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Public exposure to ultrasound and very high-frequency sound in air

Public exposure to ultrasound and very high-frequency sound in air
Public exposure to ultrasound and very high-frequency sound in air
Recent work showing the presence of a new generation of ultrasound (US) sources in public places has reopened the debate about whether there are adverse effects of US on humans, and has identified weaknesses in standards and exposure guidelines. Systems that rely on very high-frequency sound (VHFS) and US include public-address voice-alarm (PAVA) systems (whose operational status is often monitored using tones at ~20 kHz) and pest deterrents. In this study, sound pressure levels produced by 16 sources that were either publically available or were installed in busy public spaces were measured. These sources were identified through a citizen science project, where members of the public were asked to provide smartphone recordings of VHFS/US sources. With measurements made in realistic listening positions, pest deterrents were found that produced levels of up to 100 dB SPL at ~ 20 kHz and a hand dryer was found to produce 84 dB SPL at 40 kHz. PAVA systems were found to emit lower levels of up to 76 dB SPL at ~ 20 kHz. Pest deterrents measured breach recommended safe listening limits for public exposure for people who are nearby even for relatively short periods.
0001-4966
2554-2564
Fletcher, Mark
ac11588a-fafe-4dbb-8b3c-80a6ff030546
Lloyd Jones, Sian
a6c2a3b2-5f72-453f-9971-74f72e44c8eb
White, Paul
2dd2477b-5aa9-42e2-9d19-0806d994eaba
Dolder, Craig
b08350be-fd09-4049-95bd-06a9c157a8bc
Lineton, Ben
1ace4e96-34da-4fc4-bc17-a1d82b2ba0e2
Leighton, Timothy
3e5262ce-1d7d-42eb-b013-fcc5c286bbae
Fletcher, Mark
ac11588a-fafe-4dbb-8b3c-80a6ff030546
Lloyd Jones, Sian
a6c2a3b2-5f72-453f-9971-74f72e44c8eb
White, Paul
2dd2477b-5aa9-42e2-9d19-0806d994eaba
Dolder, Craig
b08350be-fd09-4049-95bd-06a9c157a8bc
Lineton, Ben
1ace4e96-34da-4fc4-bc17-a1d82b2ba0e2
Leighton, Timothy
3e5262ce-1d7d-42eb-b013-fcc5c286bbae

Fletcher, Mark, Lloyd Jones, Sian, White, Paul, Dolder, Craig, Lineton, Ben and Leighton, Timothy (2018) Public exposure to ultrasound and very high-frequency sound in air. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 144 (4), 2554-2564. (doi:10.1121/1.5063817).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Recent work showing the presence of a new generation of ultrasound (US) sources in public places has reopened the debate about whether there are adverse effects of US on humans, and has identified weaknesses in standards and exposure guidelines. Systems that rely on very high-frequency sound (VHFS) and US include public-address voice-alarm (PAVA) systems (whose operational status is often monitored using tones at ~20 kHz) and pest deterrents. In this study, sound pressure levels produced by 16 sources that were either publically available or were installed in busy public spaces were measured. These sources were identified through a citizen science project, where members of the public were asked to provide smartphone recordings of VHFS/US sources. With measurements made in realistic listening positions, pest deterrents were found that produced levels of up to 100 dB SPL at ~ 20 kHz and a hand dryer was found to produce 84 dB SPL at 40 kHz. PAVA systems were found to emit lower levels of up to 76 dB SPL at ~ 20 kHz. Pest deterrents measured breach recommended safe listening limits for public exposure for people who are nearby even for relatively short periods.

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Public exposure to ultrasound - Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 28 February 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 31 October 2018
Published date: October 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 418770
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/418770
ISSN: 0001-4966
PURE UUID: d88f285f-3e82-49ed-bd48-2fb29747f535
ORCID for Paul White: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4787-8713
ORCID for Craig Dolder: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0817-326X
ORCID for Ben Lineton: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4784-7762
ORCID for Timothy Leighton: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1649-8750

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Date deposited: 21 Mar 2018 17:30
Last modified: 12 Jul 2024 04:08

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Contributors

Author: Mark Fletcher
Author: Sian Lloyd Jones
Author: Paul White ORCID iD
Author: Craig Dolder ORCID iD
Author: Ben Lineton ORCID iD

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