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Can we make our surroundings ‘noise-free’? Tough question, is it not. It is tough to control noise pollution, which is posing a serious health hazard in metros. Unfortunately though, noise pollution is not getting as much attention as other problems like air and water pollution.
Excessive exposure to noise is harmful. It causes hearing loss and several other health disorders, including heart ailments and high blood pressure. A survey of more than 1,000 people in Kolkata, carried a few years back, revealed that 28 per cent suffered from hypertension and irritability caused by traffic noises.
Similarly, another study by the Post-graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chennai confirmed that in 50 per cent of the industries, workers exposed to higher intensities of sound are short-tempered with tendency to even disrupt production.
High-decibels
According to speech and hearing experts, unborn children are at risk too if they are exposed to high level noise during pregnancy as it affects the development of the ‘cochlea’, the spiral organ of the inner ear.
Noise pollution, unlike air, water, and soil pollution has not been taken seriously in the country. The people in the modern-day world are silently enduring the problem despite facing several problems from it as they know that they cannot escape from unwanted sounds.
The All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH) at Mysore, a premier institute under the Government of India in speech and hearing studies and research, has been getting numerous patients with hearing disorders caused mainly because of noise pollution.
“We should be worried about noise as it cuts down hearing ability. Noise is harmful to cardio vascular system, digestive system, respiratory system and the reproductive system. It affects learning ability in children. Besides disturbing the sleep, it causes impairment in sexual performance,” the audiologists at AIISH disclose.
Not that noise pollution originates only from vehicles, there are other sources too.
As we live in noisy environments, there are many sources of noise. Noise in the environment may be – community noise (noise from construction area, public address systems, traffic noise), residential noise (sound of various home appliances), leisure time noise (entertainment noise, restaurants) and industrial noise (factories, hydroelectric power stations etc).
The main factors contributing to noise pollution are vehicular traffic, industrial activities, various electrical appliances, sources of entertainment such as blaring musical systems, TVs, public address systems, running trains and air traffic, splutter of gensets every time power breaks down, and so on. But thankfully, according to AIISH experts, not all sounds are harmful.
Noise-induced
Says AIISH Director Dr M Jayaram, “If one has to raise his voice to be heard at 3 feet then the noise is probably loud enough to damage his or her hearing. Duration of exposure and the spectrum of noise are to be considered in predicting the harmful effects of noise.”
But, according to him, any hearing loss that occurs due to exposure to excessive noise is known as ‘noise induced hearing loss’ (NIHL).
But the problem can be overcome with certain measures. His recommendation is - do not expose your ears to blasts from loud crackers, gun fire, blasting music, machinery noise, etc at least constantly and for a long duration. If exposure to noise is inevitable, then follow the grandma’s trick – put a ball of clean cotton in the ears.
If working in a noisy environment like factory, gas turbine station etc where noise is inevitable, then ear protecting devices should be worn. “Such employees need to check their ears periodically,” he suggests.
Can we control noise?
According to Dr Jayaram, noise can be controlled at its source. Fewer machines mean lesser noise. Better designed machinery and its proper maintenance will go a long way in controlling noise generation. Sound absorbing agents in the path of propagation of noise reduces its intensity. “If generation and propagation of noise cannot be controlled, then try to be as far away as possible from the source of noise, or wear some kind of ear protective devices, such as ear plugs, muffs, cotton balls etc,” he suggests.
The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 seeks to control noise in public places from various sources such as industrial activity, construction activity, generator sets, loud speakers, public address systems, music systems, vehicular horns and other mechanical devices in order to avoid any adverse effects on human health, including physical and psychological impacts.
The salient features of these rules are that the State governments, being the implementation authority, should initiate the process of controlling noise pollution by classifying the areas into residential, commercial, industrial and silent zones.
The rules further provide that the governments should ensure that the noise levels do not exceed the prescribed limits.
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