ANNOYANCE CAUSED BY NOISE FROM HEAVY WEAPON SHOOTING RANGES

A social survey investigation was made in 20 areas around eight shooti ng ranges for heavy weapons to test the applicability of a non-linear dose-response relationship with a breakpoint for number of events. The noise exposure was expressed using the integrated value L(CDN) as wel l as the number of events at different levels and the noise levels fro m the noisiest events. The extent of annoyance was determined among 14 83 randomly selected persons using a postal questionnaire. Heavy weapo n shooting noise (HWSN) caused interference with rest, recreation and sleep and the effects were experienced as most annoying in the evening and at night. When the exposure was expressed as the number of shots with a level higher than 90L(CS) and the highest L(CX) value at each s ide as independent variables, a non-linear dose-response relationship with a breakpoint for the number of events at a very low number was fo und. The shape of the dose-response curve was similar to the one earli er found for other types of environmental noises. It is suggested that guidelines for HWSN be based on this type of dose-response relationsh ip. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited