Site icon EcoWowLife

Sources of noise pollution prevention and control tips!!

Atiqur Rahman Mollick

To combat noise pollution, is it imperative to rectify the sources of noise pollution. Because if we didn’t understand the primary and secondary root of noise pollution, then it becomes more challenging to counter sound pollution.
Noise pollution is significant pollution; development is directly related to this pollution; constriction, transportation, industrial activity, household utilities, social event are the primary sources of noise pollution.
Noise pollution sources are categories in two segments-

  1. Out-of-doors or External sources of Noise Pollution.

2. Indoor sources of Noise Pollution.

In this writeup, I am trying to brief almost every component related to noise pollution, such as its causes, effects in wildlife and marine life, brief about white noise, and some cool tips for avoiding noise pollution along with the socio-economic impact of noise pollution.

This pollution damages human health, such as in different ways like hearing damages, hypertension, and inadequate sleep, etc.

The right amount of money every year; people from various parts of the world need to pay for it. Unfortunately, most of them are from poor and under developing countries.
Wildlife and marine ecosystem also being affected because of this pollution. Two significant problems they are facing.
First of all, they are facing a problem with communication as animals have a deficient sound system within their community; it’s permits them to communicate them and attract them with their partners. Still, due to noise pollution, this sound layer gets effected and disruption, so they fail to do their regular course of action properly, Ultimately this leads to low about reproduction and affects there demographic condition.

Some action needs to be taken so that we can face these challenges properly. Among them, some need to take by the government & agencies and from an individual level.

Why it’s important to identify sources of noise pollution?

Noise is any unwanted sound. Noise pollution is a severe problem in today’s world. Despise urban and rural parity people from all the places suffering directly or indirectly for this. Noise has a link with society and culture directly. 

A significant portion of noise comes from these sources. The world health organization is saying 1.6 million healthy life years lost annually in the EU due to environmental noise exposure. 

Noise is such a problem which is produced from different sources. Noise pollution causing damages to human health as well as wildlife and marine life. Species like birds highly depend on sounds for signaling and attract their partners, due to excess noise pollution now they fail to do so. 

This leads to adverse effects of demographic change in birds population. Earlier noise pollution was urban pollution as in metropolitan cities concentration of traffic, construction work, using loudspeaker use more, while this scenario has changed. 

Nowadays, in rural places, noise is also a severe concern .using agro machinery is creating a high level of noise, which is creating harm is rural areas. Not only human is suffering because of it, but the entire ecosystem is also suffering from this. 

Well by this time you may think noise pollution is only a concern for land unfortunately not. It’s a big concern for the marine ecosystem too. 

Using military gadgets like a torpedo, the explosion creates huge noise inside the sea. Which misled the marina organism, especially blue, while to detect their partner, as these animals move through signaling to each other, it also reduces the reproduction ability of this species.

Sources Of Noise Pollution Categories In Two Segments-

There are several sources of noise pollution, most of them are related to our lifestyle and behavioral pattern, lack of awareness turning these causes into hazards. Its time to discuss the primary and other sources of sound pollution. Noise pollution categorize in two segment-

  1. Out-of-doors or External source.
  2. Indoor source.

Lets brief above those sources-

# Out-of-doors or External sources of Noise Pollution-

some of the most common Out-of-doors or External sources of Noise Pollution are.

Construction source of noise pollution:

Construction side is another important source of noise pollution. Operations like Diesel power generators, cutting and welding processes, Heavy machinery like trucks, Transport of materials make noise on a large scale. This is creating serious health hazards of the people who are involving with the constrictions also general citizens, and the surrounding environment.

Industrial source of noise pollution:

The industry is another source of noise pollution. Almost every industry creates noise pollution. Factory uses machine-like rotors, gears, fans, vibrating panels, turbulent fluid flow, impact processes, electrical machines, internal combustion engines, etc. produces a high level of noise pollution.

Social event source of noise pollution:

Many social events created noise pollution. As for different purposes like for reaching to the customer, branding catches the targeted audience various stakeholders use micks. While sometimes, the amount, frequency, and distances of micks make that area polluted. At the same time separate public ceremony like nationals days this.

