Noise exposure levels of priests and worshippers in protestant churches.

Context. Worship in Protestant churches in Brazil is very noisy. Thus, this practice may pose a hearing risk. Aims. To evaluate the priests' and worshippers' noise exposure during worship. Settings and design. The analysis was carried out in 5 churches located in the city of São José dos Campos, Brazil. Methods and material. To estimate the worshippers' noise exposure, an author of this study was also submitted to dosimetry. The methodology was based on Fundacentro's Occupational Hygiene Standard No. NHO-01 (2001). Weekly noise exposure was estimated according to the priest's information about the number of services in the period. Results. The priest's noise exposure was over the recommended limits. The normalized exposure level varied between 95.4 to 99.5 dB(A). In 2 of the churches, the noise exposure registered, with values of 85.3 and 86.5 dB(A), may also pose risk to the worshippers. Conclusions. Worship in the churches generated sound pressure levels that imply health risk, especially to priests, so hearing conservation programs with adequate acoustical sanitation measures must be implemented there.