ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES(ES)

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Lesson 18: Noise pollution

Impact of pollution on health

• The most direct harmful effect of excessive noise is physical damage to the ear and this temporary or permanent hearing loss.
  
• The temporary hearing loss is called “temporary threshold shift” (TTS). People suffering from this condition are unable to detect weak sounds.
  
• Permanent hearing loss, usually called “noise – induced permanent threshold shift” (NIPTS) represents a loss of hearing ability from which there is no recovery. It occurs above 95 db.
  
• Below a sound level of 80db hearing loss does not occur.
  
• Noise can also cause emotional or psychological effects such as irritability, anxiety, and stress.
  
• Lack of concentration and mental fatigue are significant health effect of noise.
  
• A noise interferes with normal auditory communication, it may mask auditory warning signals and hence increase the rate of accidents especially in industries.
  
• It can also lead to lowered worker efficiency and productivity and higher accidents rates at the job.