What is Noise Pollution?

Noise pollution is a type of energy pollution in which distracting,

irritating, or damaging sounds are freely audible. As with other forms of energy pollution
(such as heat and light pollution), noise pollution contaminants are not physical particles, but
rather waves that interfere with naturally-occurring waves of a similar type in the same
environment. Thus, the definition of noise pollution is open to debate, and there is no clear
border as to which sounds may constitute noise pollution. In the most narrow sense, sounds
are considered noise pollution if they adversely affect wildlife, human activity, or are capable
of damaging physical structures on a regular, repeating basis. In the broadest sense of the
term, a sound may be considered noise pollution if it disturbs any natural process or causes
human harm, even if the sound does not occur on a regular basis.
The prevailing source of artificial noise pollution is from transportation. In rural areas,
train and airplane noise can disturb wildlife habits, thereby affecting the manner in which
animals in areas around train tracks and airports hunt and mate. In urban areas, automobile,
motorcycle, and even entertainment noise can cause sleep disruption in humans and animals,
hearing loss, heart disease (as a result of stress), and in severe cases even mental instability. A
notable exception to the rule is the electric, or hybrid-electric, automobile. Hybrid vehicles
are so quite, in fact, that legislation is pending to actually make them louder. This is in
response to numerous injuries in which pedestrians, unaware of a hybrid vehicle's presence,
have been struck by such vehicles in parking lots and pedestrian crosswalks.
Although most developed nations have government agencies responsible for the protection
of the environment, no nation has a single body that regulates noise pollution. In the United
States, regulation of noise pollution was stripped from the federal Environmental Protection
Agency and passed on the the individual states in the early 1980's. Although two noise-
control bills passed by the EPA are still in effect, the agency can no longer form relevant
legislation. In the United States, Canada, Europe, and most other developed parts of the
world, different types of noise are managed by agencies responsible for the source of the
noise. Transportation noise is usually regulated by the relevant transportation ministry, health-
related work noise is often regulated by health ministries and worker's unions, and
entertainment noise such as loud music is a criminal offense in many areas. As the bodies
responsible for noise pollution reduction usually view noise as an annoyance rather than a
problem, and reducing that noise often hurts the industry financially, little is currently being
done to reduce noise pollution in developed countries.
 Human health effects

Noise health effects are the health consequences of elevated sound levels. Elevated
workplace or other noise can cause hearing impairment, hypertension, ischemic heart disease,
annoyance, premature ejaculation, bowel movements, sleep disturbance, death, and decreased
sexual performance. Changes in the immune system and birth defects have been attributed to
noise exposure, but evidence is limited. Although some presbycusis may occur naturally with
age, in many developed nations the cumulative impact of noise is sufficient to impair the
hearing of a large fraction of the population over the course of a lifetime. Noise exposure has
also been known to induce tinnitus, hypertension, vasoconstriction and other cardiovascular
impacts. Beyond these effects, elevated noise levels can create stress, increase workplace
accident rates, and stimulate aggression and other anti-social behaviors. The most significant
causes are vehicle and aircraft noise, prolonged exposure to loud music, and industrial noise.

Hearing loss
The mechanism of hearing loss arises from trauma to stereocilia of the cochlea, the principal
fluid filled structure of the inner ear.[citation needed] The pinna combined with the middle ear
amplifies sound pressure levels by a factor of twenty, so that extremely high sound pressure
levels arrive in the cochlea, even from moderate atmospheric sound stimuli. Underlying
pathology to the cochlea are reactive oxygen species, which play a significant role in noise-
induced necrosis and apoptosis of the stereocilia.Exposure to high levels of noise have
differing effects within a given population, and the involvement of reactive oxygen species
suggests possible avenues to treat or prevent damage to hearing and related cellular structures.
The elevated sound levels cause trauma to the cochlear structure in the inner ear, which gives
rise to irreversible hearing loss. A very loud sound in a particular frequency range can damage
the cochlea's hair cells that respond to that range thereby reducing the ear's ability to hear
those frequencies in the future. However, loud noise in any frequency range has deleterious
effects across the entire range of human hearing. The outer ear (visible portion of the human
ear) combined with the middle ear amplifies sound levels by a factor of 20 when sound
reaches the inner ear.

