Relative hazard of weapons impulses as a function of spectrum
G. Richard Price · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1982
All damage-risk criteria (DRC) in use predict that impulses from a cannon will be more hazardous than impulses from a rifle, pressure for pressure. Price [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Suppl. I 62, S95 (1977)] has argued that because of the spectral tuning of the ear, the reverse should be true. Essentially parallel experiments were conducted with 37 cats (74 ears) exposed once to 60 rounds, 3 to 4 s apart, at pressures from 145 to 155 dB (rifle) and 158 to 165 dB (105-mm cannon). Electrophysiological measures of sensitivity (wave P5 from the vertex and N1 from the round window) followed loss from the day of exposure to 2 months afterward. Permanent loss began at about 140 dB for the rifle impulses and 150–155 dB for the cannon. These results are consistent with the prediction and run counter to all rating schemes in use as well as some presently proposed [Smoorenburg, TNO Report 1980-26 (1980)]. Implications of theses findings for existing DRCs and for future developments will be discussed.