Environmental

Pollution:
Noise Pollution

Presented to:
Prof. Dr. Akram Sutlan

Presented by:
Eng. Mahmoud Mostafa
ID: 20123029
 Table Of Content
01 Definition of Environment
06 Definition Of Noise Pollution

02 Environmental Problems
07 Noise Measurements

03 Types Of Pollutions 08 Noise Types and Sources

04 Nature Of Sound
09 Noise Pollution Effects

05 Definition Of Noise
10 Noise Mitigation
 3

01
Definition
Of Environment

The conditions that surround someone

or something: the conditions and
influences that affect the growth,
health, progress, etc., of someone or
something.
 4

02
Environmental
Problems
Environmental issues are defined as problems
with the planet's systems (air, water, soil, etc.)
that have developed as a result of human
interference or mistreatment of the planet.
 5

03
Definition Of
Pollutions
• Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials
into the environment. These harmful materials are
called pollutants.
• Pollutants can be natural, such as volcanic ash ,
They can also be created by human activity, such
as trash or runoff produced by factories.
• Pollutants damage the quality of air, water, and
land.
 6

03
A) Soil Degradation
• Globally, food security depends on the factor of
whether soils are in good condition to produce
crops. According to UN estimates, about 12
million hectares of farmland a year get seriously
degraded.
• Soils get damaged due to many reasons. Such
reasons include erosion, overgrazing,
overexposure to pollutants, monoculture
planting, soil compaction, land-use conversion,
and many more.

• Nowadays, a wide range of techniques of soil

conservation and restoration exist, from no-till
agriculture to crop rotation to water retention
through terrace-building.
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03
B) Global warming

Climate changes like global warming are the result of

human practices like the emission of greenhouse
gases. Global warming leads to rising temperatures
of the oceans and the earth’s surface causing natural
disasters that include flooding, melting of polar ice
caps, rise in sea levels, and also unnatural patterns of
precipitation such as flash floods, hurricanes, and
wildfires, drought, excessive snow, or desertification.
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03
C) OverPopulation
The population of the planet is reaching unsustainable
levels as it faces a shortage of resources like water, fuel,
and food. Population explosion in less developed and
developing countries is straining the already scarce
resources.

Intensive agriculture practiced in producing food damages

the environment using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and
insecticides. Overpopulation is also one of the crucial
current environmental problems.
 9

03
D) Waste Disposal
The overconsumption of resources and the creation of
plastics are creating a global crisis of waste disposal.
Developed countries are notorious for producing an
excessive amount of waste or garbage and dumping their
waste in the oceans and less developed countries.

Nuclear waste disposal has tremendous health hazards

associated with it. Plastic, fast food, packaging, and cheap
electronic wastes threaten the well-being of humans.
Waste disposal is, therefore, one of the urgent current
environmental problems.
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03
E) Deforestation
Our forests are natural sinks of carbon dioxide and
produce fresh oxygen, as well as help in regulating
temperature and rainfall. At present, forests cover 30% of
the land, but every year tree cover is lost, amounting to the
country of Panama due to the growing population demand
for more food, shelter, and cloth. Deforestation simply
means clearing of green cover and making that land
available for residential, industrial, or commercial purposes.
 11

03
F) Polar Ice Caps
The issue of the melting of polar ice caps is a contentious
one. Although NASA studies have shown that the amount
of ice in Antarctica is increasing, however, this increase is
only one-third of what is being lost in the Arctic.

There is enough evidence that shows sea levels are rising,

and the melting of Arctic ice caps is a major contributor.
Over time, the melting of polar ice caps could lead to
extensive flooding, contamination of drinking water, and
major changes in ecosystems.
03
12

G) Ozone Layer
Depletion
The ozone layer is an invisible layer of protection around
the planet that protects us from the sun’s harmful rays.
The depletion of the crucial Ozone layer of the atmosphere
is attributed to pollution caused by Chlorine and Bromide
found in Chloro-fluoro carbons (CFCs). Once these toxic
gases reach the upper atmosphere, they create a hole in
the ozone layer, the biggest of which is above the
Antarctic.

