Skip to main content
PMC home page
Occupational and Environmental Medicine logoLink to Occupational and Environmental Medicine
. 2005 May;62(5):309–317. doi: 10.1136/oem.2004.018143

Prospective noise induced changes to hearing among construction industry apprentices

N Seixas 1, B Goldman 1, L Sheppard 1, R Neitzel 1, S Norton 1, S Kujawa 1
PMCID: PMC1741009  PMID: 15837852

Abstract

Aims: To characterise the development of noise induced damage to hearing.

Methods: Hearing and noise exposure were prospectively monitored among a cohort of newly enrolled construction industry apprentices and a comparison group of graduate students, using standard pure tone audiometry and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs). A total of 328 subjects (632 ears) were monitored annually an average of 3.4 times. In parallel to these measures, noise exposure and hearing protection device (HPD) use were extensively monitored during construction work tasks. Recreational/non-occupational exposures also were queried and monitored in subgroups of subjects. Trade specific mean exposure Leq levels, with and without accounting for the variable use of hearing protection in each trade, were calculated and used to group subjects by trade specific exposure level. Mixed effects models were used to estimate the change in hearing outcomes over time for each exposure group.

Results: Small but significant exposure related changes in DPOAEs over time were observed, especially at 4 kHz with stimulus levels (L1) between 50 and 75 dB, with less clear but similar patterns observed at 3 kHz. After controlling for covariates, the high exposure group had annual changes in 4 kHz emissions of about 0.5 dB per year. Pure tone audiometric thresholds displayed only slight trends towards increased threshold levels with increasing exposure groups. Some unexpected results were observed, including an apparent increase in DPOAEs among controls over time, and improvement in behavioural thresholds among controls at 6 kHz only.

Conclusions: Results indicate that construction apprentices in their first three years of work, with average noise exposures under 90 dBA, have measurable losses of hearing function. Despite numerous challenges in using DPOAEs for hearing surveillance in an industrial setting, they appear somewhat more sensitive to these early changes than is evident with standard pure tone audiometry.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (146.8 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Brown A. M., McDowell B., Forge A. Acoustic distortion products can be used to monitor the effects of chronic gentamicin treatment. Hear Res. 1989 Nov;42(2-3):143–156. doi: 10.1016/0378-5955(89)90140-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dallos P. The active cochlea. J Neurosci. 1992 Dec;12(12):4575–4585. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.12-12-04575.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Daniell William E., Fulton-Kehoe Deborah, Cohen Martin, Swan Susan S., Franklin Gary M. Increased reporting of occupational hearing loss: workers' compensation in Washington State, 1984-1998. Am J Ind Med. 2002 Dec;42(6):502–510. doi: 10.1002/ajim.10146. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Evans W. A., Ming H. Y. Industrial noise-induced hearing loss in Hong Kong--a comparative study. Ann Occup Hyg. 1982;25(1):63–80. doi: 10.1093/annhyg/25.1.63. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. GALLO R., GLORIG A. PERMANENT THRESHOLD SHIFT CHANGES PRODUCED BY NOISE EXPOSURE AND AGING. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J. 1964 May-Jun;25:237–245. doi: 10.1080/00028896409342582. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hall A. J., Lutman M. E. Methods for early identification of noise-induced hearing loss. Audiology. 1999 Sep-Oct;38(5):277–280. doi: 10.3109/00206099909073035. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hamernik R. P., Ahroon W. A., Lei S. F. The cubic distortion product otoacoustic emissions from the normal and noise-damaged chinchilla cochlea. J Acoust Soc Am. 1996 Aug;100(2 Pt 1):1003–1012. doi: 10.1121/1.416285. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Johnson D. L. Field studies: industrial exposures. J Acoust Soc Am. 1991 Jul;90(1):170–174. doi: 10.1121/1.401311. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kamal A. A., Mikael R. A., Faris R. Follow-up of hearing thresholds among forge hammering workers. Am J Ind Med. 1989;16(6):645–658. doi: 10.1002/ajim.4700160604. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Mensh B. D., Lonsbury-Martin B. L., Martin G. K. Distortion-product emissions in rabbit: II. Prediction of chronic-noise effects by brief pure-tone exposures. Hear Res. 1993 Oct;70(1):65–72. doi: 10.1016/0378-5955(93)90052-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Neitzel R., Seixas N. S., Camp J., Yost M. An assessment of occupational noise exposures in four construction trades. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J. 1999 Nov-Dec;60(6):807–817. doi: 10.1080/00028899908984506. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Prasher D., Sułkowski W. The role of otoacoustic emissions in screening and evaluation of noise damage. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 1999;12(2):183–192. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Seixas N. S., Kujawa S. G., Norton S., Sheppard L., Neitzel R., Slee A. Predictors of hearing threshold levels and distortion product otoacoustic emissions among noise exposed young adults. Occup Environ Med. 2004 Nov;61(11):899–907. doi: 10.1136/oem.2003.009209. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Seixas N. S., Ren K., Neitzel R., Camp J., Yost M. Noise exposure among construction electricians. AIHAJ. 2001 Sep-Oct;62(5):615–621. doi: 10.1080/15298660108984661. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Seixas Noah S., Sheppard Lianne, Neitzel Rick. Comparison of task-based estimates with full-shift measurements of noise exposure. AIHA J (Fairfax, Va) 2003 Nov-Dec;64(6):823–829. doi: 10.1202/524.1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Shi Y., Martin W. H. ABR and DPOAE detection of cochlear damage by gentamicin. J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol. 1997;8(3):141–155. doi: 10.1515/jbcpp.1997.8.3.141. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Skellett R. A., Crist J. R., Fallon M., Bobbin R. P. Chronic low-level noise exposure alters distortion product otoacoustic emissions. Hear Res. 1996 Sep 1;98(1-2):68–76. doi: 10.1016/0378-5955(96)00062-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Sliwińska-Kowalska Mariola, Zamyslowska-Szmytke Ewa, Szymczak Wieslaw, Kotylo Piotr, Fiszer Marta, Wesolowski Wiktor, Pawlaczyk-Luszczynska Malgorzata. Ototoxic effects of occupational exposure to styrene and co-exposure to styrene and noise. J Occup Environ Med. 2003 Jan;45(1):15–24. doi: 10.1097/00043764-200301000-00008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Suter Alice H. Construction noise: exposure, effects, and the potential for remediation; a review and analysis. AIHA J (Fairfax, Va) 2002 Nov-Dec;63(6):768–789. doi: 10.1080/15428110208984768. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. TAYLOR W., PEARSON J., MAIR A., BURNS W. STUDY OF NOISE AND HEARING IN JUTE WEAVING. J Acoust Soc Am. 1965 Jul;38:113–120. doi: 10.1121/1.1909580. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Thiery L., Meyer-Bisch C. Hearing loss due to partly impulsive industrial noise exposure at levels between 87 and 90 dB(A). J Acoust Soc Am. 1988 Aug;84(2):651–659. doi: 10.1121/1.396844. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Occupational and Environmental Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES