NOISE

POLLUTION
What is NOISE ?
• Noise is defined as the undesirable sound that
interferes significantly with the comfort, health and
welfare of persons

• Defined as that unwanted pollutant which produces

undesirable physiological and psychological effects in
an individual by interfering with one’s social activities
like work, rest, recreation, sleep etc.
UNITS OF NOISE
• Noise is measured in units of sound pressure called
decibels (dB), named after Alexander Graham Bell.
• A decibel (1/10th of Bel) is a physical unit based on
the weakest sound that can be detected by the human
ear.
• Decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale: a small
change in the number of decibels indicates a huge
change in the amount of noise and the potential
damage to a person's hearing.
UNITS OF NOISE
dB = 10log (A/A0)

where dB is the intensity of sound A, relative to the

reference sound intensity A0

• The decibel is a dimensionless unit

• Pitch/Frequency - Rate of vibration measured in Hertz

(Hz) (the number of times the wave vibrates per second)
Sources/Causes of Noise
• Stationary
• Mobile
• Industrial Noise
• Transportation/Traffic Noise
• Household noise
• Public address system
• Noise from Construction Works
• Neighborhood Noise
• Miscellaneous Sources
(i) Industrial Sources:
Textile mills, printing presses, engineering establishments and
metal works etc.
(ii) Transport Vehicles:
Heavy trucks, buses, trains, jet-planes, motor-cycles,
scooters, mopeds etc
(iii) Household:
banging of doors, noise of playing children, crying of
infants, moving of furniture, loud conversation of the
inhabitants entertainment equipment in the house, namely
the radio, record-players and television sets Domestic
gadgets like the mixer-grinders, pressure cookers, desert
coolers, air- conditioners, exhaust fans, vacuum cleaners,
sewing and washing machines etc
(iv) Public Address System: Religious function, birth, death, marriage,
elections, dem-onstration, or just commercial
advertising
(v) Agricultural Machines: Tractors, thrashers, harvesters, tube wells, powered
tillers etc

(vi) Defense Equipment: Artillery, tanks, launching of rockets, explosions,

exercising of military airplanes and shooting
practices

(vii) Miscellaneous Sources: The automobile repair shop, construction works,

blasting, bulldozing, stone crushing etc……
EFFECTS OF NOISE
• Auditory Effects
• Speech Interference
• Sleep Interference
• General Annoyance
• Behavioral Effects
• Emotional & Psychological Effects
• Acoustical Privacy
• Pathological Effects
• Other Effects
 Effects

Effects of noise Effects on other

Effects on Non-
interference with animals and other
Living things.
peoples life. living things.
 Physical effect
Effects of noise
interference
with peoples life.
Psychological
effect
Physical effect
• High blood pressure
• stress related illness
• sleep disruption
• hearing loss and productivity loss
• memory loss
• severe depression, and panic attacks.
Psychological Effects
 Depression and fatigue which considerably reduces the
efficiency of a person.
 Insomnia as a result of lack of undisturbed and refreshing
sleep
 Straining of senses and annoyance as a result of slow but
persistent noise from motorcycles, alarm clocks, call bells,
telephone rings etc.
 Affecting of psychomotor performance of a person by a sudden
loud sound
 Emotional disturbance
 Noise Level and its Harmful Effects

LEVEL IN EFFECTS
(dB)
up to 23 No disturbance
30-60 Stress, tension, psychological (illness, heart
attack) effects especially at upper range.
60-90 Damage to health, psychological and vegetative
(disturbance in stomach-gall function, pains in
muscles, high blood pressure, disturbance in
sleeping)
60-120 Damages to health and ontological (ear
diseases) effects
above 120 Painful effects in long run.
Effects on other animals and other living things
• The effect caused by industries, railways, crackers, explosions
and commotion in the cities, aircrafts etc., can be felt on
animals, birds, mice, fishes and domestic animals
• Birds avoid migrating to places where noise level is above 100
dB.
• The noise emissions caused by supersonic aircraft, railway
noise emissions etc., may cause miscarriage in mammals and
fishes as well as birds are observed to have stopped laying
eggs.
• Thus to sum up animals and other living things become upset
more than human beings and in the direct cause of ecological
in balance.
Effect on non-living things

• Intense noise levels affects non-living things too.

• The noise booms cause cracks in national and archaeological

monuments as well as very high levels of noise are the cause of
cracks in hills.

• High intensity explosions can break glass panes and

vibrations in the buildings.
CONTROL OF NOISE POLLUTION
Control of Noise
• Control at source level - elimination of noise at the
source
• Control at the path - modification of path
• Control at receptor level - protection of receiver
• Legal Measures - THE NOISE POLLUTION (REGULATION AND
CONTROL) RULES, 2000
 Control
measures

Source On the Receptor

level path level
 Noise control at source
• Reducing the noise levels from domestic
sectors
• Maintenance of automobiles
• Control over vibrations
• Low voice speaking
• Prohibition on usage of loudspeakers
• Selection of machinery
• Maintenance of machines
 Noise control at source
• Enclosing noisy machine
• Provide elastic suspension between machine
and its supporting structure
• Reducing speed of operation
• Using vibration dampening materials
• Modification in design of machine
• Oiling and greasing of moving parts of machine
etc.
 Control in the transmission path
• Increasing distance between source and
receiver
• Orientation of source so that noise directed at
receiver is minimum
• Use of reflectors
• Use of absorptive materials etc.
• Installation of barriers
• Installation of panels or enclosures
• Green belt development
Noise control at Receptor level
• Hearing protection equipments
• Job rotation
• Exposure condition
• Personal noise dosimeter
(6) Legislative Measures:
Standards for Noise
Limits in
dB(A) Leq*
Category of
Area Code
Area/Zone
Day time Night time

(A) Industrial area 75 70

Commercial
(B) 65 55
area
Residential
(C) 55 45
area

(D) Silence Zone 50 40

dB(A) Leq denotes the time weighted average of the level of

sound in decibels on scale A which is relatable to human hearing.
Standards for Noise…..
• Note:
• 1. Day time shall mean from 6.00 a.m. to 10.00
p.m.
• 2. Night time shall mean from 10.00p.m. to 6.00
a.m.
• 3. dB(A) Leq denote the time weighted average
of the level of sound in decibels on scale A which
is relatable to human hearing
Traffic Noise in India ( 128kbps ).mp3
Application in EIA

• Identifying sources generating noise

• Assessing typical noise levels
• Ambient noise levels are analyzed with
prescribed parameters
• Identifying impact of the noise levels from the
proposed activity
• If predicted impacts are adverse, adopt suitable
measures for attenuating noise levels.
1. Impact of Pollutants – types & scale
2. Climate change - Global warming
3. Ozone layer depletion
4. Deforestation & Land degradation
5. Impact of development on vegetation & wild life