Laboratory Study of the Effect of Exposure Time to Noise and Sound Pressure Level on Mental Fatigue and Release of Noradrenaline the in Human Body

Noise is one of the most common stress-inducing factors in a workplace and can cause many detrimental effects. Regarding this, the present study was conducted to investigate the effects of exposure time to noise and sound pressure level on mental fatigue and release of noradrenaline in the human body under lab situations. This study was conduced on 10 students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran, during 4 consecutive days. The subjects were exposed to the noise levels of 85 and 90 dB on the first (0.5 h)/second (1 h) and third (0.5 h)/fourth (1 h) days, respectively. They solved 20 mathematic questions before and after exposure to noise every day, and then marked their fatigue severity on a visual analog scale. In addition, blood samples were collected before and after exposure to noise. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (verion 20). The noradrenaline level estimated after 0.5 h exposure to 90 dB was significantly different with the level obtained after 1 h exposure to the same sound level (P=0.037). However, no significant difference was observed for other exposure durations. Furthermore, the mental fatigue degrees evalauted before exposure to the sound pressure levels of 85 and 90 dB were significanty different form those measured after exposure to these pressure levels in all situations. As the findings indicated, the elongation of time exposure to noise led to the elevation of mental fatigue; however, it resulted in no change in the level of noradrenaline. Furthermore, the rise of noise level from 85 to 90 dB did not lead to the elevation of mental fatigue and noradrenaline release. Consequently, it seems that increased exposure time to noise is more important in causing mental fatigue than the sound pressure level in a short period of time.