GUIDELINES

FOR

COMMUNITY NOISE
Edited by
Birgitta Berglund
Thomas Lindvall
Dietrich H Schwela

This WHO document on the Guidelines for Community Noise is the outcome of the WHO- expert task
force meeting held in London, United Kingdom, in April 1999. It bases on the document entitled
Community Noise that was prepared for the World Health Organization and published in 1995 by the
Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute.

World Health Organization, Geneva

Cluster of Sustainable Development and Healthy Environment (SDE)
Department of the Protection of the Human Environment (PHE)
Occupational and Environmental Health (OEH)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword .........................................................................................................................................iii
Preface..............................................................................................................................................v
Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................vii
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................. 1
2. Noise sources and their measurement ..................................................................................... 3
2.1. Basic Aspects of Acoustical Measurements........................................................................ 3
2.2. Sources of Noise.................................................................................................................. 5
2.3. The Complexity of Noise and Its Practical Implications .................................................... 8
2.4. Measurement Issues .......................................................................................................... 11
2.5. Source Characteristics and Sound Propagation................................................................. 14
2.6. Sound transmission Into and Within Buildings................................................................. 15
2.7. More Specialized Noise Measures .................................................................................... 17
2.8. Summary........................................................................................................................... 19
3. Adverse Health Effects Of Noise.......................................................................................... 21
3.1. Introduction....................................................................................................................... 21
3.2. Noise-Induced Hearing Impairment .................................................................................. 21
3.3. Interference with Speech Communication........................................................................ 24
3.4. Sleep Disturbance.............................................................................................................. 26
3.5. Cardiovascular and Physiological Effects......................................................................... 29
3.6. Mental Health Effects........................................................................................................ 30
3.7. The Effects of Noise on Performance ............................................................................... 31
3.8. Effects of Noise on Residential Behaviour and Annoyance ............................................. 32
3.9. The Effects of Combined Noise Sources .......................................................................... 34
3.10. Vulnerable Groups ........................................................................................................ 35
4. Guideline Values................................................................................................................... 37
4.1. Introduction....................................................................................................................... 37
4.2. Specific Effects ................................................................................................................. 38
4.3. Specific Environments ...................................................................................................... 43
4.4. WHO Guideline Values .................................................................................................... 45
5. Noise Management................................................................................................................ 48
5.1. Stages in Noise Management ............................................................................................ 48
5.2. Noise Exposure Mapping.................................................................................................. 52
5.3. Noise Exposure Modeling................................................................................................. 53
5.4. Noise Control Approaches................................................................................................ 53
5.5. Evaluation of Control Options .......................................................................................... 56
5.6. Management of Indoor Noise............................................................................................ 57
5.7. Priority Setting in Noise Management.............................................................................. 60
5.8. Conclusions on Noise Management .................................................................................. 70
6. Conclusions And Recommendations .................................................................................... 72
6.1. Implementation of the Guidelines..................................................................................... 72
6.2. Further WHO Work on Noise ........................................................................................... 73
6.3. Research Needs ................................................................................................................. 73
Appendix 1 : Bibliographical References ..................................................................................... 77
Appendix 2 : Examples Of Regional Noise Situations ................................................................ 95
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Appendix 3 : Glossary..................................................................................................................124
Appendix 4 : Acronyms ...............................................................................................................133
Appendix 5 : Equations and other technical information............................................................136
Appendix 6 : Participant list of THE WHO Expert Task Force meeting on Guidelines For
Community Noise, 26-30 April 1999, MARC, London, UK ......................................................140