CFCs are banned in many industries and consumer

products. The ozone layer is valuable because it prevents
harmful UV radiation from reaching the earth. This is one
of the most important current environmental problems.
 13

03
H) Water Pollution
Clean drinking water is becoming a rare commodity.
Water is becoming an economic and political issue as
the human population fights for this resource.

One of the options suggested is using the process of

desalinization. Industrial development is filling our rivers,
seas, and oceans with toxic pollutants, which are a major
threat to human health.
 14

03
I) Air Pollution
Air pollution refers to any physical, chemical, or biological
change in the air. It is the contamination of air by harmful
gases, dust, and smoke that affects plants, animals, and
humans drastically.

There is a certain percentage of gases present in the

atmosphere. An increase or decrease in the composition of
these gases is harmful to survival. This imbalance in the
gaseous composition has increased the earth’s
temperature, which is known as global warming.
 15

03
J) Noise Pollution
Noise pollution is unwanted or excessive sound that can
have deleterious effects on human health, wildlife, and
environmental quality. Noise pollution is commonly
generated inside many industrial facilities and some other
workplaces, but it also comes from highway, railway, and
airplane traffic and outdoor construction activities.
Noise is more than a mere nuisance. At certain levels and
durations of exposure, it can cause physical damage to
the eardrum and the sensitive hair cells of the inner ear
and result in temporary or permanent hearing loss, known
as noise-induced hearing loss.

04
Nature Of Sound
What is Sound?
Sound is created by a vibrating object. Sound travels
as a wave through a medium, for example, a liquid
(such as water), a solid (such as the seafloor), or a gas
(such as air). Therefore, sound does not exist in the
vacuum of space.
16
A sound wave is an example of a compressional or
longitudinal wave. Below is an animation in which a
hand applies pressure to the end of a simulated slinky
to create a longitudinal wave. The particles in a
longitudinal wave move parallel to the direction in
which the wave is traveling.
 Hearing Mechanism 17

01 Sound Wave

02 Outer ear

03 Sound wave in ear canal

04 Eardrum

05 Tiny bones in middle ear

06 Cochlea

07 Auditory Nerves
 Hearing Mechanism 18

01 Sound Wave

The process in which our brains interpret those

vibrations to sound can be divided into three
measures:
collecting the vibrations, converting those
vibrations into mechanical energy, and relaying
each as an electrical impulse to be interpreted
as sound by the brain.
 Hearing Mechanism 19

02 Outer ear

Sound waves are funneled into the ear via the

auricle and through the external auditory
canal to the tympanic membrane (eardrum)
where the vibrations are then converted into
mechanical energy.
 Hearing Mechanism 20

03 Sound wave in ear canal

The tympanic membrane is attached to the first in

a chain of three small bones (malleus, incus, and
stapes) known as the ossicular chain. The three
bones propel one another sequentially, ultimately
striking the oval window.
 Hearing Mechanism 21

04 Eardrum

The eardrum is a thin piece of tissue,

extending from the auditory tube, which
separates the middle and inner ear from
the external ear.
 Hearing Mechanism 22

05 Tiny bones in middle ear

These 3 little bones, collectively know

as the ossicles, are the Malleus, Incus,
and Stapes. Also know as the Hammer,
Anvil, and Stirrup based on how they
look.
 Hearing Mechanism 23

06 Cochlea

The cochlea’s oval window is the

membranous barrier between the middle
and inner ear. The bottom layer of the
cochlea is carpeted by a layer of
microscopic hair cells, each stimulated by
specific frequencies, or pitches, of sound
waves/vibrations. Once stimulated by the
movement of the perilymph fluid, they relay
that information to the brain via the
auditory nerve to be interpreted in the
brain as sound.
 Hearing Mechanism 24

07 Auditory Nerves

Is responsible for auditory function and

balance. The human skull has twelve
pairs of nerves connected to the brain.
One of them, responsible for balance
and hearing, is the auditory nerve, also
called the vestibulocochlear nerve or
the statoacoustic nerve.
 25
04
Nature Of Sound

What Can People hear?

