Hazardous Exposure to Intermittent and Steady-State Noise

Abstract

The following document was prepared by NAS-NRC CHABA Working Group 46. This group was asked to specify damage-risk criteria for exposure to sound. The paper contains graphs of maximum sound-pressure levels and durations of exposures that the Working Group believes would be tolerable and examples of the use of these graphs in addition to background information and a discussion of the rationale, assumptions, limitations, and general problems pertinent to the development and application of a damage-risk criterion and related exposure contours.