Noise pollution in big cities is constantly growing every year. The main sources of noise are auto, air and rail transport, manufacturing enterprises. 80% of the total noise comes from vehicles.
Sounds at twenty thirty decibels are considered to be a normal noise background. A sound background of about 80 decibels is considered acceptable for human perception. Noises of 140 decibels cause pain in people. And with a sound louder than 190 decibels, metal structures begin to collapse.
Effects of noise on health
It is difficult to overestimate the impact of noise on human health. Noises depress the nervous system, interfere with concentration, tire, cause irritability. Constant exposure to noise pollution leads to sleep disturbances and hearing loss. Noise exposure can even cause mental disorders.
The magnitude of noise exposure is different for each person. The highest risk group is children, the elderly, people suffering from chronic diseases, residents of busy city areas around the clock, living in buildings without sound insulation.
With a long stay on busy avenues, where the noise level is about 60 dB, for example, standing in a traffic jam, a person may be disturbed by cardiovascular activity.
Noise protection
To protect the population from noise pollution, the WHO recommends a number of measures. Among them is a ban on construction work at night. Another ban on the WHO version should concern the loud operation of any acoustic devices, both at home and in cars and public institutions located not far from residential buildings.
It is necessary and you can fight with a noise!
The methods of confrontation with noise pollution include acoustic screens, which have recently been widely used near the highways, especially the territory of Moscow and the region. Soft asphalt and electric vehicles, unfortunately not so far enough, also relate to ways to combat acoustic pollution of cities. The soundproof isolation of apartment buildings and landscaping of cities can be added to this list.
Legislative acts in the field of fighting noise
In Eurasia, from time to time interesting studies of noise problem appear in urban-type settlements, but at the federal, regional and municipal levels there are no adopted regulatory legal acts of special purposes to combat noise pollution. To date, the legislation of Eurasia has only separate provisions on the protection of the environment from noise and the protection of humans from its harmful effects.
In many European countries. America and Asia have special laws. It’s time to come and our turn. Eurasia should adopt a special law and by-laws on noise and economic instruments to combat it.
It is possible to resist the noise even now
If the residents of the house have an understanding that the noise background and vibrations exceed the maximum permissible level (MPL), they can apply to Rospotrebnadzor with a claim and a request for a sanitary and epidemiological examination of the place of residence. If, based on the results of the check, an increase in the maximum remote control is established, the violator will be asked to ensure the operation of the technical equipment (if it was he who caused the excess) in accordance with the standards.
There is an opportunity to contact the regional and local administrations of settlements with a demand for noiseprotective reconstruction of construction. The tasks of combating sound pollution of the environment can also be solved at the level of individual enterprises. So anti-acoustic systems are built near railway lines, close to industrial facilities (for example, power plants) and protect residential and park areas of the city.
