NOISE POLLUTION

Dr. U. Sarath Kumar

2nd Year Post Graduate
Department of Community Medicine
SBMC&H
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BASIC TERMINOLOGY

 Frequency: Frequency is the no of

cycles repeated in unit time duration.
Its unit is cycle/sec or
Hz(1Hz=1Cycle/sec)

 Intensity:
Amount of sound energy
received / sec is known as intensity of
sound. Its Unit is decibel(dB).
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 Decibel: Decibel is define as the
logarithm to the base 10 to ratio of two
intensities

Lt =10log10(I/I0)dB

 Where, I=Measured Intensity

 I0=Reference Intensity
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 Lt=Level of noise in dB
 SOUND NOISE

 Pleasant to hear  Unpleasant to hear

 Constant pitch  Constantly varying pitch

 Regular periodic motion  No regular periodic motion

 Produces meaningful  Produces no meaningful

communication communication
 Unit is Hertz  Unit is decibel (dB)

(Hz) Hz= dB=10 log(intensity

cycle/sec. measured/reference
intensity)

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SOUND LEVEL METER

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SOUND AND HUMAN HEARING

 People generally hear sounds between the

“threshold of hearing” and the “threshold of pain”.
 In terms of pressure, this is 20 μPa – 100 Pa.

 The decibel scale was developed from this fact and

makes numbers more manageable.

 The decibel scale generally ranges from

approximately 0 to 130.

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WHAT IS NOISE POLLUTION ???
 unwanted sound that penetrates the
environment
 any noise irritating to one's ear which comes
from an external source
 in relatives terms one’s enjoyment may be
pollution to other.
 sound which pleases the listeners is music and
which causes pain and annoyance is noise.
 noise affect us in hearing, ability to communicate
and behavior.
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SOURCE OF NOISE POLLUTION

 Street traffic
 Rail traffic

 Road traffic

 Airplanes

 Constructions

 Indoor source (Radio, TV, AC, home appliances)

 Less maintained vehicles produce more sounds

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NOISE STANDARDS

Area code Category of area Limits in dB

Day time Night time

A Industrial area 75 70

B Commercial area 65 55

C Residential area 55 45

D Silence zone 50 40

Day time: 6 am to 9 pm
Night time: 9pm to 6 am 9
SOUND LEVEL FOR HUMAN RESPONSE

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EFFECTS OF NOISE POLLUTION

 Loss of hearing
 Annoyance

 Health effects

 Interference with communication

 Working efficiency

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Loss of hearing – due to exposure of noise, which
termed as artificial hearing loss.

1. Noise induced temporary threshold shifts (NITTS)-

due to exposure to loud noise like bursting of
crackers. Recovered in a short period of time.

2. Noise induced permanent threshold shifts

(NIPTS)- because of exposure to loud noise for
long period time.

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Annoyance – subjective matter for sound/noise.
 Someone may like classical music, it may annoy
others.
 Annoyance is felt about 75 to 85 dB.

 Blood vessel get constricted, breathing rate

affected.
Health effects –
Effects on physical health.
 Auditory effects- short time and long time effects.
Acoustic trauma due to high intensity impulsive
noise of about 150 dB or more.
 Non-auditory effects- exposure to loud noise
increase pulse rate and blood pressure change.
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 Effects on mental health- lack of conc. at high
noise level and mental disturbance.

Interference with communication – background noise

affect the efficiency of offices, schools and other
places where communication is vital importance.
 External sound also interfere with conversation
and use of telephone as well as enjoyment of
radio and TV.
 Maximum acceptable limit of noise 55dB.

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Working efficiency – decrease the working efficiency
drastically. Experiments indicate that irregular
bursts of noise are more disruptive than steady
noise.
 Sound levels of 90 dB may interfere with the
performance of a task.

Other effects
 Sleep interference

 Personal comfort interference

 Effects on wild life

 Increased industrial accidents.

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