Auditory risk of air rifles

Details

• Personal Author:
  Finan, Donald S. ; Flamme, Gregory A. ; Lankford, James E. ; Meinke, Deanna K. ; Murphy, William J. ; Stewart M ; Tasko S
• Description:
  Objective: To characterize the impulse noise exposure and auditory risk for air rifle users for both youth and adults. Design: Acoustic characteristics were examined and the auditory risk estimates were evaluated using contemporary damage-risk criteria for unprotected adult listeners and the 120-dB peak limit and LAeq75 exposure limit suggested by the World Health Organization (1999) for children. Study sample: Impulses were generated by nine pellet air rifles and one BB air rifle. Results: None of the air rifles generated peak levels that exceeded the 140 dB peak limit for adults, and eight (80%) exceeded the 120 dB peak SPL limit for youth. In general, for both adults and youth, there is minimal auditory risk when shooting fewer than 100 unprotected shots with pellet air rifles. Air rifles with suppressors were less hazardous than those without suppressors, and the pellet air rifles with higher velocities were generally more hazardous than those with lower velocities. Conclusion: To minimize auditory risk, youth should utilize air rifles with an integrated suppressor and lower velocity ratings. Air rifle shooters are advised to wear hearing protection whenever engaging in shooting activities in order to gain self-efficacy and model appropriate hearing health behaviors necessary for recreational firearm use. © 2016 British Society of Audiology, International Society of Audiology, and Nordic Audiological Society. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Adolescent
  • Air Pressure
  • Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced
  • Men
  • Noise
  • Noise, Occupational
  • Occupational Health
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • Safety
  More +
• Keywords:
  • Noise-exposure
  • Noise-levels
  • Noise-sources
  • Exposure-levels
  • Noise-induced-hearing-loss
  • Impulse-noise
  • Risk-factors
  • Air-pressure
  • Humans
  • Men
  More +
• ISSN:
  1499-2027
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; Illinois ; Michigan ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  55
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047505
• Citation:
  Int J Audiol 2016 Feb; 55(Suppl 1):S51-S58
• Contact Point Address:
  Deanna K. Meinke, University of Northern Colorado, ASLS Campus Box 140, Greeley, CO 80639, USA
• Email:
  Deanna.Meinke@unco.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing ; Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Audiology
• Supplement:
  1
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202555/cdc_202555_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 985.95 KB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:039ed111558c6edbcf55194814b9b08de9b6a714f15d1bd21bfeb2bd20aaff803f909dcc21a9d61256137e8874c2145d67d5562b900bf6a99a4cc0799e21a01b