; for this, we used three different amines (MDEA, MEA, and DEA), followed by a glycol dehydration process. The results showed that the amine MEA produced the largest increase in the concentration of CH4 (90.37 %) for the biogas generated in the landfill. Furthermore, dehydration with glycol was an efficient process to obtain a gas with a high percentage of methane (91.47 %) and low water presence (1.27 %); this would allow the use of biomethane in conventional industrial combustion processes and power generation.

Abstract P100: Long-Term Exposures to Community Noise and Blood Pressure Levels in Chicago, Illinois

Circulation ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 137 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer C D'Souza ◽  
Jennifer Weuve ◽  
Robert D Brook ◽  
Denis A Evans ◽  
Joel D Kaufman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Antihypertensive Medication ◽  
Proportional Hazards Model ◽  
Cox Proportional Hazards ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Cox Proportional Hazards Model ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Incident Hypertension ◽  
Community Noise ◽  
The Us

Objectives: Over half the US population experiences noise levels above WHO recommendations yet little research within the US has examined the health effects of these exposures. Our objective is to investigate the associations between community noise and blood pressure in residents of Chicago. Methods: Participants were from two prospective cohort studies: the Multi Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) and the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP). MESA is a multi-site study of persons aged 45-84 years and free of clinical cardiovascular disease. CHAP is an open cohort initiated to study chronic conditions of aging among persons aged ≥65 years. This analysis focuses on the 5,167 participants of these cohorts living in Chicago with an average of 2.5 (CHAP) and 4.5 (MESA) assessments per participant, for systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure between 1999-2011. In both cohorts, hypertension was defined as taking antihypertensive medication, SBP ≥140 or DBP ≥ 90 mmHg. We estimated noise at participant addresses using land use regression models weighted according to participants’ 5-year residential history before each exam. Among those taking antihypertensive medication, blood pressure was adjusted using multiple imputation. Associations between noise and blood were estimated using linear mixed models. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate relative risk (RR) of incident hypertension. All models included calendar time, age, sex, race, income, education, neighborhood socioeconomic score, smoking, cohort, interaction between cohort and age, race, and gender, and NO x (a traffic-related air pollutant). Findings : At baseline, MESA participants were younger (63 vs 73 years) and more educated (36 vs. 3% with ≥graduate degree) than CHAP participants. MESA participants had higher noise levels (60 vs 56 dB) and lower blood pressures (e.g. SBP: 124 vs 135 mmHg) than CHAP participants. After adjusting for cohort and other confounders, we found that 10 dB higher residential noise levels were associated with 0.9 (95% CI: -0.2, 0.2; p=0.1) and 0.5 mmHg greater (95% CI: -0.1, 0.11; p=0.08) SBP and DBP, respectively. Similar associations were found within each cohort. Noise was not associated with incident hypertension overall (RR: 1.00; 95% CI: 0.8, 1.3, p=0.98) or within cohort. Conclusions: We found a suggestive association between noise and blood pressure levels, but no association with hypertension. This could be due to the lack of nighttime noise information, which has been shown to be more strongly associated with blood pressure outcomes than daytime levels or with the selection of healthy older participants.

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