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Medical Definition of Acoustic reference level
1. The biological reference level for sound measurements. When the term decibel is used to indicate the noise level, a reference quantity is implied; this reference value is usually expressed as a sound pressure of 20 micronewtons per square meter. The reference level is referred to as 0 decibels, the baseline of the scale of noise level's; this baseline is considered the weakest sound that can be heard by a person with very good hearing in an extremely quiet location. Other equivalent reference level's still being used include 0.0002 microbar and 0.0002 dyne per square centimeter. (05 Mar 2000)