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Noise Pollution Noise pollution is excessive, displeasing, human, animal or machine-created environmental noise that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life. Most outdoor noise worldwide is mainly construction, transportation systems, airplanes buses, motorcycles, car alarms, emergency sirens, fireworks, barking dogs, audio entertainment and people This type of pollution affects human health, the environment, and animals. Affects the lives of millions of people daily!

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Human Health

. Noise pollution plays an important part in human health Certain loud and unwanted noise can damage physiological health Such things like annoyance, aggression, hypertension, high stress levels, hearing loss, sleep disturbances, speech interference, lost productivity etc. occur Interferes with sleeping, conversation, and diminishes the quality of ones life

NIHL

NIHL is a haring health disorder (Noise Induced Hearing Loss)

This is one of the most common and often discussed health effects

You can protect yourself by using earplugs, or earmuffs

Happens when we are exposed to harmful noise—sounds that are too loud or loud sounds that last a long time—sensitive structures in our inner ear can be damaged, causing noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).

Explosions

Once damaged, your hearing loss can be permanent

Environmental Health Noise Pollution has a detrimental effect on animals, increasing the risk of death by changing the balance of predator and prey Animals use sounds for communication, reproduction, and navigation Certain species of whales died due to the loud sound of military sonar Lombard Vocal Response- makes species communicate louder

Legal Status In the U.S, there are certain standards for highway and aircraft noise

Up until the 1970’s, governments considered noise a “nuisance” rather than an environmental problem

Noise laws vary widely, and are not in every city

Noise is only allowed for certain times and certain activities during certain times of the day

Most city ordinances prohibit sound above a threshold intensity from trespassing over property line at night between 10pm and 6am

There are specific laws on building codes, urban planning, and roadway development

Engines of planes can only be so loud

Decibel Decibels = dB A unit to measure the intensity of a sound Measures sound based on human hearing, which makes it

one of the most unusual scientific measurements. Expressed as the base of 10 on the logarithmic scale Noise intensity is measured in decibel units Distance diminishes the decibel level Ex) To a driver with a car window open or a pedestrian on the

sidewalk, the same traffic rates about 70 decibels Ex) The noise of a jet takeoff reaches about 110 decibels—

approximately the same as an automobile horn only 3 ft (1 m) away

Intensity

Intensity is the power of the sound. This is measured in watts/meters^2 or watts/cm^2.

Threshold of Hearing

The absolute threshold of hearing (ATH) is the minimum sound level of a pure tone that an average ear with normal hearing can hear with no other sound present.

Threshold of Pain The threshold of pain is the point at which pain

begins to be felt. In hearing, the pressure at which sound becomes

too painful for the ears Depending on age, determines your threshold of

pain.• Threshold of Pain

• Sound pressure level Sound pressure• 120 dBSPL 20 Pa• 130 dBSPL 63 Pa• 134 dBSPL 100 Pa• 137.5 dBSPL 150 Pa• 140 dBSPL 200 Pa