Author/Editor		Deželak, Ferdinand; Novak, Andrej
Title		Nevarnosti uporabe petard s poudarkom na akustičnih travmah
Type		članek
Source		In: Zbornik referatov. 5. mednarodna konferenca Globalna varnost; 2002 okt 6-9; Portorož. Ljubljana: Zavod za varstvo pri delu,
Publication year		2002
Volume		str. 1-10
Language		slo
Abstract		Firecrackers explosions, especially during a newyear time, present a serious problem throughout the world. It is well known, that they produce a tire hazard and risk of personal injuries. Such injuries can permanently influence the quality life of individual (the loss of sight, fingers, burns). In this article the attention is payd to acoustical traumas as one of the consequences of such explosions. Apart from permanent hearing loss, such explosions cause numerous extraaural effects, especially to persons not expecting them. Every stronger explosion acts as a stress factor. In this way it presents a scrious health hazard, especially for more sensible persons. Some investigations in European countries show a permanent hearing loss of teen-agers even before their first employment. An important part of them is due to exposition to tirecrackers explosions. Finally, it is worth to mention some social and environmental consequences of such explosions. Such explosions present a serious threat to many animals as well. For instance many dogs escape and are lost forever after such explosions, some of them become agressive as well, which can cause a serious social contlicts. Such explosions belong to a group of highfrequency impulsive noise, which is particulary hazardeous. Their sound pressure level at distance of some metres can highly exceed 140 dB, that is a limit level prescribed for hearing protection. This can further shift a hearing threeshold or even produce a deafness. At sound pressure levels above 140 dB a field of nonlinear acoustics begin. There not only a sound energy rcccived by ears is of importance, but many other factors as well. In this way the ear is not able to make rccovery after some time, as in the case of many other noise sources. The hearing loss becomes of permanent nature, although souud energy received is low due to short time of explosion.
Descriptors		HEARING LOSS, NOISE-INDUCED OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH EXPLOSIONS ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE