Topic
Noise pollution
About: Noise pollution is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4455 publications have been published within this topic receiving 67192 citations.
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18 Mar 2013
TL;DR: SoundOfTheCity, a project with which to put noise measurement into the hand of the citizen, developed a smart phone application that allows the users to continuously measure the loudness of their environment and proposes several questions on the future of such applications.
Abstract: Noise pollution is among the leading causes for illness among urban residents. It constitutes a major cause for stress and poor sleep, it reduces life quality while increasing the risk for hypertension, hearing loss and lower cognitive performance. In light of those risks, the European Union mandates the creation of noise contour maps to gather information about the exposure. Those maps however often lack enough granularity to cover all areas of the city and omit large areas from the map. Hence, the public benefit from the provided information remains limited. We present SoundOfTheCity, a project with which we endeavour to put noise measurement into the hand of the citizen. To that end we developed a smart phone application that allows the users to continuously measure the loudness of their environment. The measured data are anonymised and send to a central server where all generated information from voluntary participants on a city scale are aggregated and mapped to a meaningful noise visualisation map. Moreover, the application allows for uploading sound samples, captured from the environment, as well as providing each user with information on their personal exposure to noise. Extrapolating from the current state of such participatory ambient pollution monitoring for health, we propose several questions on the future of such applications. We discuss how such systems may utilize more then just information on the distribution of pollutants, to make health monitoring more relatable to the monitored community.
48 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a causal chain model is presented in which railroad traffic density, noise emission, noise immission and noise annoyance are causally related, and policy measures, aimed at reducing social and economic costs, are incorporated in various stages of the causal model.
Abstract: In developed countries noise annoyance is an important source of environmental concern. Research on noise annoyance caused by railroad traffic is relatively underdeveloped. Here, a causal chain model is presented in which railroad traffic density, noise emission, noise immission and noise annoyance are causally related. Noise level, habituation and railroad usage are determinant factors. Noise annoyance causes social and economic costs, such as property value depreciation. Policy measures, aimed at reducing social and economic costs, are incorporated in various stages of the causal model. These measures can be subdivided into noise regulation and direct prevention measures. Stricter threshold values lead to higher total costs, but may lower social costs per capita. Economic feasibility of policy measures is usually analyzed by means of a cost-benefit case study. Methods of analysis used are diverse and ad hoc. Therefore, results of different case studies are not easily compared in terms of research synthesis.
48 citations
TL;DR: Since the human ear is more sensitive to the damaging effects of high frequency sound than to low frequency, a better correlate with noise-induced hearing loss can be obtained when low frequencies are filtered out.
Abstract: The deafening effect of high intensity noise is well known—from rock music, aircraft, snowmobiles, motorcycles and the shooting of guns. The effects of hospital noise and its interaction with ototoxic drugs are less well known. The subject is of particular importance to pediatricians, because infants in incubators are exposed to substantial noise from the motor, airflow, respirators, slamming of incubator doors and the baby9s own crying. Furthermore, animal experimentation 1 shows that the ototoxic drug, kanamycin (often given to the premature infant to combat sepsis), can potentiate the effect of noise on hearing loss as much as 100-fold. Whether or not an interaction between noise and potentially ototoxic drugs occurs in man is as yet unknown. MEASUREMENT Noise has frequency and intensity. Frequency is measured in cycles per second, designated hertz (Hz). The young human ear is sensitive to a frequency range of 20 to 20,000 Hz. White noise, the auditory counterpart of white light, has equal energy in each frequency in the audible range. Intensity is measured in decibels on a scale which is linear with respect to audible frequencies. This measurement is designated dB (linear). Since the human ear is more sensitive to the damaging effects of high frequency sound than to low frequency, a better correlate with noise-induced hearing loss can be obtained when low frequencies are filtered out. Filtered sound level, measured on a so-called A-weighted scale, is designated dB(A). Room conversation produces 60 to 70 dB(A), rock music 100 to 120 dB(A) and snowmobiles 105 to 135 dB(A) for the driver.
48 citations
TL;DR: In this article, two rating systems assessing the environmental damage caused by vehicles are compared: a Brussels one, ECOSCORE and a European one, CLEANER DRIVE.
Abstract: Two rating systems assessing the environmental damage caused by vehicles are compared: a Brussels one, ECOSCORE and a European one, CLEANER DRIVE. Both vehicle rating systems were developed for the assessment of vehicles with alternative types of fuels as well as different types of drive train, such as electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles. A simplified life cycle assessment following a well-to-wheel approach is used to compare the methodologies. Total emissions involve oil extraction, transport and refinery, fuel distribution and electricity generation and distribution as well as tailpipe emissions from the use phase. Different types of pollution such as acid rain, photochemical air pollution, noise pollution and global warming are examined and their impact on numerous receptors such as ecosystems, buildings and human beings (cancer, respiratory diseases, etc.) are investigated. Examples illustrate both methodologies and sensitivity analysis is used to examine the robustness of the systems.
47 citations
TL;DR: Years of employment, male gender, and proportion of time wearing hearing protection were the factors most associated with hearing loss at the average of 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz, and the most consistent predictor of hearing loss in both univariate and multivariate analyses.
Abstract: Noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) is among the 10 leading occupational diseases, afflicting between 7.4 and 10.2 million people who work in noise above 85 dBA. Although mandatory hearing conservation programs (HCPs) have been in effect since 1972, this problem persists, as hearing protectors are not consistently used by workers, or may not attenuate to manufacturer's estimates in real world conditions. In this study, information from noise and hearing protection use measurements taken at an automobile assembly plant were used to construct average lifetime noise exposure and hearing protection compliance estimates for use in modeling to predict both total hearing loss and onset of two accepted definitions of hearing loss. There were 301 males and females in this cohort; their mean age was 42.6 (7.2) years, and mean tenure was 14.3 (3.5) years. Average length of follow-up was 14.0 years. There were 16 members of this cohort who had hearing loss at the speech frequencies (defined as an average hearing level ...
47 citations