Abstracts Category : Other

Evaluation of Noise in a College Football Stadium

by Jessica Lee Taylor

Noise exposure during spectator events has the abilityto impact event workers, event participants and spectators. Thisstudy characterized the noise exposure of workers and spectatorsduring Division I college football games. Noise levels weremeasured during three Division I college football games todetermine whether the noise levels exceeded standards andguidelines. Noise levels were measured using a set of dosimeters(Larson Davis Spark 705+) placed throughout the football stadium tocharacterize noise generated by the cannon, the band, the studentssection, field level game noise and stadium level crowd noise.During all three games, the mean Leq (dBA) was statisticallysignificantly greater in the Students Section compared to the otherarea locations measured; also, the mean Leq (dBA) was statisticallysignificantly greater when the home team scored a touchdown. Duringall three games, the peak SPL was statistically significantlygreater when the cannon was fired. The results of this studyindicated that workers, players, and spectators may be exposed tohazardous noise during a college football game. The ACGIH TLV fornoise was not exceeded based on the monitoring period, but fiveinstances exceeded the peak C-weighted level.Advisors/Committee Members: Valigosky, Michael (Committee Chair).