ii

Foreword
Noise has always been an important environmental problem for man. In ancient Rome, rules
existed as to the noise emitted from the ironed wheels of wagons which battered the stones on the
pavement, causing disruption of sleep and annoyance to the Romans. In Medieval Europe, horse
carriages and horse back riding were not allowed during night time in certain cities to ensure a
peaceful sleep for the inhabitants. However, the noise problems of the past are incomparable with
those of modern society. An immense number of cars regularly cross our cities and the
countryside. There are heavily laden lorries with diesel engines, badly silenced both for engine
and exhaust noise, in cities and on highways day and night. Aircraft and trains add to the
environmental noise scenario. In industry, machinery emits high noise levels and amusement
centres and pleasure vehicles distract leisure time relaxation.
In comparison to other pollutants, the control of environmental noise has been hampered by
insufficient knowledge of its effects on humans and of dose-response relationships as well as a
lack of defined criteria. While it has been suggested that noise pollution is primarily a "luxury"
problem for developed countries, one cannot ignore that the exposure is often higher in
developing countries, due to bad planning and poor construction of buildings. The effects of the
noise are just as widespread and the long term consequences for health are the same. In this
perspective, practical action to limit and control the exposure to environmental noise are
essential. Such action must be based upon proper scientific evaluation of available data on
effects, and particularly dose-response relationships. The basis for this is the process of risk
assessment and risk management.
The extent of the noise problem is large. In the European Union countries about 40 % of the
population are exposed to road traffic noise with an equivalent sound pressure level exceeding 55
dB(A) daytime and 20 % are exposed to levels exceeding 65 dB(A). Taking all exposure to
transportation noise together about half of the European Union citizens are estimated to live in
zones which do not ensure acoustical comfort to residents. More than 30 % are exposed at night
to equivalent sound pressure levels exceeding 55 dB(A) which are disturbing to sleep. The noise
pollution problem is also severe in cities of developing countries and caused mainly by traffic.
Data collected alongside densely travelled roads were found to have equivalent sound pressure
levels for 24 hours of 75 to 80 dB(A).
The scope of WHO's effort to derive guidelines for community noise is to consolidate actual
scientific knowledge on the health impacts of community noise and to provide guidance to
environmental health authorities and professional trying to protect people from the harmful
effects of noise in non-industrial environments. Guidance on the health effects of noise exposure
of the population has already been given in an early publication of the series of Environmental
Health Criteria. The health risk to humans from exposure to environmental noise was evaluated
and guidelines values derived. The issue of noise control and health protection was briefly
addressed.
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At a WHO/EURO Task Force Meeting in Dsseldorf, Germany, in 1992, the health criteria and
guideline values were revised and it was agreed upon updated guidelines in consensus. The
essentials of the deliberations of the Task Force were published by Stockholm University and
Karolinska Institute in 1995. In an recent Expert Task Force Meeting convened in April 1999 in
London, United Kingdom, the Guidelines for Community Noise were extended to provide global
coverage and applicability, and the issues of noise assessment and control were addressed in
more detail. This document is the outcome of the consensus deliberations of the WHO Expert
Task Force.
Dr Richard Helmer
Director,
Protection of the Human Environment

iv

Preface
Community noise (also called environmental noise, residential noise or domestic noise) is
defined as noise emitted from all sources except noise at the industrial workplace. Main sources
of community noise include road, rail and air traffic, industries, construction and public work,
and the neighbourhood. The main indoor sources of noise are ventilation systems, office
machines, home appliances and neighbours. Typical neighbourhood noise comes from premises
and installations related to the catering trade (restaurant, cafeterias, discotheques, etc.); from live
or recorded music; sport events including motor sports; playgrounds; car parks; and domestic
animals such as barking dogs. Many countries have regulated community noise from road and
rail traffic, construction machines and industrial plants by applying emission standards, and by
regulating the acoustical properties of buildings. In contrast, few countries have regulations on
community noise from the neighbourhood, probably due to the lack of methods to define and
measure it, and to the difficulty of controlling it. In large cities throughout the world, the general
population is increasingly exposed to community due to the sources mentioned above and the
health effects of these exposures are considered to be a more and more important public health
problem. Specific effects to be considered when setting community noise guidelines include:
interference with communication; noise-induced hearing loss; sleep disturbance effects;
cardiovascular and psycho-physiological effects; performance reduction effects; annoyance
responses; and effects on social behaviour.
Since 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) has addressed the problem of community
noise. Health-based guidelines on community noise can serve as the basis for deriving noise
standards within a framework of noise management. Key issues of noise management include
abatement options; models for forecasting and for assessing source control action; setting noise
emission standards for existing and planned sources; noise exposure assessment; and testing the
compliance of noise exposure with noise emission standards. In 1992, the WHO Regional Office
for Europe convened a task force meeting which set up guidelines for community noise. A
preliminary publication of the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, on behalf of WHO, appeared in
1995. This publication served as the basis for the globally applicable Guidelines for Community
Noise presented in this document. An expert task force meeting was convened by WHO in March
1999 in London, United Kingdom, to finalize the guidelines.
The Guidelines for Community Noise have been prepared as a practical response to the need for
action on community noise at the local level, as well as the need for improved legislation,
management and guidance at the national and regional levels. WHO will be pleased to see that
these guidelines are used widely. Continuing efforts will be made to improve its content and
structure. It would be appreciated if the users of the Guidelines provide feedback from its use and
their own experiences. Please send your comments and suggestions on the WHO Guidelines for
Community Noise to the Department of the Protection of the Human Environment, Occupational
and Environmental Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (Fax: +41 22-791
4123, e-mail: [email protected]).
v

