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Noise Exposure Assessment at Military Rifle Ranges in South Korea  

Hwang, Sung Ho (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ajou University, School of Medicine)
Park, Jae Bum (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ajou University, School of Medicine)
Publication Information
Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene / v.23, no.3, 2013 , pp. 261-265 More about this Journal
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate noise level exposures at different locations such as the left and right ears of the shooter, control room, waiting soldier location and drill ground. For this study, we visited two military rifle ranges and took measurements with a sound level meter (3M Quest SoundPro TM) at five different locations with values of Peak (dB(A)) and Max (dB(A)). The highest peak value of impulse noise level averaged 150.4 dB(A), ranging from 149.6 to 150.5 dB(A) at both the left and right ear sides. This result was significantly different between both left and right ear side locations and at other locations such as the control room, waiting soldier location, and drill ground (P < 0.001). Frequency of impulse noise exposure level showed that the left ear of shooter had the highest frequency (20 times) at over 150 dB(A). This study confirmed that there is a need for proper controls to reduce the amount of impulse noise exposure at military rifle ranges.
Keywords
military; noise exposure; impulse noise; shooting practice;
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Times Cited By KSCI : 1  (Citation Analysis)
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