Quiet Down! Lowering the Recommended Occupational Noise Exposure Limit

Published by Acoustical Society of America

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) recommended exposure limit for occupational noise is often cited as the upper limit for loudness in all situations-- but that's not actually the case. Worse, the limit may not even fit modern ears, which face a barrage of loud sound in and out of the workplace, starting at an early age. In this episode, we talk to Daniel Fink of Quiet Coalition about how NIOSH's recommended exposure limit for occupational noise impacts even those of us in quiet workplaces, and why the limit needs to be revised downwards. Listen to the podcast here.

Associated paper: Daniel Fink. "The recommended exposure limit for occupational noise needs to be revised downwards." Proc. Mtgs. Acoust. 50, 040002 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1121/2.0001729.