Acknowledgements
The World Health Organization thanks all who have contributed to the preparation of this
document, Guidelines for Community Noise. The international, multidisciplinary group of
contributors to, and reviewers of, the Guidelines are listed in the Participant list in Annex 6.
Special thanks are due to the chairpersons and workgroups of the WHO expert task force meeting
held in London, United Kingdom, in March 1999: Professor Thomas Lindvall, who acted as the
chairperson of the meeting, Professor Birgitta Berglund, Dr John Bradley and Professor Gerd
Jansen, who chaired the three workgroups. Special contributions from those who provided the
background papers and who contributed to the success of the WHO expert meeting are gratefully
acknowledged:
Professor Birgitta Berglund, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden;
Bernard F. Berry, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, United Kingdom;
Dr. Hans Bgli, Bundesamt fr Umwelt, Wald und Landschaft, Bern, Switzerland;
Dr. John S. Bradley, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, Canada;
Dr. Ming Chen, Fujian Provincial Hospital, People=s Republic of China;
Lawrence S. Finegold, Air Force Research Laboratory, AFRL/HECA, Wright-Patterson AFB,
OH, USA;
Mr Dominique Francois, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Copenhague, Denmark;
Professor Guillermo L. Fuchs, Crdoba, Argentina;
Mr Etienne Grond, Messina, South Africa;
Professor Andrew Hede, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore South, Qld., Australia;
Professor Gerd Jansen, Heinrich-Heine-Universitt Dsseldorf, Germany;
Dr. Michinori Kabuto, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan;
Professor Thomas Lindvall, National Institute of Environmental Medicine and Karolinska
Institute, Stockholm, Sweden;
Dr. Amanda Niskar, CDC/NCEH, Atlanta, Georgia, USA;
Dr Sudhakar B. Ogale, Medical College and KEM Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, India;
Mrs. Willy Passchier-Vermeer, TNO Prevention and Health, Leiden, The Netherlands;
Dr. Dieter Schwela, World Health Organization, Geneva 27, Switzerland;
Dr. Michinki So, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan;Professor Shirley Thompson, University of
South Carolina, Columbia, USA;
Max Thorne, National Environmental Noise Service, Rotorua, New Zealand;
Frits van den Berg, Science Shop for Physics, University of Groningen, Groningen, The
Netherlands;
Professor Peter Williams, Director MARC, King=s College London, UK;
Professor Shabih Haider Zaidi, Dow Medical College, Karachi , Pakistan;
Particular thanks are due to the Ministry of Environment of Germany, which provided the
funding to convene the WHO expert task force meeting in London, United Kingdom, in March
1999 to produce the Guidelines for Community Noise.

vi

Executive Summary
1.