Agricultural Machinery

Agricultural machinery has a tremendous contribution to the food production sector. It also ensures food safety for the countries, But there is another part of the story for machines like a tractor, thrashers, power saws, tractors, power tillers, and combine harvesters. They produce such an amount of noise, which is harming the calm environment in the countryside peaceful environment.

Public Addressing 

In some countries, peoples use loudspeakers for several purposes, including the Promotion of goods, political campaigns, addressing social and local issues, and religious functions. But this is also contributing to noise pollution. 

Poor urban planning 

Poor urban planning leads to noise pollution. In our daily life, due to this, a cumulative effect comes to society. Developing countries where urban planning have done by compromising the standard are sufferings from these problems. In these countries, they fail to do land management in between residential areas, commercial areas, national highway, and other places. 

#Indoor sources of sound Pollution-

Household Utilities:

Almost every household some of the gadgets for the day to day life like blander, pressure cooker, mixer-grinders, desert coolers, air conditioners, sewing machines, and vacuum cleaners. This instrument, used on a large scale, causes noise pollution for the neighborhood. Simultaneously instruments like audio players, televisions, radio, and most importantly, musical instruments create noise pollution for the community.

Official Utilities and equipment:

Official utility and equipment such as AC, refrigerator, scanner, printer, coffee machine, vacuum cleaner etc office types of equipment occurred a massive level of noise pollution.  

Internals Construction works and workshops:

Sometimes internal construction works, workshop, civil building construction works, causes noise pollution. These sources of sound pollution are secondary sources of sound pollution.

In the following section, I will discuss the effect of noise pollution on human health.

Effects Of Noise Pollution On Human Health

Generally, we understand that human being only suffer hearing problems, but unfortunately, it’s only one of the few many. People are unwilling to experiencing many issues that have directly or indirectly link with noise pollution. Significant effects of noise pollution on human health are

#Damage to eardrums and loss of hearing: 

Unwanted sounds that our ears have not been trained to filter out can cause us problems. Excess noise can result in being damaged by eardrums and consequent loss of hearing. The average person can hear sound 0-15 dB. 

This can vary on individuals, but if the sound reaches 85 dB or more than it can cause permanent damages of hearing. 

#Stress- 

it’s the fundamental source of several human health hazards. People suffer from anxiety due to noise pollution in their neighborhoods. The sound coming from different sources create stress for all aged people, especially for older citizens.

#Sleepless- 

Noise creates a hamper in sleep. Social events like open-air concern, religious events, cultural events, construction, and sounds from factories impacted humans’ regular rest. This created peoples to an unhealthy and unproductive working day. Report from Oxford Academy is addressing that sleep disturbance is likely to occur if there are more than 50 noise events per night with a maximum level of 50 dBA indoors or more.

#Headaches and migraines: 

The immediate effect of noise pollution is a headache or migraine, depending on the severity of the noise. This makes it difficult for people to focus and work. This leads to low productivity at work. 

#Cardiovascular issues: 

According to the WHO, there is a slight link between long-term noise pollution and hypertension. According to recent studies, night-time noise levels above 50 dB(A) could increase the risk of myocardial infarction by severely increasing cortisol production. Traffic on main roads and highways can also limit arterial blood flow and cause increased blood pressure.

Now its time to discuss the effects of noise pollution in wildlife and marine life. Stay tuned and get amazed to see how noise pollution effects on biodiversity.

Noise pollution effects in wildlife and marine life 

Noise pollution is not only impacting human being, it’s also creating adverse effects on biodiversity, especially for Wildlife and marine species.

#Noise Pollution Effects on Wildlife:

The reproduction system of animals is effected due to noise pollution. Animals use unique voices to know the locations of mates and stay away from danger. 

Birds also use low pitched sounds to attract their partners. Some of the sound they produce is too low to catch in the human ear. Only the same animals can pick that sound.

So due to noise pollution, they can’t attract their partners. This is ultimately reducing the total amount of populations. 

A study by Parris and his colleague in 2009 saying, just like the availability of nesting materials or food sources, sounds play an essential role in the ecosystem. 

