Perda auditiva induzida por ruído e o uso de protetores auditivos em indústrias metalúrgicas brasileiras

Abstract

Metallurgical industries contain a large population of workers exposed to high sound pressure levels. There are many Brazilians studies that relate this economic activity with high occurrences of Noise Induced Hearing Loss. Ear protective devices should be used as individual protective mechanism until engineering improvements are taken to reduce the noise level in the environment and effectively preserve the hearing of exposed population. The present study aimed to investigate, through a literature review, the registered information concerning the proportion of use of hearing protectors, noise level in the work environment and the prevalence of Noise Induced Hearing Loss among workers exposed to noise in Brazilian metallurgical industries. The prevalence of cases suggestive of Noise Induced Hearing Loss proved to be quite high in all industrial plants analyzed, even with register of high proportions of regular use of the Equipment Hearing Protection. The maximum noise intensity recorded among the companies analyzed reached 105 dB (A), and the minimum 65 dB (A). These results show that exposure to excessive noise continues and many workers are not adequately using hearing protectors, representing a risk for workers' health by developing Noise Induced Hearing Loss.