Introduction

Community noise (also called environmental noise, residential noise or domestic noise) is defined as
noise emitted from all sources except noise at the industrial workplace. Main sources of community noise
include road, rail and air traffic; industries; construction and public work; and the neighbourhood. The
main indoor noise sources are ventilation systems, office machines, home appliances and neighbours.
In the European Union about 40% of the population is exposed to road traffic noise with an equivalent
sound pressure level exceeding 55 dB(A) daytime, and 20% are exposed to levels exceeding 65 dB(A).
When all transportation noise is considered, more than half of all European Union citizens is estimated to
live in zones that do not ensure acoustical comfort to residents. At night, more than 30% are exposed to
equivalent sound pressure levels exceeding 55 dB(A), which are disturbing to sleep. Noise pollution is
also severe in cities of developing countries. It is caused mainly by traffic and alongside densely-travelled
roads equivalent sound pressure levels for 24 hours can reach 7580 dB(A).
In contrast to many other environmental problems, noise pollution continues to grow and it is
accompanied by an increasing number of complaints from people exposed to the noise. The growth in
noise pollution is unsustainable because it involves direct, as well as cumulative, adverse health effects. It
also adversely affects future generations, and has socio-cultural, esthetic and economic effects.
2.

Noise sources and measurement

Physically, there is no distinction between sound and noise. Sound is a sensory perception and the
complex pattern of sound waves is labeled noise, music, speech etc. Noise is thus defined as unwanted
sound.
Most environmental noises can be approximately described by several simple measures. All measures
consider the frequency content of the sounds, the overall sound pressure levels and the variation of these
levels with time. Sound pressure is a basic measure of the vibrations of air that make up sound. Because
the range of sound pressures that human listeners can detect is very wide, these levels are measured on a
logarithmic scale with units of decibels. Consequently, sound pressure levels cannot be added or averaged
arithmetically. Also, the sound levels of most noises vary with time, and when sound pressure levels are
calculated, the instantaneous pressure fluctuations must be integrated over some time interval.
Most environmental sounds are made up of a complex mix of many different frequencies. Frequency
refers to the number of vibrations per second of the air in which the sound is propagating and it is
measured in Hertz (Hz). The audible frequency range is normally considered to be 2020 000 Hz for
younger listeners with unimpaired hearing. However, our hearing systems are not equally sensitive to all
sound frequencies, and to compensate for this various types of filters or frequency weighting have been
used to determine the relative strengths of frequency components making up a particular environmental
noise. The A-weighting is most commonly used and weights lower frequencies as less important than
mid- and higher-frequencies. It is intended to approximate the frequency response of our hearing system.
The effect of a combination of noise events is related to the combined sound energy of those events (the
equal energy principle). The sum of the total energy over some time period gives a level equivalent to the
average sound energy over that period. Thus, LAeq,T is the energy average equivalent level of the Aweighted sound over a period T. LAeq,T should be used to measure continuing sounds, such as road
traffic noise or types of more-or-less continuous industrial noises. However, when there are distinct
events to the noise, as with aircraft or railway noise, measures of individual events such as the maximum
vii

noise level (LAmax), or the weighted sound exposure level (SEL), should also be obtained in addition to
LAeq,T. Time-varying environmental sound levels have also been described in terms of percentile levels.
Currently, the recommended practice is to assume that the equal energy principle is approximately valid
for most types of noise and that a simple LAeq,T measure will indicate the expected effects of the noise
reasonably well. When the noise consists of a small number of discrete events, the A-weighted maximum
level (LAmax) is a better indicator of the disturbance to sleep and other activities. In most cases, however,
the A-weighted sound exposure level (SEL) provides a more consistent measure of single-noise events
because it is based on integration over the complete noise event. In combining day and night LAeq,T
values, night-time weightings are often added. Night-time weightings are intended to reflect the expected
increased sensitivity to annoyance at night, but they do not protect people from sleep disturbance.
Where there are no clear reasons for using other measures, it is recommended that LAeq,T be used to
evaluate more-or-less continuous environmental noises. Where the noise is principally composed of a
small number of discrete events, the additional use of LAmax or SEL is recommended. There are definite
limitations to these simple measures, but there are also many practical advantages, including economy
and the benefits of a standardized approach.

