Noise- How It Affects Us And How We Can Prevent It

By Author: Kevin Richard
Total Articles: 235
Comment this article

Though its presence remained unaddressed for years, noise is now identified as a substantial health problem. Noise is an undesired or harmful sound created by human activities, including noise emitted through air traffic, rail traffic, road traffic and transport.

Right from the delivery of trucks to air conditioners, we are constantly bombarded by sounds that go unnoticed for the most part. Nonetheless, you should never let it go out of your mind. It is mainly these unobjectionable noises that should be alarming.

Those involved with the more apparent noise sources like shooting sports, airports, IAC industries, manufacturing or even musical concerts have long known the harmful of extreme noise levels on long-term hearing. Nonetheless, noise has been comprehensively researched for its impact on our physical and mental health, and the findings may perplex you. But to gain a better idea, one requires a fundamental knowledge of what precisely noise is.

The intensity of noise is measured in decibel units. The scale of decibel is logarithmic; ...
... every 10 decibel increase represents a tenfold increment in the intensity of noise. The human perspective of noise also conforms to a logarithmic scale. A 10 decibel increment is perceived as roughly doubling of the loudness. Therefore, 30 decibels is 10 times more intense than 20 decibels of sound and will be twice as loud, 40 decibels is 100 times more intense and may be 4 times as loud. 80 decibels is 1 million times more intense and may sound 64 times loud. Distance reduces the efficient decibel level reaching the ear. Therefore, the same traffic rate is almost 70 decibels, which will sound 4 times louder. In such a situation, you may have to look for motorcycle noise control products as this is what creates noises in the road.

When subjected to 45 decibels of noise, a person will not be able to sleep. At 120 decibels the ears may pain, but hearing damage starts at a much lower level of almost 85 decibels. The duration of the exposure is also vital. There is a proof that hearing sensitivity is reducing among the young Americans due to exposure to noise, including highly amplified music. Other than hearing loss, such type of noise may cause high blood pressure, ulcers, indigestion, heartburn, irritability, sleep and possibly heart disease. Any outburst of noise caused by a passing truck, loud engine, is known to change cardiovascular, neurological and endocrine functionalities in many people, prolonged or often exposure to such noise tends to cause psychological disturbances. Moreover, stress due to noise creates serious tension in regular life and may contribute to mental illness. Hence, reduce loud engine noise by implementing appropriate measures.

Are sound level suppressors the best solution for every application? Definitely not! There are effective tools for any situation, right from ceiling tiles to earplugs.