Noise pollution

About: Noise pollution is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4455 publications have been published within this topic receiving 67192 citations.

Industrial Pollution in China and Remedial Policies

Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of the adoption and implementation of Chinese environmental policies and pollution abatement measures. It sketches the role of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) and the recently adopted Five-Year Plan for the years 1996–2000 in coping with China's increasing problems of water, air and soil pollution. Remedial measures, which could be legal, administrative or economic, are analysed both as part of more general programmes of legal and economic reform, and as specific designs for local or sectoral problems. In previous articles, I have discussed several major environmental concerns: environmental damages, scarcity of water, control over emissions by township and village enterprises (TVEs), investments and management methods. The present contribution will focus on wider political issues, such as participatory policies, differences in implementation between regions and sectors, and most recent developments in industrial pollution problems and abatement measures. This survey cannot be complete: the limitations of space and the need to give some concrete examples make it necessary to be selective. Therefore, while some problems will be highlighted – such as water treatment in the Huai River basin, sulphur dioxide emissions, and pollution by TVEs – other problems such as noise pollution will be omitted.

Multiple work-related accidents: tracing the role of hearing status and noise exposure

Abstract: Objectives: Our main purpose was to investigate any relationship between noise exposure levels in the workplace, degree of hearing loss (HL), and the relative risk of accident (OR of single or multiple events). Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 52 982 male workers aged 16–64 years with long-standing exposures to occupational noise over a 5-year period, using “hearing status” and “noise exposure” from the registry held by the Quebec National Institute of Public Health. Information on work-related accidents was obtained from the Quebec Workers’ Compensation Board. Hearing threshold level measurements and noise exposures were regressed on the numbers of accidents after adjusting for age. Results: Exposure to extremely noisy environments (Leq8h (equivalent noise level for 8 h exposure) ⩾90 dBA) is associated with a higher relative risk of accident. The severity of hearing impairment (average bilateral hearing threshold levels at 3, 4 and 6 kHz) increases the relative risk of single and multiple events when threshold levels exceed 15 dB of hearing loss. The relative risk of multiple events (four or more) is approximately three times higher among severely hearing-impaired workers who are exposed to Leq8h ⩾90 dBA. Conclusion: Single and multiple events are associated with high noise exposure and hearing status. This suggests that reducing noise exposure contributes to increased safety in noisy industries and prevents hearing loss. Hearing-impaired workers assigned to noisy workstations should be provided with assistive listening devices and efficient communication strategies should be implemented.

Noise and environmental pollution from transport: decisive problems in developing ecologically efficient transport systems

Abstract: The paper discusses problems of sustainable development of transport systems with special attention paid to noise pollution and emission of harmful compounds of exhaust gases. It presents traffic flow model for a transport network, which can be applied for estimation of external costs of transport resulting from congestion and congestion-related effects like noise and harmful emission. Model includes structure of vehicle stock, segmentation of transport, characteristics of roads and elements of surroundings. It allows for computational experiments with traffic distribution into transport network and traffic management and, in consequence, estimation of environmental effects of traffic flow. Formal model was supported by numerical example for transport network of Mazowieckie voivodeship in Poland. The example is based on noise pollution and its external costs. The model was developed on the base of EMITRANSYS model for Mazowieckie in 2016.

Data Collection in Wireless Sensor Networks for Noise Pollution Monitoring

Abstract: Focusing on the assessment of environmental noise pollution in urban areas, we provide qualitative considerations and experimental results to show the feasibility of wireless sensor networks to be used in this context. To select the most suitable data collection protocol for the specific noise monitoring application scenario, we evaluated the energy consumption performances of the CTP (Collection Tree Protocol) and DMAC protocols. Our results show that CTP, if used enabling the LPL (Low Power Listening) option, provides the better performances trade-off for noise monitoring applications.

Traffic Noise and Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Abstract: Recent evidence suggests that traffic noise may negatively impact mental health. However, existing systematic reviews provide an incomplete overview of the effects of all traffic noise sources on mental health. We conducted a systematic literature search and summarized the evidence for road, railway, or aircraft noise-related risks of depression, anxiety, cognitive decline, and dementia among adults. We included 31 studies (26 on depression and/or anxiety disorders, 5 on dementia). The meta-analysis of five aircraft noise studies found that depression risk increased significantly by 12% per 10 dB LDEN (Effect Size = 1.12, 95% CI 1.02–1.23). The meta-analyses of road (11 studies) and railway traffic noise (3 studies) indicated 2–3% (not statistically significant) increases in depression risk per 10 dB LDEN. Results for road traffic noise related anxiety were similar. We did not find enough studies to meta-analyze anxiety and railway or aircraft noise, and dementia/ cognitive impairment and any traffic noise. In conclusion, aircraft noise exposure increases the risk for depression. Otherwise, we did not detect statistically significant risk increases due to road and railway traffic noise or for anxiety. More research on the association of cognitive disorders and traffic noise is required. Public policies to reduce environmental traffic noise might not only increase wellness (by reducing noise-induced annoyance), but might contribute to the prevention of depression and anxiety disorders.