Annoyance of Noise in the Infrasound Range; Study Design and Acoustic Presentation

Abstract

An increasing number of infrasound sources and the success in decreasing the acoustical emission and immission caused by noise sources at higher frequencies let the noise below 20 Hz come more in the focus. Many investigations concerning infrasound are done in the past, e.g. regarding the threshold of perception. However, none of the results gives a sufficient answer, which can essentially explain the number of infrasound complaints and can give a reliable recommendation for a limitation of the exposure to infrasound. Therefore, in a special laboratory study on behalf of the Federal Environmental Agency an interdisciplinary team of experts tried to answer this question. The test persons should hear several noise scenarios in a living room atmosphere in a very silent house for a scenario period of 30 minutes. They should hear the sound in an accustomed way, that means by loudspeaker, where the driver has to have low distortions in order to be sure, the reaction is exclusively caused by infrasound. The actions and organization to create these conditions for the investigation are described in this paper. In the papers of Müller et. al. and Schreckenberg et al, the physiological and psychological effects of infrasound in this study are described.