People can hear sounds at frequencies from about 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz,
though we hear sounds best from 1,000 Hz to 5,000 Hz.
 26

05
Definition Of Noise

Noise is an unwanted sound

considered unpleasant, loud, or
disruptive to hearing. 
•However, all sounds above 90 dB are
damaging the inner ear and even do
irreversible damage above 120 dB.
 27

06
Definition Of
Noise Pollution
Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise
or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with
ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal
life, most of them harmful to a degree.

Not all sound is considered noise pollution.

 The World Health Organization (WHO) defines

noise above 65 decibels (dB) as noise pollution. To
be precise, noise becomes harmful when it exceeds
75 decibels (dB) and is painful above 120 dB.
 28

07
Noise Measurements

• Noise level is measured in decibels (dB).

• The louder the noise, the higher the
decibels. Decibels can be adjusted to
human hearing.
• Noise level is thus described in decibels
A (dBA).
 29

Sound Level Equipments

Microphones Sound Level Meters Frequency Analyzers

 30

Sound Level Equipments

Personal Sound Level

Noise Dosimeters Meters Calibrators
 Units Of Sound 31

01 Decibel Scale (dB)

This unit is basically used to express
the ratio of some value of a
physical property to another,

02
mainly on a logarithmic scale.

Sone

03 Phon

04 Hertz (Hz)

05 Watt per meter square (W/m2)

06 Pascal (Pa)
 What is dB? 32

01 Decibel Scale (dB)

The intensity of a sound wave is the average

amount of energy transmitted per unit time
through a unit area in a specified direction.
The amount of energy per unit time is power, and
intensity is therefore the amount of power
transmitted through a unit area in a specified
direction. The sound intensity level, I, in decibels is
defined as 10 times the logarithm of the ratio of the
intensity of a sound wave to a reference intensity.

The unit for intensity is the bel, named in honor of

Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone.
 Addition & Subtracting of Sounds 33

01 Decibel Scale (dB) addition:

Sound levels are generally expressed in decibels,
which are logarithmic and so cannot be
manipulated without being converted back
to a linear scale. You must first antilog each
number, add or subtract and then log them
again in the following way:

                            
For example, adding three levels 94.0 + 96.0 + 98.0:
                                                                                                              
 Addition & Subtracting of Sounds 34

01 Decibel Scale (dB) addition:

Equal Signal levels:
 Addition & Subtracting of Sounds 35

01 Decibel Scale (dB) addition:

Different Signal levels:

08 Noise Types
Continuous Noise
The continuous noise is exactly what it
says on the tin: it’s the noise that is
produced continuously.
This could come from factory
equipment, engine noise, or heating
and ventilation systems.
Intermittent Noise Impulsive Noise
Impulsive noise is most commonly
Intermittent noise is a noise level that
associated with the construction and
increases and decreases rapidly.
demolition industry. These sudden bursts
This might be caused by a train passing
of noise can startle you with their fast and
by, factory equipment that operates in
surprising nature. Impulsive noises are
cycles, or aircraft flying above your
commonly created by explosions or
house.
construction equipment, such as pile
drivers
36
Low-Frequency Noise
Low-frequency noise makes up part of the
fabric of our daily soundscape. Whether it’s the
low background hum of a nearby power
station or the roaring of large diesel engines,
we’re exposed to low-frequency noise
constantly. It also happens to be the hardest
type of noise to reduce at the source, so it can
easily spread for miles around.

08 Noise Sources: External Natural
Volcanic Eruptions
Scientists believe the sonic boom was
the loudest sound on earth to happen
since the 1883 eruption of Krakatau in
Indonesia, which was estimated to be
235 dB in the epicenter.
Thunder
The loudness of thunder can be expressed
in decibels (dB). A clap of thunder
typically registers at about 120 dB in
close proximity to the ground stroke. This
is 10 times louder than a garbage truck or
pneumatic jackhammer drill.
Roaring Of Animals
An average size dog barks at “120 dB and
500 Hz.” Damage to the human ear can
occur at 85 dB. Therefore, a continually
barking dog can cause stress and loss of
sleep.
37
Rush of rivers
Shores with different slopes and sediment
types have been investigated. Results showed
that the sound pressure level increased from 60
dB at 0.4 m wave height to 78 dB at 2.0 m
wave height.

