[Is there a risk of noise-induced hearing loss in automobile drivers and in automobile sport racing?].

Professional racing drivers are exposed to extreme noise pollution by their high-capacity cars. For the purpose of evaluating the emissive noise of racing-cars, noise-level measurements on race-courses were undertaken. As a result noise-levels up to 130 dB (A) for the outer noises and 125 dB (A) for the inner region of the car were measured. Moreover, eighteen professional racing drivers as well as eleven employees, working in the pit, underwent audiometric investigations. Only one of the racing drivers showed noise deafness. This result can be explained by the short periods of exposure to the noise, which is 150-180 hours every year, and the regular wearing of ear-plugs. The employees working in the pits, however, showed distinct hearing impairments, explained above all, by their activities at the motor-test blocks. Incidentally this paper also deals with the noise sources of vehicles and the origin of noise deafness. There is no risk of noise deafness for this group of persons.