The typical activities such as finding desirable habitat and mates, protecting young, avoiding predators, and establishing territories are all reliant on the acoustical environment. 

To carry their regular course of life with these activities, animals are being forced to adapt to increased noise levels.

Some research shows that males of at least one frog species are seriously changing to traffic noise by calling at a higher pitch. Where’s Barber al in colleague in the same year saying, this could be problematic for the females, as they prefer lower-pitched calls, which indicate larger and more experienced males. 

Human-caused noise pollution has produced similar questionable results in multiple bird species (Barber et al. 2009). As a result of this, the demographical changes are happening slowly. Researchers are addressing that noise pollution pose threats that could impact the survival of many species. 

Amphibians, birds, insects, and mammals all rely on sound to convey essential information, like mating and warning signals. Fish larvae find their homes by following the sounds of coral reefs. Owls, bats use acoustic signals to locate their prey. All of these fundamental behaviors are at risk if animals can’t hear appropriately over booming anthropogenic created noise pollution

Noise discourages the productivity of animals both in the wild and domestic. The domestic animal, cows produce less milk when there is any noise around them during milk collection. 

They get agitated and tend to withdraw the milk due to fear and discomfort. Chicken is also adversely affected by noise. There is a dramatic drop in the production of eggs for layers in noisy environments.

#Noise Pollution Effects on Marine Life:

In the early days, there is a meager amount of noise produced in the sea. Well, nowadays, due to the improvement of technology, a considerable amount of vessels are moving all over the sea. 

A the same time, natural resource extraction operations also produce noise. Sometimes the military activity is also the reason for creating noise and has a negative impact on the marine ecosystem.

A good range of people suffers due to noise pollution. Dolphins and whales, dominant aquatic species are regular visitors to the shallow waters of vast oceans. 

But because of the continuous louder noise caused by several reasons, some of these animals’ hearing capabilities have been rigorously affected, with some having a permanent hearing injury.

These damages are ultimately contributing their communicating, sensing danger, finding a partner, and hunting prey. Other physical costs of ocean noise pollution include disruption of the schooling structure of fish or impaired growth of shrimp.

Recently cell changes have been detected in lobsters. Noise means stress and reduces the animals’ immune system, which makes them more susceptible to illness in general.

The socio-economic impact of noise pollution:

Noise pollution has cumulative damage to society. This can leads to so many problems at a time. For example, noise pollution creates stress and hypertension; this leads to cardiovascular disease. People need to take treatment for that which has a cost the individuals need to bear and which is expensive, especially for the people of a developing country.

Roadside noise creating a substantial negative impact on children. Their health is direly or indirectly suffering from this. 

Many studies say their natural growth is affecting due to overexpose of noise. At the same time, daytime and night-time noise can result in slower learning in children, which costs £252 million per year.

A vast number of people are at risk of losing their hearing due to noise pollution. According to WHO, The one billion people at the risk of irreversible hearing loss are aged between 12 to 35 years.

They are also addressing that More than one in 20 people, 432 million adults, and 34 million children have disabling hearing loss. It will cost estimated to cost the global economy USD 750 million. 

Unfortunately, most of the communities who are suffering from this problem are from poor and middle-income countries, and half of this hearing loss could be prevented through public health measures and makes people more aware of this.

Now its time to give you some cool tips for avoiding noise pollution

Noise pollution prevention and control tips-15 cool tips for avoiding noise pollution 