08 Noise Sources: External Man-Made
Industrial Sources
Industrialization has resulted in the rise
of noise pollution.
Most industries use heavy machines
capable of producing very high levels of
noise.
Transportation & Poor Urban
Planning
The automobile revolution has turned out to be a big
source of environmental noise in urban regions.
there is an increase in traffic due to the growth in the
number of vehicles such as buses, trains, and trucks.
Agriculture & Construction
Machines
Noise level of as high as 90 dB to 98 dB has been
recorded in some farms using heavy types of machinery
and equipment. These equipment includes thrashers, tube
wells, tractors, drillers, powered tillers, and harvesters.
38
Military equipments
Artillery tanks, rocket launching, military airplanes
drills, explosions, and shooting practices are serious
noise polluters. Deafening impacts are produced by
the sounds of jet engines

08 Noise Sources: External Man-Made
Weddings
Weddings are so loud. It should be in
places not near habitants. Weddings’
noise ranges from 90 dB to 120 dB in
Egypt.
Public Gatherings
Same as weddings, public gatherings,
festivals, and parties are so loud. It should
be in places not near habitants. Their
noise ranges from 90 dB to 120 dB in
Egypt.
Workshops
Heavy machines and equipment produce
loud noises. Their noise ranges from 100
dB to 120 dB in Egypt. By regulation,
there are specific working hours for these
types of equipment.
39
Firecrackers
Fireworks produce a sound output that is in the
150 to the 175-decibel range. Each year, many
people experience some damage to their
hearing as a result of fireworks. explosion.
 40

09 Noise Pollution Effects: Humans

Hearing Loss Irritability, high stress.

High Blood Pressure The circadian rhythm (sleep cycles)

High noise pollution level increases the Being exposed to a lot of noise and People that are exposed to noise in the Noise pollution can trigger the body’s stress
stress reaction that elevates blood especially loud noises can cause evening face a high risk of developing response, one of its major health effects
pressure. This process will increase permanent damage the cilia in your sleep problems, produced by headaches. is chronic stress and the high levels of stress
cardiac oxygen demand and causes in inner ear, which results to hearing loss Also, sound waves affect people’s retinas hormones that go with it.
increase in the heart rate causing sleeping problems.
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09 Noise Pollution Effects: Humans

Muscle Contraction Heart attacks The Optical System Birth Defects and Abortion

Noise pollution can cause muscle
contraction that can lead to a nervous
breakdown, tension, etc
Fast sound wave directly influences the
heart rate. This decreases the heart rate
which multiplies the chances of a heart
attack.
Causes pupillary dilation, impairment of Women exposed to high noise levels (in most
night vision, and decrease in the rate of of the studies ≥ 80 dB) during pregnancy are at
color perception a significantly higher risk for having
preeclampsia, perinatal death, spontaneous
abortion, and preterm birth.

09 Noise Pollution Effects: Animals
Difficult To Detect Prey
Noises cause distortion to the prey
because mammals such as dolphins
produce echoes to hunt their predators,
which enables them to hear the echoes
back in order to know which direction to
head towards to.
The Reproductive Behavior
Animals go into a state of fear when
there is continuous exposure to loud
noise. They hide and do not come out
to socialize or mate. For some
animals, the noise can drown the
mating calls and other communication
signals
Unusual animal behavior
Loud noise can affect the social behavior
of animals, they panic and run to escape
the noise. In this process, their body
releases adrenaline due to which the blood
pressure shoots up drastically. This can
lead to cardiac arrest and death due to
shock.
42
Navigation (Marine Animals)
Sound noise generated from human activities
in the sea will interfere with the hearing and
navigation functions of animals such as
whales, dolphins, sharks, and so on. This will
drive them to a lost situation, which
eventually causes them to strand.
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10
Noise Mitigation
1) Control at noise sources
It is often a primary consideration to reduce noise at its
source.

