Advisor(s)

Jonghwa Oh

Committee Member(s)

Claudiu Lungu
Jo Anne Balanay

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

6-18-2026

Degree Name

Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH)

School

School of Public Health

Department

Environmental Health Sciences

Abstract

It is estimated that 22 million workers are exposed to potentially damaging noise at work each year. According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), active noise canceling (ANC) devices are generally not adequate to use for hearing protection in an occupation setting. This study examined the noise attenuation of AirPod Pros 3, to investigate how the device performs at different sound levels. AirPods Pros 3 and a CARL mannequin were used for this study. Two dosimeters were placed inside the mannequin’s right and left ear canals. A speaker played pink noise at external ear sound levels of 90, 95, and 100 dB(A). The sound was measured without the earbuds (LO), with the earbuds in place on CARL and ANC mode off (LC-OFF), and with the earbuds in with the ANC mode on (LC-ON) for two minutes each time. The experiment was repeated three times for each noise level. Passive insertion loss (PIL) was determined by subtracting LC-OFF from LO, active insertion loss (AIL) was determined by subtracting LC-ON from LC-OFF, and total insertion loss (TIL) was obtained by subtracting LC-ON from LO. The average PIL, AIL, and TIL were 10, 2.8, and 12.8 dB(A), respectively, at 90dB(A). At 95 dB(A), the PIL was 8.9 dB(A), the AIL was –3.3 dB(A), and the TIL was 6.7 dB(A). At 100 dB(A), the PIL was 8.8 dB(A), the AIL was –0.4 dB(A), and the TIL was 8.4 dB(A). The study results showed that noise reduction of the earbuds was achieved primarily by PIL and the ANC component did not provide additional attenuation at the higher noise levels tested. More thorough investigations are needed to follow to draw further conclusions.

Keywords

active noise canceling;airpods;hearing protection;insertion loss

Download

Share

COinS