EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF VISCERAL INJURIES OF RABBITS RESULTING FROM NOISE EXPOSURE

This paper described the characteristcs of visceral injuries of rabbits exposed to a wide-band noise field of 168 dB sound pressure level. The experimental results demonstrated that the sites of injuries were dependent on the posture of the animals. For animals in free posture or in prone posture, the most vulnerable organ is the lung, which opens to the outer atmosphere, and the next are the hollow organs such as the stomach and the intestines. For animals exposed in supine posture, the heart is usually as seriously injured as the lung, parts of the stomach, the intestine and the liver which are situated near the abdominal wall also show some significant injuries. Our experimental results revealed that the primary pathological cause of these organs is the mechanical effect of the sound waves.