Alf Axelsson
Hear. Res. Lab., Lindholmen Dev., Box 8714, S-402 75, Goteborg, Sweden
Many efforts have been made lately to combat occupational noise exposure, and the situation in many industries concerning noise preventive measures seems promising. Conversely, with regard to recreational activities the situation seems less promising. There are reasons to raise concerns about noisy activities such as personal cassette players (PCPs), pop/rock concerts, car stereos, motor sport, shooting activities, etc. For most of the musically oriented activities the situation is probably generally satisfactory; even if the sound levels frequently are very high, the exposure time and number of exposures/year is limited. For impulsive noisy activities the situation is more serious. As is well known, the impulsive noise in connection with the use of weapons, fire-crackers, and toy-cap guns without hearing protection may lead to a permanent noise induced hearing loss under accidental conditions. The general attitude concerning recreational noisy activities should obviously be to strive for lower sound levels, limited exposure, and better use of hearing protection.