ASYMPTOTIC-BEHAVIOR OF TEMPORARY THRESHOLD SHIFT AND RECOVERY FROM 24-HOUR AND 48-HOUR NOISE EXPOSURES

  • 1 January 1977
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 48  (4) , 311-315
Abstract
Temporary hearing loss (TTS) from long-duration noise exposure reached an asymptote from 8-16 h and did not increase further during continued exposure for durations of at least 48 h. Potential auditory hazards of long-duration exposures were examined in terms of growth and recovery patterns of TTS. TTS growth and recovery patterns were compared during 24 and 48 h exposures of humans to continuous pink noise at a level of 85 dB A-weighted. Similar patterns of acquisition and relatively equal amounts of TTS for the 2 exposure durations were found. Recovery of preexposure hearing at 4000 Hz following termination of the 48 h noise exposure differed somewhat from that which followed the 24 h exposure. The implications of these findings for long missions in noisy environments were discussed.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: