Characteristics of Personal Sound and Noise Exposure at Large-Scale Music Events

Regulations governing sound exposure at amplified-music events aim to safeguard audience’s hearing. However, current sound monitoring practices often rely on a single measurement position that is considered representative of individual exposure. Because this standard practice overlooks crucial inter-subject variation in sound exposure, this study analyzes individual dosimeter sound level exposure at large-scale music events to gain insight into this matter while comparing findings to local and global guidelines. Dosimeters were worn by 42 participants (19 female and 23 male, aged 18–25) and recorded octave bands and A/C-weighted sound levels at six large-scale music events (+4.000 visitors). Individual single-day exposure duration varied between 4.4 and 11.8 h. At four out of the six events, individual doses surpassed the WHO 100 dBA LAeq,15min recommendation, with most subjects also exceeding the ISO Standard 1999:2003 occupational limit and the WHO’s 100-dBA-for-4-h threshold (16 Pa2h). Equivalent exposures spanned 85.2–104.5 dBA (LAeq) and 97.1–119.6 dBC (LCeq) among participants. Additionally, LCpeak values fluctuated between 133.6 and 143.5 dBC. These findings highlight a discrepancy between the fixed-location exposure monitoring, as per country-specific legislation, and the actual potentially harmful exposure experienced by event attendees. These results can inspire safe-listening guidelines for such music events and offer insight into the representative degree of a single-position measure.