Valencia’s Cathedral Church Bell Acoustics Impact on the Hearing Abilities of Bell Ringers

Herminio Pérez Garrigues,Lorena Parra,Laura García,Jaime Lloret,Vanesa Pérez Guillén,Laura Cavallé,Blanca Pastor Gomis

doi:10.3390/ijerph16091564

Abstract

Studies on the effect of occupational noise have been widely performed for occupations such as construction workers, workers of factories or even musicians and workers of nightclubs. However, studies on the acoustics of church bells are very scarce and usually reported in languages other than English. In Spain, although the tradition of bell ringers is progressively getting lost, some bell ringers that continue transmitting the tradition remain. Church bells create sound with a large sound pressure level that can be heard from a great distance. However, despite the characteristics of the sound of church bells, bell ringers do not present symptoms of occupational hearing loss unlike musicians and construction workers. To determine the effects of the sound of the church bells on bell ringers, in this paper, an acoustic study of the church bells and a physiological study of the hearing abilities of bell ringers. Results show sound pressure levels reaching 120 dB inside the bell tower. The resulting hearing loss in bell ringers is small considering the great intensity of the sound produced by the bells. This is likely due to the short amount of time that bell ringers are exposed to the sound even if it reaches high sound pressure levels.

Highlights

The acoustic trauma or Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), is defined as the permanent functional damage in the ear caused by the exposure to high intensity sounds
The bell ringer tradition is getting lost, in the Cathedral of Valencia there are still several voluntary bell ringers that perform on special occasions
The high sound pressure levels given by the bells produce low hypoacusis in the bell ringers

Summary

Introduction

The acoustic trauma or Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), is defined as the permanent functional damage in the ear caused by the exposure to high intensity sounds. It can emerge in an acute manner after a single exposure to intensities higher than 140 dB, or chronically by a maintained exposure to more than 80 dB. The NIHL is a sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) that initially manifests as a loss in 4000 Hz. As the NIHL progresses, the damage affects all high frequencies. If the exposure is acute, it is possible to find one sole affected ear. The association between tinnitus and otalgia after the exposure is frequent

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