2) Noise reduction at the transmission path

An obvious way of reducing noise is to separate the
sources of noise from noise-sensitive uses. This is
however often not practical in a compact and high-rise
city to rely only on distance attenuation to cut down
the noise such as in the case of tackling road traffic
noise.

3) Protection at the receiver end

By arranging noise-sensitive uses such as bedrooms
facing away from the noise sources, the impact of noise
on the receiver can be reduced.
44
 45

10
Noise Mitigation:
Land Use Planning
One important planning tool to minimize the
impact of environmental noise is to ensure the
compatibility of different uses adjacent to each
other. Outline Zoning Plans (OZPs) are drawn
under the Town Planning Ordinance to govern
land uses for different purposes.
 46

10
Noise Mitigation:
Screening by Noise Tolerant Buildings This is an illustration of how a noise tolerant
building such as a multi-story carpark building
is used to protect residential buildings from
road traffic noise.
 47

10 Noise Mitigation:
Secondary School along Hang Kwong Street, Ma On Shan - Vertical Noise Barrier
 48

10 Noise Mitigation:
West Kowloon Expressway near Mei Foo Sun Chuen - Buffer Zone
 49

10 Noise Mitigation:
Tsing Yi Road near the Tsing Yi South Bridge - Cantilevered Noise Barrier

10 Noise Mitigation: Sound Proofing Materials
Acoustic Foam
Commonly referred to as studio foam. It
has a unique wedge or pyramid shape
which increases its effectivity to absorb
sound. The material can be used on the
walls, ceiling, and corners and are used
as panels, baffles, and bass traps
respectively
Insulation of Sound
These are batts that are made of
mineral wool, fiberglass, and rock
wool. They are designed to fit in
between the walls’ studs and take up
airspace that is responsible
transmitting sound.
Acoustic Boards
They are similar to sound insulation and
acoustic foam but are decorative. They
come in attractive patterns, colors, and
fabrics. This feature makes them have a
for dual purpose, that is, decoration and
soundproofing.
50
Acoustic Fabrics
These are thicker and denser than other
fabrics. They are more than often used in
theatre curtains, studio blankets as well as
blackout curtains.
 51

10 Noise Mitigation: Sound Proofing Materials

Floor Underlayment Soundproofing Using Architecture

Insulating Glass
Acoustic Coatings
Unit
It involves materials such as MLV(Mass This is done on the tile or hardwood These are things that are used in building Extensive glass range to meet all
Loaded Vinyl). These are dense and are floor. The process needs to structures. They include soundproof environmental performance requirements,
rubber-like and are used on various disengagement of the floor surface as windows, walls, doors, and double and triple glazing solutions, high
occasions such as appliances, machinery, this reduces the transmission of disengagement products that help in the levels of noise attenuation coefficients, a
car soundproofing, and underlayment. noise. installation process. wide range of acoustic parameters, and
The density of the material is what helps suitable for internal and external
it to act as a barrier to sound. applications.
 52
10
Noise Mitigation:
 ‫‪53‬‬
‫‪10‬‬
‫‪Noise Mitigation:‬‬

‫الخطة القومية لمكافحة الضوضاء و ال‪,‬حد من‬

‫الضوضاء‬
‫‪:‬وزارة ا لداخلية ‪1-‬‬
‫اإلدارة العامة للمرور‬
‫اإلدارة العامة لشرطة البيئة والمسطحات‬
‫وزارة ا لسياحة ‪2-‬‬
‫وزارة ا لتخطيط وا لتنمية ا لمحلية ‪3-‬‬
‫وزارة ا لصحة وا لسكان‪4-‬‬
‫وزارة ا ألوقاف‪5-‬‬
‫وزارة ا لطيرانا لمدني‪6.‬‬
‫وزارة ا لتربية وا لتعليم ‪7-‬‬
‫وزارة ا لتجارة وا لصناعة ‪8-‬‬
‫وزارة ا لنقل ‪9-‬‬
 54

THANKS