Sub-concussive blasts, ranging from about 140-180 dB Peak, are common in military and non-military environments. This type of noise exposure can be generated by small arms fire, explosions, jackhammers, nail guns, forging operations and others. There are serious short- and long-term potential health effects, both auditory and non-auditory, due to exposure to these blasts. Before the health effects can be completely understood and mitigated, the blasts must be accurately quantified. Nittany Acoustics proposes to design and manufacture a small, wearable blast dosimeter that records the blast events for later analysis with a personal computer application. The blast dosimeter will be non-obtrusive and designed for use on a daily basis. Data transfer to the host PC will be wireless and easy-to-understand reports will summarize the blast details including metrics related to damage-risk, including A- and B-duration, LAeq(8 hour) and L IAeq(100ms).
