An Exploratory Study of Hearing and Noise Exposure in Textile Workers

Abstract

Audiometric and clinical otological examinations were made on a group of volunteers from persons engaged in the textile industry. After rejection of those with ear disease, the hearing thresholds of the remainder were compared with those thresholds previously obtained from a rural population. The audiometric and clinical examinations were repeated 3 years later. The auditory thresholds of these textile workers as a whole, not all of whom were engaged in noisy work, were found to be higher (i.e. poorer hearing) than those of the rural population. A deterioration in auditory threshold of noise-exposed groups of spinners and weavers compared to a control group not exposed to noise, was detected only at 2000 c/s and 8000 c/s in weavers. At 4000 c/s the deterioration was inversely related to the initial hearing level. The occupational noise was examined in relation to these hearing changes.