1. 1.

NOISE POLLUTION English SBA CSEC EXAMINATIONS 4 SCIENCE Independence

High School
2. 2. PLAN OF INVESTIGATION The subtopic of noise pollution is an issue that not everyone
knows of which is why I have chosen this topic to research on. Many people just play loud
music when they feel like not knowing that they are contributing to noise pollution. Then we
have the construction workers who make loud noise with their machines, and other large
equipment. So noise pollution is a part of our everyday life. As a student of English, I expect
to improve in my writing and reading comprehension skills by researching and arranging this
School Based Assessment. The way I intend to collect the information for this SBA is by
reading through some recent articles online and on local newspapers alongside with
interviewing some residence that could reside in areas with a high percentage of noise
pollution. I will use the information to write my reflections and written report.
3. 3. How Does Noise Pollution Harm Your Heart? June 20, 2015 According to research
published in Environmental Health Perspectives, long-term exposure to traffic noise may
account for approximately 3 percent of coronary heart disease deaths (or about 210,000
deaths) in Europe each year.6 But, how, exactly, does noise harm your heart? One of the
key ways is by elevating stress hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline,
which, over time, can lead to high blood pressure, stroke and heart failure. One review of
research showed that “arousal associated with nighttime noise exposure increased blood
and saliva concentrations of these hormones even during sleep.”7 Deepak Prasher, a
professor of audiology at University College in London and a member of the WHO Noise
Environmental Burden on Disease working group, states:8 “Many people become habituated
to noise over time… The biological effects are imperceptible, so that even as you become
accustomed to the noise, adverse physiological changes are nevertheless taking place, with
potentially serious consequences to human health. …Taken together, recent epidemiologic
data show us that noise is a major stressor that can influence health through the endocrine,
immune, and cardiovascular systems.” The impact can be significant. Among women who
judge themselves to be sensitive to noise, chronic noise exposure increased the risk of
cardiovascular mortality by 80 percent!9 Chronic noise exposure also leads to health risks
beyond your heart, such as hearing loss, diminished productivity, sleep disruption, impaired
learning, and more. https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/06/20/noise-
pollution.aspx
4. 4. Elastic Road Surface Reduces Motorway Noise Pollution
http://www.euronews.com/2015/02/23/elastic-road-surface-reduces-motorway-noise-pollution
5. 5. High Blood Pressure Affected By Air, Noise Pollution Study Finds By , Oct 25, 2016 05:52
PM EDT Anyone whose blood pressure is 140/90mmhg or more for a sustained period is
said to have high blood pressure or hypertension. A study shows that long-term exposure to
both air and noise pollution can make the hypertension of a person high. According to
Science Daily, the largest study investigates the effects of both air pollution and traffic noise
by following over 41,000 people in five different countries for five to nine years The result is if
a person has a longterm exposure to air and traffic noise pollution, that person linked to a
greater incidence of high blood pressure. A study published on October 25 in the European
Heart Journal said that among adults, up to one extra person per 100 people of the same
age group living in an area with air and traffic noise pollution would develop high blood
pressure compared to those living in the less polluted areas. The tendency is similar to the
effect of being overweight with body mass index (BMI) between 25-30 compared to people
with normal BMI. This published study is the first to investigate regarding the health matter
and it found out that traffic noise is associated with an increase in cases of high blood
pressure as well. The study was conducted separately to know the individual linked to air
pollution and noise pollution to high hypertension. The finding shows that the association of
air pollution with hypertension remained even when exposure to traffic noise was considered
in the analysis. "Chronic exposure to particles contributes to the risk of developing
cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, as well as of lung cancer," the World Health
 Organization says. "There is a close, quantitative relationship between exposure to high
concentrations of small particulates ... and increased mortality or morbidity, both daily and
over time." According to the report of The National, the researchers found that for every five
micrograms per cubic meter (5 µg/m3) of PM2.5, the risk of high blood pressure increased
by a fifth (22 percent) in people living in the most polluted areas compared to those in the
least polluted areas. Higher soot concentrations also increased the risk. For exposure to
chronic traffic noise, the researchers found that people living in noisy streets, where there
were average night time noise levels of 50 decibels, had a six per cent increased the risk of
developing high blood pressure compared to those living on quieter streets where average
noise levels were 40 decibels during the night.
http://www.itechpost.com/articles/46381/20161025/high-blood-pressure-affected-air-noise-
pollution-study-finds.htm
6. 6. Reflection 1 I’ve seen how noise pollution affects humans and the environment. I
personally have sometimes contributed to this problem, and after reading the article by Dr.
