Paxton Beth, Harvie-Clark Jack, Albert Max
Apex Acoustics, Design Works, Gateshead NE10 0JP, United Kingdom.
J Acoust Soc Am. 2018 Oct;144(4):2548. doi: 10.1121/1.5063811.
Concerns have been raised about potential health effects of public exposure to ultrasound; however, there are few published surveys of measurements taken in public places. Results are presented of measurements taken in a selection of public places including train stations, shopping centres, galleries and museums, and the difficulties of taking measurements with conventional equipment are highlighted. Tones were identified in the 20 kHz third-octave band at 8 of the 14 locations tested; the characteristics of the tones are consistent with their source being Public Address or Voice Alarm systems. The measured results do not exceed existing interim guidelines for public exposure to ultrasound, and existing research suggests that no significant undesirable effects would be anticipated following exposure to ultrasound of this nature for short periods. The measured data may be reviewed against future public exposure guidelines which consider the variation in response across the population and between continuous and pulsed sources.
公众暴露于超声波下对健康的潜在影响已引发关注；然而，关于在公共场所进行测量的已发表调查却很少。本文展示了在包括火车站、购物中心、美术馆和博物馆在内的一系列公共场所进行测量的结果，并强调了使用传统设备进行测量的困难。在所测试的14个地点中的8个地点，在20kHz的1/3倍频程频段中识别出了音调；这些音调的特征与其来源为公共广播或语音警报系统一致。测量结果未超过现有的公众暴露于超声波的临时指导方针，并且现有研究表明，短时间暴露于这种性质的超声波后，预计不会产生重大不良影响。可根据未来考虑人群反应差异以及连续和脉冲源之间差异的公众暴露指导方针来审查测量数据。
