NOISE

Pollution
 The nature of sound
Sound, a manifestation of vibration, travels in wave patterns through
solids, liquids and gases.
The waves, caused by vibration of the molecules, follow sine functions,
typified by the amplitude and wavelength (or frequency)

Sound waves of equal

amplitude with increasing
frequency from top to
bottom
Sound propagation
Amplitude and wavelength
(period)
Bels and decibels
Sound power and intensity
Sound pressure level
Sound pressure for known sounds
 How sound is measured
•Pressure, P, usually Pascals

•Frequency, f, usually Hertz P = 1/f

•Intensity, I, usually W/m2 I = W/A

•Bels, L’, derived from logarithmic ratio L’ = log (Q/Qo)

•Decibels, L, derived from bels L = 10*log (Q/Qo)

E.g. Implications of the decibel scale: doubling sound level

would mean that the sound will increase by 10*log2 = +3dB
Ten times the sound level = 10*log10 = +10dB
 Sources/Causes of noise
1. Stationary sources 2. mobile sources
Stationary sources: Include use of loudspeakers on various occasions like
festivals, elections, worship intemples, mosque etc.and durindg
advertisements, mining operations, using bulldozers, dynamites to break
rocks, house hold gadgets like vaccum cleaner etc.
Mobile sources: Include road traffic, railway traffic, air traffic etc
Sources of noise can be further classified into
1. Transportation/Traffic noise
a. Road traffic or highway noise: Noise from highway traffic due to
individual vehicle or by continuous flow of vehicles. Noise volume
increases with traffic speed and traffic density
a. Aircraft noise: unlike road traffic the noise is not continuous but intermittent.
Source of air pollution near to international airports is very high. Noise made
by jet planes is more than that propellor driven aircrafts. Aircraft flies close to
ground for quite some distance during landing and this causes environmental
nuisance
C.Rail traffic noise : Not a serious nuisance as
compared to road traffic and airport noise.
Frequency lower compared to road vehicles.
Introduction of electric locomotives has helped
greatly in the reduction of rail traffic noise.
D.Industrial noise: Byproduct of energy
conversion
• Noise for construction works
• Neighbourhood noise
 Reflecting on noise
 “Noise" derived from "nausea," meaning seasickness
 Noise is among the most pervasive pollutants today
 Noise is unavoidable for many machines
 We experience noise in a number of ways
environmental
cause and victim
generated by others “second-hand”
 Noise negatively affects human health and well-being
 Effects of noise pollution
• Noise induced annoyance
• Noise induced diseases
• Sleeplessness
• Communication interference
• Noise induced hearing loss
• Effect of noise on wild life
 Noise induced annoyance

• When a person does not like thee same

and hence wants the sound to be put off
 Noise induced diseases
• Causes physiological and physcological
diseases
• Diseases include anxiety, tenseness,
nervousness, headaches, fatigue, nausea,
insomnia, high blood pressure, high pulse
rate, greater perspiration, gastric
secretions etc.
 Sleeplessness
• Include shorter sleep durations, more
frequent awakenings etc.
• This depends on charecteristics of noise
like frequency, loudness (intensity),and
continuity.
 Noise induced hearing loss
• Exposure of human ears to intense noise for a
loner duration may cause damage to inner ear
thereby decreasing ones ability to hear
• On lower scale it may cause individuals to
complain tinnitus in ears while longer exposure
may lead to deafness /permanent loss of
hearing
• Permanent hearing loss is called “Boiler
makers deafness”
 Effect of noise on wildlife
• Wildlife like animals are also affected by
noise.
• Animals become inactive and dull in
noisy conditions
• Can change migratory habits, which can
inturn lead to environmental imbalances
1. Auditory effects 2. Non-auditory
effects
Auditory effects
a) Auditory fatigue This appears in 90
dB region and is greatest at 4000 Hz.
It is associated phenomena of
whistling and buzzing in the ears
b)Deafness This is the most serious
pathological effect or the hearing loss.
Hearing loss may be temporary or
permanent. Temporary hearing loss
occurs in frequency range between 4000
to 6000 Hz.
• This disability generally disappears after a
period of 24 hours following noise
exposure. Permanent hearing loss occurs
when there is repeated or continued
exposure to noise at 100 decibels. Inner
ear gets damaged Exposure to noise
above 160 decibels may rupture middle
ear membrane and cause permanent
hearing loss
2. Non auditory effects
Interference with speech: Noise interferes with speech
communication at frequencies of 300-500 Hz. Such
frequencies are commonly present in noise produced by air
and road traffic
Annoyance: Primarily a physochological response. People
suffering from neurosis (a mental disorder ) are more
sensitive than balanced people
Efficiency: A low level noise is always desirable where mental
concentration is to be undertaken. Reduction in noise tends
to increase work output
Psychological changes-Rise in blood pressure,
increase in heart rate and breathing and increase
in sweating. Besides giddiness nausea and fatigue
may also occur. Noise interferes with sleep and
results in visual disturbance. It could also cause
narrowing of pupils, affect colour perception and
reduce night vision
Basic instruments in noise control
1. Sound level meter which measures
intensity of sound in dB
2. Octave band frequency analyser which
measures noise in octave bands
 

