How many hours per day can you be exposed to a noise level of 102 dB?

How many hours per day can you be exposed to a noise level of 102 dB?

• A. 1 1/2 hours
• B. 1 hour
• C. 2 hours
• D. 3 hours

Answer: (A)

Loudness and time of exposure are linked by a dose concept: the louder the noise, the less time you can be exposed in a day. The standard reference is 90 dB for 8 hours, and for every 5 dB increase, the allowable exposure time roughly halves. To be precise, you can use T = 8 / 2^((L − 90)/5). For a noise level of 102 dB, (102 − 90)/5 = 2.4, so T ≈ 8 / 2^2.4 ≈ 8 / 5.28 ≈ 1.5 hours. So the maximum daily exposure is about 1.5 hours (roughly 1 hour 30 minutes). In practice, this sits between the 2 hours allowed at 100 dB and the 1 hour allowed at 105 dB, which aligns with choosing 1.5 hours. Options like 1 hour or 3 hours would either be too conservative or far exceed the safe limit, respectively.

Loudness and time of exposure are linked by a dose concept: the louder the noise, the less time you can be exposed in a day. The standard reference is 90 dB for 8 hours, and for every 5 dB increase, the allowable exposure time roughly halves. To be precise, you can use T = 8 / 2^((L − 90)/5). For a noise level of 102 dB, (102 − 90)/5 = 2.4, so T ≈ 8 / 2^2.4 ≈ 8 / 5.28 ≈ 1.5 hours. So the maximum daily exposure is about 1.5 hours (roughly 1 hour 30 minutes). In practice, this sits between the 2 hours allowed at 100 dB and the 1 hour allowed at 105 dB, which aligns with choosing 1.5 hours. Options like 1 hour or 3 hours would either be too conservative or far exceed the safe limit, respectively.