Lärm als Umweltproblem^†

Noise as an Environmental Problem. Anatomical structure and physiological function of the human ear are described. It is shown that constant noise stress leads to damage of certain parts of the inner ear. These damages proceed characteristically and may be diagnosed relatively early by means of audiometric tests. VDI-instructions 2058 (sheet 2) prescribes screening-tests for an earliest possible detection of incipient noise damage.

In addition to ear-damaging effects of noise there have also been recorded physiological reactions under noise influence. Such disturbances, however, cannot as yet be described as an “Extraaural disease”. On the other hand, the fact that high sound intensities of 100 dB (A) or more are harmless to human health cannot be proved, as an inverse proportional ratio between the amount of vegetative reaction and the floating away of the threshold of audibility (as indication for potential noise deafness) with hypercritical noise exposure was shown to exist.