Adding noise sources and

subtracting background noise

10 log 2
= 3 dB
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
How Sound is Heard
 Human hearing and Frequency

0 16 Hz 20 kHz 5 MHz
Sound and human hearing – Frequency
Humans are less sensitive to low frequency
sound and more sensitive to high frequency
sound. Therefore, sometimes the dB scale is
adjusted to take this into account:

A-weighting (db(A)): adjusts overall scale so it

better matches what the human ear would hear

C-weighting (dB(C)): adjusts scale for loud or

low frequency sounds

B-weighting (dB(B)): adjusts by factors that are

“in between” the A-weighted factors and C-
weighted factors (rarely used)
 Loudness in sones
The sone is derived from psychophysical tests where
humans judge sounds to be twice as loud. This relates
perceived loudness to phons. A sone is 40 phons. A
10 dB increase in sound level corresponds to a perceived
doubling of loudness. So that approximation is used in the
definition of the phon: 0.5 sone = 30 phon, 1 sone =
40 phon, 2 sone = 50 phon, 4 sone = 60 phon, etc.
 Noise abatement andControl

• Exposure of mankind to the day by day

increasing noise nuisance must be
reduced and abated if its adverse effects
on human health are to be controlled
•Control of noise at source: this may be
acieved by segregating noise producing
machines and using silencers to reduce
the noise of vehicular engines.
• Adopting good town planning leaving
enough space between building
complexes with a provision to have
silence zones which could be enlarged
later.
• Proper segregation, zoning and seperation of
residential complexes from industrial and
commercial ones by means of physical barriers,
roads, railway lines, parks or green belts
constitute good town planning
• Control of noise transmission: this is
attained by providing buffer zones (green
area) between buildings and noise prone
areas and in case of buildings by using
furnishing made of accoustic materials
• Noise produced by automobiles and trains
can be abated by construction of walls on
both sides of roads and railway lines
• Upto 15 decibels can be reduced in this
manner
• Prohibiting excessive use of horns in particular
pressure zones and Hi-fi stereos in case of
vehicles
• Restricting use of loud speakers in social or
religious gathering beyond a particular time say
10 pm to 6 AM
• Noise produced by vehicles can be controlled by
proper maintenance of vehicles
• Noise levels in residential buildings can be
reduced to some extent by offsetting the building
from main and street roads
• Protection of exposed persons. Hearing
protection like use of ear plugs , ear muffs
may be provided to all workers of factory
exposed to noise level greater than 85 dB
or frequency above 150 Hz. Workers must
be rotated from noisy areas
• Legislative measures involving action
through legislative control and applicable
to a wide variety of sources should be
enfforced
• Propogating education
Roadway Noise - Solutions

Barriers
•Buffer zones

•Earth berms/wooden fences/concrete walls

•Vegetation (if dense enough)

 Aesthetic noise barrier:
Highway in Melbourne, Australia
 Roadway Noise - Solutions

Pavement type
Certain asphalts, such as those containing
rubber or stone, can be less noisy than other
pavements.
However, some studies have shown the
reduction in noise is only a few decibels, not
enough to be significant.
More research is needed before pavement
type can be an effective noise-reducing
technique
Airport Noise
Other sources of noise pollution that
need to be addressed

• Boat noise,
especially jet skis

• Construction noise

• Snow mobiles

• Industry