Abstract
The real-ear-attenuation-at-threshold (REAT) procedure was used to measure the stability of the sound attenuation provided by earplugs over time. Two earplugs were evaluated (E-A-R plug and V-51 plug) on six-eight normal-hearing young adults. Attenuation was measured at 500, 1000, 4000, and 8000 Hz following “use” of the protector for 1, 7, 14, 28, 56, and 84 days. “Use” of the protector consisted of insertion of the earplug for a period of 5 min, repeated five times daily. The E-A-R plug demonstrated greater attenuation on the initial day of testing, prior to repeated use. The E-A-R protector, however, exhibited a 10–15 dB decrease in attenuation at all frequencies at the end of the test period while the V-51 plug demonstrated stable attenuation throughout the 84-day period. Consequently, the E-A-R plug provided greater attenuation than the V-51 plug following short periods of use (⩽28 days) while the V-51 plug offered more attenuation following longer periods of use (56 and 84 days). [Work supported by Grant 5-R01-OH00895 from NIOSH.]
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