DECEUNINCK NEWS

The silent pollutant
NOISE

It lives with us as something ordinary. It is so constant and persistent that it goes unnoticed, without us realising that excessive noise is very harmful to our health.
“According to the World Health Organization (WHO), noise is one of environmental factors that causes the greatest number of illnesses. The problem is that society in general has become accustomed to putting up with it, and, more seriously, to generating it. The above, is one aspect to which the harmful consequences actually entails concerning quality of life and environmental pollution are still not attributed" (Laura Martín @LauramArribas).
Noise level is measured in decibels (dB) and the recommended limit by the WHO as "tolerable" must not exceed 65 during the day and 55 at night. If this limit is exceeded, noise becomes harmful to health.

NOISE IS AN INVISIBLE POLLUTANT

Noise is the most common pollutant. It can be defined as any sound perceived by the recipient as annoying, unwanted, unwelcome or unpleasant. What is music for me may be classified as noise to another.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NOISE AND OTHER POLLUTANTS:

It is cheap to produce and needs very little energy to be emitted.
It is cheap to produce and needs very little energy to be emitted.
It is complex to measure and quantify, without residues.
The noise source is turned off, it stops.
It does not have a cumulative effect on environment, however can have the said effect on people's health.
It has a much smaller action radius than other pollutants, i.e., it is localised.
It is perceived by only one sense: hearing, making its effect underestimated.
On the contrary, with water, for example, pollution can be perceived by its appearance, smell and taste.

HEALTH EFFECTS

Noise is a pollutant with potential to affect people's health and deteriorate their quality of life, exposure to high levels of noise mainly leads physiological effects directly related to hearing impairment, such as:

Hearing loss
Tinnitus

These effects are mainly associated with industrial environments or events perception such as explosions, musical performances, headphones at high volume, among others. Instead, continuous lower noise levels, such as vehicular traffic, have the potential to generate non-auditory effects, including: