The algorithm to predict hearing damage in the first 10 years is interpolated from the predicted median NIHL after 10 years of exposure and the assumed hearing threshold of 0 dB HL at buy MDV3100 the beginning of exposure (ISO 1990), resulting in a steep linear increase in hearing loss during the first years of exposure. A study of NIHL in railway workers showed that 20% of final hearing loss at 2 and 4 kHz was already

established after the first year of noise exposure. This highly exceeded the predictions of the ISO model, yet after 3–4 years of exposure data and model are in close agreement (Henderson and Saunders 1998). On the contrary, another study found only a slight increase in hearing threshold levels (HTLs) of construction apprentices after the first

3 years of employment in construction industry (Seixas et al. 2005), which was much smaller than predicted by ISO-1999. Because NIHL is preventable, hearing conservation programmes are established, often relying on employee’s use of hearing protection devices (HPDs) rather than on controlling the noise exposure at its source (Neitzel and Seixas 2005). Protection from HPDs depends largely on the consistency of usage, because noise exposure during non-use greatly reduces their effectiveness (Neitzel and Seixas 2005). Discomfort, hinder to communication and highly variable noise levels, which GSK1120212 datasheet are common in construction, can cause irregular use of HPDs (Suter 2002; Neitzel and Seixas 2005). Several studies focusing on the use of hearing protectors in construction demonstrated low level of HPD usage; Lusk et al. (1998) found that workers in different construction trades reported to wear protection during only

18–49% of the time exposed to self-reported high noise. In a more recent study, this percentage was 41% (Edelson et al. 2009). Neitzel and Seixas (2005) reported an even lower percentage of usage of less than 25% of the time that combined with the amount of attenuation resulted in negligible effective protection (Neitzel and Seixas 2005). Nevertheless, a study examining hearing loss in Canadian construction workers showed that FER HPD usage was common (>90%) and resulted in a protective effect on hearing (Hessel 2000). These different findings underline the complicating effects of the consistency of HPD usage in assessing the relationship between occupational noise exposure and NIHL. In addition, there is also a great variability in individual susceptibility to hearing loss (Henderson et al. 1993; Sliwinska-Kowalska et al. 2006), partly explained by other possible causes of hearing loss. These are both intrinsic and external factors (Sliwinska-Kowalska et al. 2006; Prince et al. 2003). Intrinsic factors are for example gender, race, genetics, medical history and hypertension (De Moraes Marchiori et al. 2006). External factors concern ototoxicity, leisure noise exposure, HPD usage and smoking (Mizoue et al. 2003; Wild et al.