Noise
How did you wake up this morning?
Many of you may have been woken up by the sound of your alarm clock or the music from the radio. You probably would not leave the alarm clock beeping as it is too loud. The noise of the alarm may be annoying you, so when do we call these sounds we hear 'noise pollution'?
Everyone has a different tolerance to noise. This means that one person may be disturbed by a relatively low level of traffic noise and someone else may be able to tolerate it at a higher level. Tolerance to noise is influenced by the degree of acclimatisation (how we get used to it), the level and type of intruding noise and the level of the background noise at the time. Particular activities will influence your tolerance. For example, if you wish to sleep or do homework you may be less tolerant to noise than if you were watching television or listening to your own music.
This page has answers to these questions:
What is noise pollution?
How does noise pollution affect our health?
What types of noise pollution are there?
How is noise pollution controlled?
What is noise pollution?
Noise pollution can disturb our work, concentration, relaxation and sleep. It can cause stress and create or worsen physical problems such as high blood pressure, chronic exhaustion and heart disease. A quieter environment is a restful place that promotes relaxation and a happier and healthier community, because neighbourhood noise can cause annoyance by disrupting normal domestic activities such as reading or watching television.
EPA coordinates the control of environmental noise in Victoria along with local councils.
How does noise pollution affect our health?
- Hearing loss.
- Heart disease – noise causes stress and the body reacts with increased adrenaline, changes in heart rate and a rise in blood pressure.
- Sleep disruption – noise affects the quantity and quality of sleep. When sleep is disturbed by noise, work efficiency and health may suffer.
- Mental and social well-being – when noise becomes sufficiently loud or unpredictable, our first annoyance can graduate to more extreme behaviour.
- Danger to people – noise can cover warning signals, causing accidents to occur and noise can hide shouts for help if a person is in danger.
What types of noise pollution are there?
- Residential noise – this is any noise from residential premises such as a house, apartment, flat. The noise could come from neighbours and the most common problems are from stereos and air conditioners. An "unreasonable noise" exists when the prescribed item can be heard in a habitable room of a neighbouring house during a prohibited time regardless of whether or not the windows or doors are open. Noise can be unreasonable at any time if it is too loud or goes on for an unreasonable length of time.
- Road traffic noise – people living or working near busy roads can find road traffic noise disturbing and annoying.
- Industrial noise.
- Entertainment noise – loud music from hotels, clubs, discos and concerts.
- Alarm noise – these are used to deter burglars but their loudness and pitch can cause problems if not turned off straight away or if they are faulty.
- Motor vehicle noise – by car horns misused by the driver as they should only be used as a traffic warning, exhaust noise levels and road traffic noise.
- Aircraft noise.
- Motor boats/jet ski noise.
- Railway and tramway maintenance noise.
- Other noises – examples are shops, rubbish collection, public address systems and pets.
How is noise pollution controlled?
EPA has a role in protecting the community from noise. EPA generally deals with noise from larger industries and entertainment, and has a role in developing policies and objectives for use by other agencies. These agencies are local government, police and transport agencies.
If a measurement of noise emission is required a sound level meter is used. A measure of the level of sound is called the decibel. The zero of the decibel scale is the hearing threshold. Sounds at 0–10 decibels are so quiet that they are almost impossible to hear, while at the top end of the scale, at around 150 decibels, it can damage your eardrums.