Age Related (Presbycusis)

Hearing loss is somewhat inevitable with age. Though older males exposed to significant
occupational noise demonstrate significantly reduced hearing sensitivity than their non-
exposed peers, differences in hearing sensitivity decrease with time and the two groups are
indistinguishable by age 79.Women exposed to occupational noise do not differ from their
peers in hearing sensitivity, though they do hear better than their non-exposed male
counterparts. Due to loud music and a generally noisy environment, young people in the
United States have a rate of impaired hearing 2.5 times greater than their parents and
grandparents, with an estimated 50 million individuals with impaired hearing estimated in
2050.
In Rosen's work on health effects and hearing loss, one of his findings derived from tracking
Maaban tribesmen, who were insignificantly exposed to transportation or industrial noise.
This population was systematically compared by cohort group to a typical U.S. population.
The findings proved that aging is an almost insignificant cause of hearing loss, which instead
is associated with chronic exposure to moderately high levels of environmental noise.

Causes And Effects Of Noise Pollution

Noise can be defined as an unwanted or undesired sound. Decibel is the standard unit for
measurement of sound. Usually 80 db is the level at which sound becomes physically painful.
And can be termed as noise. Humans, animals, plants and even inert objects like buildings and
bridges have been victims of the increasing noise pollution caused in the world. Be it human
or machine-created, noise disrupts the activity and balance of life. While traffic dons the cap
of being the largest noise maker throughout the world, there are many others that add to it,
making our globe susceptible to its effects. The effect of noise pollution is multi-faceted and
inter-related. In the following lines, we have provided some of the causes and effects of noise
pollution.

Causes Of Noise Pollution

 • Traffic noise is the main source of noise pollution caused in urban areas. With the
ever-increasing number of vehicles on road, the sound caused by the cars and exhaust
system of autos, trucks, buses and motorcycles is the chief reason for noise pollution.
• With the low flying military aircrafts soaring over the national parks, wasteland and
other vacant areas, the level of noise pollution has drastically increased in these
previously unaffected zones.
• People living beside railway stations put up with a lot of noise from locomotive
engines, horns and whistles and switching and shunting operation in rail yards. This
is one of the major sources of noise pollution.
• To meet the demands of the basic necessity of living, the construction of buildings,
highways and city streets causes a lot of noise. Pneumatic hammers, air compressors,
bulldozers, loaders, dump trucks and pavement breakers are the major sources of
noise pollution in construction sites.
• Though not a prime reason, industrial noise adds to the noise pollution. Machinery,
motors and compressors used in the industries create a lot of noise which adds to the
already detrimental state of noise pollution.
• Plumbing, boilers, generators, air conditioners and fans create a lot of noise in the
buildings and add to the prevailing noise pollution.
• Household equiqments, such as vacuum cleaners, mixers and some kitchen
appliances are noisemakers of the house. Though they do not cause too much of
problem, their effect cannot be neglected.

Effects Of Noise Pollution

• Deafness, temporary or permanent, is one of the most prevalent effects of noise
pollution. Mechanics, locomotive drivers, telephone operators etc all have their
hearing impairment.
• The first and foremost effect of noise is a decrease in the efficiency in working.
Research has proved the fact that human efficiency increases with noise reduction.
• Too much of noise disturbs the rhythms of working, thereby affecting the
concentration required for doing a work. Noise of traffic or the loud speakers or
different types of horns divert the attention, thus causing harm in the working
standard.
• Fatigue caused is another effect of noise. Due to lack of concentration, people need
to devote more time to complete their task, which leads to tiredness and fatigue.
• Noise pollution acts as a stress invigorator, increasing the stress levels among people.
• Sometimes, being surrounded by too much of noise, people can be victims of certain
diseases like blood pressure, mental illness, etc.
• Noise pollution indirectly affects the vegetation. Plants require cool & peaceful
environment to grow. Noise pollution causes poor quality of crops.
• Animals are susceptible to noise pollution as well. It damages the nervous system of
the animals.
• Noise indirectly weakens the edifice of buildings, bridges and monuments. It creates
waves, which can be very dangerous and harmful and put the building in danger
condition.