Exposure to firework noise in festivals
Regular paper
University of Porto- DemSSO - IFPE, Brazil
Tuesday 2 june, 2015, 14:20 - 14:40
0.3 Copenhagen (49)
Abstract:
Exposure to impulsive noise produced by firework has a higher level of risk to
human health than exposure to continuous noise. Aware of the problems related
to this type of exposure, the European Union (EU) published the Directive
2013/29/EU that establishes a maximum sound level of 120 dB (A, imp) at
several distances of launching point depending on the type of artifact. The
present work aims to investigate the levels of exposure to which the
population and workers are exposed when participating in festivals or
pilgrimages. This research was done in northern Portugal during summer. Five
events were evaluated and parameters such as LAeq, LA10, LA50, LA90 were
recorded. In the measurements, the device was on during the time the
explosions occurred, and in one case was about 30 minutes. During the
measurements people of all ages, from babies to seniors, as well as
professionals such as musicians, police officers, firefighters, merchants and
others, were seen without adequate protection, exposed to values that exceed
the maximum level provided by the EU and in some cases reaching 137 dB(A),
which is a high risk to those exposed. This paper presents the measurements
done and the main results found. For example LAeq values ranged from 87 to 100
dB and the maximum statistical sound levels were 104 dB for LA10, 88 dB for
LA50 and 79 dB for LA90.