Hearing loss due to partly impulsive industrial noise exposure at levels between 87 and 90 dB(A)

Abstract

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.