Mercola, June 20, 2015, I’ve learned that a quiet environment is a better environment. I love
listening to music and that includes listening to every detail. After reading the article, I’ve
stopped playing loud music at home. I now understand that noise pollution has so many
effects on humans and even the environment. Noise pollution can be everywhere, especially
on highways and freeways. This is a very common problem in Europe and I learned that a
new technology is being developed according to the video at
http://www.euronews.com/2015/02/23/elastic-road-surface-reduces- motorway-noise-
pollution, 2015. After watching the video, I have learnt that the noise pollution comes from
the car’s tires rolling over the surface of the highway and elastic road surfaces can be very
costly but will greatly reduce noise pollution. I read through an article at www.itechpost.com,
Oct. 25, 2015, that proves that people living in an area that has a high rate of noise pollution
have a higher blood pressure than those who live in a quieter area. I have learned that noise
pollution not only causes hearing impairment, but increases blood pressure in humans. This
has made me see how noise pollution greatly affects humans and has made me see that
noise pollution is more dangerous than what we think.
7. 7. Reflection 2 I realize that I am disturbing my neighborhood and that I am contributing to
noise pollution. At first, I thought there was no problem to play loud music at home, and after
reading the article, I felt ashamed because I didn’t know how I irritated my neighbors. This
article reminded me of my neighbor when I lived in Benque Viejo. I always saw my parents
getting mad when the neighbor played loud music. I never knew that there was something
called noise pollution and that it affected us so severely. What helped me to better
understand this topic is that the language that was use was very clear so that I could have
been able to relate to it. The article has inspired me to someday try to promote elastic road
surfaces to be used here in Belize because there are many communities that are close to the
highway and the people face this problem. The video reminded me of a time that I spent a
night at a family member’s house that was close to the highway. There trucks constantly
driving by and making loud noise causing me to have a sleepless night. So I have developed
a better understanding of noise pollution and even types of noise pollution. This has inspired
me to personally reduce noise pollution in my home and neighborhood so that nobody will
get harmed due to noise pollution. After reading the article, it shocked me that a pollution
that nobody knows about and nobody really pays attention to can harm the body in such a
great way. This reminds me of an aunt that I have in Belize City. Her blood pressure raised
slowly with time. The doctors didn’t know why her blood pressure was high because she had
a good diet.
8. 8. Reflection 3 The language was also formal and it was written that anyone can understand
it and the level it was written. This was very instrumental for me because it helped me to
understand more about noise pollution and help me to even better create a definition and
ways that I can help to prevent noise pollution. I am sure because of the vocabulary was
written in formal English and at my level of understanding I was able to develop a better
 understanding of noise pollution. . The language used in this video was formal English but
the vocabulary was a little higher that my level. To better understand and to develop some
clarity I had to use the dictionary to define some of the terms in the article. I also had to even
discuss some of the terms with my Science teacher. I also I had even research some of the
terms to be better able to understand the concept. In the end I was able to understand the
article and relate to it because it is something that I needed in my country to decrease noise
pollution. After learning about noise pollution affecting blood pressure, I can presume that
her blood pressure got affected by the noise pollution in her community.
9. 9. Written Report This SBA started with our teacher explaining to us the different section of
the English SBA. Once we fully understood this we selected our group members and our
theme and sub- topics. Once we had all this in place we had to do individual research to find
evidence for out articles. The research of this project was made with the dedicated use of the
internet. The articles found were very informative and also helped in improving our grammar
and vocabulary. Analyzing of the information was not very difficult; instead it was quite easy
to grasp the concept of the articles by just reading it once. Outcomes of the research were
very positive as grammar; writing and reading and comprehension skills were stressed and
improved with the help of teachers and also classmates. Our knowledge on the topic
pollution was also widened and improved also which has led me to be aware of my
environment. We met on a weekly basis to discuss the information and our objective. Our
outcome was to examine the negative impact of pollution on the environment. Our objective
was met and we were able to complete the SBA in the time that was allotted to us. We
selected information based on how recent it is, the connection to our theme and sub-topic.
10. 10. Overview of the Oral Presentation
11. 11. References https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/06/20/noise-
pollution.aspx http://www.euronews.com/2015/02/23/elastic-road-surface-reduces-motorway-
noise-pollution http://www.itechpost.com/articles/46381/20161025/high-blood-pressure-
affected-air-noise- pollution-study-finds.htm