Sources, causes, effects and remedial

measures of noise pollution.

A BCEE presentation

By Piyush Hajare

WHAT IS NOISE ?
In simple terms noise is an unwanted and

undesired
sound .
Sound becomes undesirable when it disturbs
the normal activities such as working,
sleeping and during conversations.
It is an underrated environmental problem
because of the fact that we cant see, smell,
or taste it.
World Health Organisation stated that Noise
must be recognised as a major threat to
human well-being.

HOW IT IS COMPUTED ?
The intensity of sound is computed in sound

pressure levels(SPL) and common unit of

measurement is dB i.e decibels.
If sound levels are measured in terms of
pressure then the SPL(Lp) is given by,
Lp = 20log(P/P0) dB , where P0 is standard
reference
pressure.

HOW LOUD IS TOO LOUD ?

Noise -induced hearing damage is related to

the duration and volume of exposure.

Government research suggests the safe

exposure limit is 85 decibels for eight hours a

day .

Some common decibel levels

SOURCES OF NOISE POLLUTION

WHERE DOES IT GENERATE FROM ?

(SOURCES)
The sources of noise may vary according to

daily activities as follows :Domestic Firing crackers,movement of

utensils, cutting and peeling of fruits and
vegetables,etc.
Natural Shores, shouts of birds/animals, wind
movements, sea tide movement, water falls, etc
Commercial -Automobiles, aeroplanes,
marriages, laboratory,
machinery, etc.

WHERE DOES IT GENERATE FROM ?

(SOURCES)
Industrial Generators, boilers, plant

operations, trolley movements, transport

vehicles, pumps, motors, etc.
The noise levels of some of the sources are

summarised in the table :-

Typical Noise levels

Source

Noise level in
dB

Source

Noise level in
dB

Air compressors 95-104

Quiet Garden

30

110 KVA diesel

generator

95

Ticking clock

30

Lathe machine

87

Computer
rooms

55-60

Milling machine

112

Typing institute

60

Oxy-acetylene
cutting

96

Printing press

80

Pulverising

92

Sports car

80-95

Riveting

95

Trains

96

Portable saw

108

Trucks

90-100

Steam turbine
(12,500 KW )

91

Car horns

90-105

Pneumatic

118

Jet takeof

120

Effects of noise pollution

Effects of noise pollution

Why bother about noise?
Often neglected , noise induces a severe impact on
humans and on living organisms.Some of the
adverse efects are summarised below
It creates annoyance to the receptors
due to sound level fluctuations. The aperiodic sound
due to its irregular occurrences causes displeasure to
hearing and causes annoyance.
PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS - The physiological features
like breathing amplitude, blood pressure, heart-beat
rate, pulse rate, blood cholesterol are efected.

1. ANNOYANCE - :

2.

3. LOSS OF HEARING - Long exposure to high sound

levels cause loss of hearing. This is mostly unnoticed,
but has an adverse impact on hearing function.
4. HUMAN PERFORMANCE - : The working
performance of workers/human will be afected as
they'll be losing their concentration.
5. NERVOUS SYSTEM - It causes pain, ringing in the
ears, feeling of tiredness, thereby efecting the
functioning of human system.
6.SLEEPLESSNESS - It afects the sleeping there by
inducing the people to become restless and loose
concentration and presence of mind during their
activities.

CONTROL OF NOISE POLLUTION

Due to the various adverse impacts of noise

on humans and environment, noise should be

controlled. The technique or the combination
of techniques to be employed for noise control
depend upon the extent of the noise reduction
required, nature of the equipment used and
the economy aspects of the available
techniques.
The various steps involved in the noise
management strategy is illustrated at Fig.

NOISE POLLUTION MANAGEMENT

STRATEGY
.

NOISE
POLLUTION
NOISE HAZARD
ZONE

NO
RISK

REDUCE
EQ. SPL
REDUCE NOISE
LEVEL
NOISE
REDUC
TION AT
SOURC
E

INTERRUPT
TRANSMISS
ION PATH

REDUCE EXPOSURE
TIME

ISOLATE
PERSON

PERSONA
L EAR
PROTECT
ION

MONITORING AUDIOMETRY

JOB
ROTATION

CONTROL OF NOISE POLLUTION

NOISE CONTROL AT SOURCE - Reducing the noise

levels from domestic sectors, Maintenance of automobiles,

Control over vibrations, Low voice speaking, Prohibition on
usage of loud speakers, Selection of machinery,
Maintenance of machines,etc.
CONTROL IN TRANSMISSION PATH - Installation of
barriers, Design of building, Green belt development,etc.
JOB ROTATION - By rotating the job between the workers
working at a particular noise source or isolating a person,
the adverse impacts can be reduced.
HEARING PROTECTION - An average noise attenuation
up to 32 dB can be achieved using earmufs, ear plugs,
etc.

CONTROL OF NOISE POLLUTION

THANK YOU !