  1. Avoid honking– As roadside traffic is a significant source of traffic, so people need to avoid honking. In developing countries, people tend to honk, which is contributing to noise pollution. By avoiding honking, they can easily be prevented in noise pollution. 
  2. Use cyclic rather than a car– if people use more cycles that it will help to noise reduction as the number of cars and honking will like to be reduced because of this.
  3. Reduce use of personal vehicle –The amount of own vehicle must be reduced. It’s contributing to many pollutions like air and noise. If the number of the car can be reduced by promoting more public transportation, than it will reduce noise pollution, as well as the amount of honking, will re reduces.
  4. Use personal headphone – In the house, noise pollution can be under control by not playing loudspeaker music. If using individual headphones, that source can be prevented easily.
  5. Making soundproofed room– Now a day, we can make our room sound prove by using a different type of technology from the market. This technology helps in both way, not allow outside noise to come inside and vice versa.
  6. Prevent public addressing using loudspeakers – Public addressing must not be using a loudspeaker; they can use paper or online sources to promote their agenda. It will help society from noise pollution. 
  7. Use protectors in the factory to prevent noise – Factory, which has noise creating machines; they much use a different type of protector and silencer; this will prevent sounds from coming outside. This will ensure benefits for both workers of the factory as well as the community.
  8. Tree plantations– Its natural barrier to avoid noise. Sound waves can’t spread more due to the tree. In an urban area, Plantation can reduce the effects of noise pollutions.
  9. Replacement of old automobiles with new ones– Old automobiles contains a weak engine, which creates more noise.
  10. Introduce noise regulation policies– Policy must be taken. A proper strategy can only show a guideline to deal with noise from the individual point of view.
  11. The use of calming green waves– These are the highway, and noisy areas (such as airports, train stations, and industries) sound insulation measures that can help absorb the enormous sounds produced by the operating machines.
  12. Creating awareness and education on the consequences of noise pollution– Awareness must be built. The noise generated due to a lack of knowledge. If people get knowledgeable from childhood, they will aware to avoid unnecessary sound creation.
  13. Monitoring and ensure governance – Monitoring and evaluation are highly required to prevent noise pollution. Government agencies must need to take action to prevent and evaluate how individuals are working on it.
  14. Let’s all be good neighbors- By being a good neighbor, it means maintaining awareness of loud music, loud parties, among others. Keeping these on the mind can make neighbors do the same action, which eventually contributes to a smooth and practical way of reducing noise pollution.
  15. Combine efforts are required– Noise pollution is such pollution which produces from the different levels of society—starting from the household level to the industrial scale. Only a combined effort can make a change in this case.

After providing some Noise pollution prevention and control tips its time to discuss about “white Noise” lets explore it-

What is White noise? Definition of White Noise-

If you consider the definition, White Noise is created by a continuum of frequencies equally distributed over the whole hearing range. 

In healthcare management, white noise is used to treat hyperacusis, which is an increased sensitivity to usual environmental sounds or to camouflage the annoyance caused by tinnitus in this process ringing in the ear occurring without any stimulus. 

In the office, white noise is also used to mask background noises or to aid in sleep in the bedroom. 

This white noise can be produced by a sound conditioner, an air purifier or a fan, anything that is a constant and soothing backdrop throughout the night. Someone might want to test with the volume and type to find the white noise that works best, or if someone has a sleeping partner, the sound that works for both of the ways.

The preferences vary among people when it comes to sleeping. Some either crave quiet surroundings or some background noise to enjoy a peaceful night’s slumber. 

It’s just like an introvert-extrovert thing. Introvert people prefer a calm and silent environment to thrive. But extrovert people love an equally loud and noisy atmosphere to do their task. Similarly, while most sleepers need a quiet environment to sleep like a log, others simply dislike the quietness.

Pros of white noise for adults:

Here some pros of white noise for adults people-

  1. Listening to white noise, I allow proper sleep.
  2. White color sounds to block out surrounding harsh noises.
  3. Sleep disruptions decrease.
  4. White sounds make falling asleep comfortably.
  5. White noise allows calming down to older people.
  6. White noise helps dementia patients.
  7. White color sounds improve memory.
  8. White noise works as a tinnitus therapy.

The negative impacts of white noise:

Final Verdict:

We assume that human makes the majority of the sources of noise pollution. Noise pollution is such pollution which comes from sound. Sounds when it turns to unwanted or cross the level of tolerance that it’s become noise. 

To reduce noise pollution action need to be taken from all sources, including government, Business corporations, social organization, and most importantly, public individuals. 

Noise and other pollution have significant deference; noise pollution is from sound, which we can’t avoid in our life inherently only when this sound crosses the tolerance magnitude, or it becomes unwanted than it turns to noise. 

So if you become careful about all kind of pollution and not allow this and becoming self-aware from that and adopting a living green lifestyle, it will be possible to reduce noise pollution.  

References:

Exit mobile version