Objective To evaluate the effects of occupational noise exposure on the hearing, blood pressure, and electrocardiogram of new recruitments among young workers.
Methods A total of 367 new and young workers with normal hearing in pre-employment examination were admitted to the study who were identified from occupational health examination institutes in Nanjing from 2011 to 2013. Changes in noise induced hearing loss (NIHL), blood pressure, and electrocardiogram were analyzed using the health examination data on pre-, first-year, and second-year employment.
Results The detection rate of average binaural high frequency hearing loss>25 dB (A) was 4.63% for the young workers with one year of occupational noise exposure and 3.77% for those with two years of exposure. Three workers were diagnosed as noise-sensitivityhearing threshold of any ear at any high frequency ≥ 65 dB(A) after one-year noise exposure. Systolic blood pressure was significant increased after oneyear noise exposure, and consecutively rose in two years in the male workers. The prevalence of hypertension in the female workers was increased after one-year noise exposure. The males workers' abnormal electrocardiogram rates including cardiac arrhythmias and other abnormalities (such as bundle branch block and ST-T change) had a significant increase after one-year noise exposure.
Conclusion Hearing loss and cardiovascular disorders might be induced by exposure to occupational noise of new recruitment among young workers. The comparatively high incidence of NIHL in the first-year health examination might be associated with susceptibility.
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