Noise Exposure Assessment at Military Rifle Ranges in South Korea

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate noise level exposures at different locations such as the left and right ears of the shooter, control room, waiting soldier location and drill ground. For this study, we visited two military rifle ranges and took measurements with a sound level meter(3M Quest SoundPro TM) at five different locations with values of Peak(dB(A)) and Max(dB(A)). The highest peak value of impulse noise level averaged 150.4 dB(A), ranging from 149.6 to 150.5 dB(A) at both the left and right ear sides. This result was significantly different between both left and right ear side locations and at other locations such as the control room, waiting soldier location, and drill ground(P < 0.001). Frequency of impulse noise exposure level showed that the left ear of shooter had the highest frequency(20 times) at over 150 dB(A). This study confirmed that there is a need for proper controls to reduce the amount of impulse noise exposure at military rifle ranges.