Whole-Body Vibration Exposure in Urban Motorcycle Riders

Twenty-two male and twenty-three female motorcycle riders performed ninety test runs on six 20-km paved urban routes. Root mean square of acceleration, 8-hour estimated vibration dose value (VDV ₍₈₎), and 8-hour estimated daily static compression dose (S _ed ) were determined in accordance with ISO 2631-1 (1997) and ISO 2631-5 (2004) standards. The analytical results indicated that over 90 % of the motorcycle riders revealed VDV ₍₈₎ exceeding the upper boundary of health guidance caution zone (17 m/s^1.75) recommended by ISO 2631-1 or S _ed exceeding the value associated with a high probability of adverse health effects (0.8 MPa) according to ISO 2631-5. Over 50 % of the motorcycle riders exceeded exposure limits for VDV and S _e within 3 h. Significantly greater exposure levels were observed in male participants than in female participants for VDV ₍₈₎ (p < 0.05) and S _ed (p < 0.005). The health impacts of WBV exposure in motorcycle riders should be carefully addressed with reference to ISO standards.