Influence of a wearer's voice on noise dosimeter measurements

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Vol. 131; no. 2; pp. 1183 - 1193
• Main Authors: Ryherd, Steven, Kleiner, Mendel, Waye, Kerstin Persson, Ryherd, Erica E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melville, NY Acoustical Society of America 01.02.2012; American Institute of Physics
• Subjects: Acoustical measurements and instrumentation; Acoustics; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin; Audiometry - methods; Environment Design; Environmental Exposure; Exact sciences and technology; Female; Fluid Mechanics; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Hearing; Humans; Male; Noise; Noise: its effects and control; Occupational Health and Environmental Health; Physics; Psychoacoustics; Sound Pressure Level; Speech; Speech - physiology; speech production; Strömningsmekanik; Voice - physiology; Young Adult; Dosimeter; Noise pollution
• ISSN: 0001-4966; 1520-8524; 1520-9024; 1520-8524
• DOI: 10.1121/1.3675941

In recent years, interest in personal noise exposure has expanded beyond a workplace safety measure to become an effective means of investigating physiological effects of the acoustic environment on an individual. This work investigates the effects of the wearer's voice as a possible dominant sound source on body-mounted noise dosimeters and develops methods to improve the application of dosimeter measurements in medium-level noise environments. Subjects experienced a controlled set of acoustic conditions while wearing a dosimeter. In each condition, sound pressure levels were recorded with and without the subject speaking controlled phrases. Three experimental variables were considered-room type, noise type, and noise level. All three variables had a statistically significant effect upon the contribution of speech to a dosimeter measurement; for example, noise level was shown to cause a change in speech contribution by as much as 5.5dB between sequential levels. Based upon the analysis, a method of predicting the decibel contribution of a wearer's voice was developed. The results of this study can be used to estimate the effect of a wearer's voice on dosimeter measurements in medium-level noise environments.