Noise surveys 2007 - Impacts and times
Annoyance
One way of measuring how noise impacts on the community is to look at how many people are annoyed. The social survey found that almost half of Victorians (49%) were disturbed or annoyed by environmental noise at some stage in the past 12 months.
Sleep disturbance
Sleep disturbance from noise can have negative effects on physical and mental well-being, including increased blood pressure and heart rate, reduced concentration, fatigue and depressed mood.
One-quarter (24%) of respondents to the social survey reported sleep disturbance from environmental noise at some stage in the last 12 months.
Day and night
Noise levels increase with human activity, urbanisation and industrialisation; generally following the pattern of motor vehicle use throughout the day and week. For example, the quietest period of the day is in the early hours of the morning from 2am to 4am. Noise levels increase during the morning and afternoon peak hours and gradually reduce through the evening and into the night.
Weekend mornings (6am to 12pm) are significantly quieter than weekday mornings. However, the few hours after midnight on weekends are louder than during the week.
Overall, nights, weekday early mornings and weekend mornings are the quietest times measured, reflecting less traffic. The social survey found that many noise sources cause greatest impact during these times, when the general ambient noise levels are lower.
The survey findings indicate that sleeping, resting and relaxing are important for the Victorian community, and that people are particularly concerned when noise disturbs these aspects of home life.
*LA90 1hr – is commonly called the "background noise", and refers to the lowest 10% of the sound level over an hour of measurement.
*dB – Decibel. The unit of measure for sound or noise.
| Time (hours) | Noise Level dB(A) | |
|---|---|---|
| Weekdays | Sundays | |
| 0:00 | 37.5 | 39.0 |
| 1:00 | 35.7 | 38.1 |
| 2:00 | 34.3 | 36.7 |
| 3:00 | 33.9 | 35.7 |
| 4:00 | 34.1 | 35.1 |
| 5:00 | 35.1 | 35.2 |
| 6:00 | 38.1 | 35.7 |
| 7:00 | 42.4 | 37.0 |
| 8:00 | 45.3 | 38.3 |
| 9:00 | 45.6 | 39.0 |
| 10:00 | 44.5 | 40.4 |
| 11:00 | 44.1 | 41.4 |
| 12:00 | 44.1 | 42.3 |
| 13:00 | 43.8 | 42.7 |
| 14:00 | 43.3 | 42.3 |
| 15:00 | 44.0 | 42.3 |
| 16:00 | 44.3 | 42.7 |
| 17:00 | 44.0 | 42.9 |
| 18:00 | 44.6 | 42.8 |
| 19:00 | 43.8 | 41.7 |
| 20:00 | 43.0 | 40.7 |
| 21:00 | 41.8 | 39.9 |
| 22:00 | 41.0 | 39.2 |
| 23:00 | 39.6 | 38.1 |