Research progress and application of time-domain kurtosis in assessment of noise-induced hearing loss
- VernacularTitle:时域峰度在噪声性听力损伤评估中的研究进展与应用
- Author:
Wei QIU
1
;
Meibian ZHANG
2
Author Information
- Publication Type:Editorialandcommentary
- Keywords: kurtosis; complex noise; noise-induced hearing loss; equivalent sound level; cumulative noise exposure; ISO 1999; occupational exposure limit
- From: Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine 2026;43(3):261-269
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
- Abstract: Complex noise is widespread in industrial environments, and its pronounced temporal impulsiveness leads to a systematic underestimation of hazard under equal-energy exposure. Recent studies have incorporated time-domain kurtosis (hereafter "kurtosis", β) into exposure characterization as a critical complement to energy metrics, clearly revealing the additional risk of noise-induced hearing loss attributable to temporal structure; accordingly, the evaluation paradigm is shifting from “noise energy” to “noise energy + noise temporal characteristics (kurtosis).” Evidence from epidemiology and animal experiments consistently shows that using kurtosis-adjusted equivalent sound level or cumulative exposure yields a more consistent dose-response across different noise types and markedly reduces the underestimation bias of ISO 1999 in high-kurtosis environments. In practice, we recommend full-shift waveform acquisition, calculating kurtosis in 1-minute windows, and using the geometric mean to obtain an overall full-shift kurtosis; alternatively, a segmented adjustment can be applied to derive a kurtosis-adjusted equivalent sound level for risk-based decision-making and task stratification. At the standards and policy level, ISO 1999 revision efforts have placed temporal structure/kurtosis on the agenda and proposed additional corrections for impact/impulsive noise; meanwhile, the evidence indicates that as β increases, permissible exposure limits should be reduced more conservatively and monitoring strengthened. This article advocates systematically embedding a kurtosis-adjusted evaluation framework in regulations/guidelines, accompanied by measurement technical specifications, quality control and harmonized algorithms, and industry pilots and training, with phased management provisions based on kurtosis thresholds, thereby advancing hearing protection from “quantity” to “quality.”
