Hearing loss due to partly impulsive industrial noise exposure at levels between 87 and 90 dB(A).
A cross-sectional epidemiological survey was carried out in a car-body workshop involving 234 workers divided into three groups according to age and noise exposure duration. Their hearing levels, determined by using a standardized audiometric testing procedure, were compared to those of a reference population not exposed to noise, to those of a population exposed to quasisteady noises at 95 dB(A), and also to ISO 1999-1987. Results reveal significant hearing loss after 9 years of exposure, greater than that from quasisteady noise exposure with the same equivalent continuous A-weighted sound-pressure level.
Thiery
L
L
Institut National de Recherche et de Securité (National Institute for Research and Safety in Occupational Health) (I.N.R.S.), Vandoeuvre, France.
Meyer-Bisch
C
C
D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D001336:Automobiles; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009623:Noise, Occupational / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D013997:Time Factors