Hi Bob, Joe et al., > "Since the length of the sound we hear at 100 dbs or so is short while > tuning I wonder if the cumulative effect is enough to damage our hearing. > > Bob Hull" > > Bob, > YES, it is! I hear a lot about hearing loss on this list. It doesn't surprise me. I also wonder about hearing loss for the pianists who slave away at their instruments for hours on end. The OSHA standards are pretty good for most applications, like tire shops and printing press rooms. However, there are a few things they don't reflect. The noise to which OSHA's documents refer is very broad-band -- white noise. The "noise" a piano tuner hears is very narrow-band. There is a disturbing and (I believe) yet unpublished finding that continuous exposure to a single tone, even at low dB SPL, can result in a permanent, measurable hearing loss to that frequency. As a novice, I notice I sometimes have to take longer than I should when tuning a stubborn string (e.g. with a jumpy pin) -- probably much longer than any of you. When that happens, I notice habituation to the frequency of that note. (Perhaps I notice it only because it is an interesting phenomenon to me, physiologically.) Anyway, when I notice that happening, I make it a point to move on to other notes and to come back later. I don't want to overly fatigue that area of my basilar membrane. Likewise, when calibrating audio equipment for my research, I tried to avoid working with any one frequency for too long. I don't think there are any good data concerning your type of narrow-band noise exposure. Realistically, I would think it wise to take the OSHA standards with a grain of salt and to be much more conservative. How much more? I haven't a clue. Peace, Sarah
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