The effects of impulse noise on hearing.

Abstract

Impulse noise is a peculiar type of noise that retains its separate status, both as a physical phenomenon and as an adverse influence exerted upon human recipients. The ongoing research and numerous experiments with animals and industrial populations have not yet fully explained its nature. There are no clear-cut standards of measurement procedures, an impulse evaluation, and no admissible intensity levels. A comprehensive review of both Polish and foreign literature on this subject shows that the following features have the most traumatizing effect on the hearing organs: peak value, impulse duration rate, spectrum composition, repetition frequency, equivalent energy level, and a total number of impulses.