3.

Adverse health effects of noise

The health significance of noise pollution is given in chapter 3 of the Guidelines under separate headings
according to the specific effects: noise-induced hearing impairment; interference with speech
communication; disturbance of rest and sleep; psychophysiological, mental-health and performance
effects; effects on residential behaviour and annoyance; and interference with intended activities. This
chapter also considers vulnerable groups and the combined effects of mixed noise sources.
Hearing impairment is typically defined as an increase in the threshold of hearing. Hearing deficits may
be accompanied by tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Noise-induced hearing impairment occurs predominantly
in the higher frequency range of 3 0006 000 Hz, with the largest effect at 4 000 Hz. But with increasing
LAeq,8h and increasing exposure time, noise-induced hearing impairment occurs even at frequencies as
low as 2 000 Hz. However, hearing impairment is not expected to occur at LAeq,8h levels of 75 dB(A) or
below, even for prolonged occupational noise exposure.
Worldwide, noise-induced hearing impairment is the most prevalent irreversible occupational hazard and
it is estimated that 120 million people worldwide have disabling hearing difficulties. In developing
countries, not only occupational noise but also environmental noise is an increasing risk factor for hearing
impairment. Hearing damage can also be caused by certain diseases, some industrial chemicals, ototoxic
drugs, blows to the head, accidents and hereditary origins. Hearing deterioration is also associated with
the ageing process itself (presbyacusis).
The extent of hearing impairment in populations exposed to occupational noise depends on the value of
LAeq,8h, the number of noise-exposed years, and on individual susceptibility. Men and women are
equally at risk for noise-induced hearing impairment. It is expected that environmental and leisure-time
noise with a LAeq,24h of 70 dB(A) or below will not cause hearing impairment in the large majority of
people, even after a lifetime exposure. For adults exposed to impulse noise at the workplace, the noise
limit is set at peak sound pressure levels of 140 dB, and the same limit is assumed to be appropriate for
environmental and leisure-time noise. In the case of children, however, taking into account their habits
while playing with noisy toys, the peak sound pressure should never exceed 120 dB. For shooting noise
with LAeq,24h levels greater than 80 dB(A), there may be an increased risk for noise-induced hearing
impairment.
viii

The main social consequence of hearing impairment is the inability to understand speech in daily living
conditions, and this is considered to be a severe social handicap. Even small values of hearing impairment
(10 dB averaged over 2 000 and 4 000 Hz and over both ears) may adversely affect speech
comprehension.
Speech intelligibility is adversely affected by noise. Most of the acoustical energy of speech is in the
frequency range of 1006 000 Hz, with the most important cue-bearing energy being between 3003 000
Hz. Speech interference is basically a masking process, in which simultaneous interfering noise renders
speech incapable of being understood. Environmental noise may also mask other acoustical signals that
are important for daily life, such as door bells, telephone signals, alarm clocks, fire alarms and other
warning signals, and music.
Speech intelligibility in everyday living conditions is influenced by speech level; speech pronunciation;
talker-to-listener distance; sound level and other characteristics of the interfering noise; hearing acuity;
and by the level of attention. Indoors, speech communication is also affected by the reverberation
characteristics of the room. Reverberation times over 1 s produce loss in speech discrimination and make
speech perception more difficult and straining. For full sentence intelligibility in listeners with normal
hearing, the signal-to-noise ratio (i.e. the difference between the speech level and the sound level of the
interfering noise) should be at least 15 dB(A). Since the sound pressure level of normal speech is about 50
dB(A), noise with sound levels of 35 dB(A) or more interferes with the intelligibility of speech in smaller
rooms. For vulnerable groups even lower background levels are needed, and a reverberation time below
0.6 s is desirable for adequate speech intelligibility, even in a quiet environment.
The inability to understand speech results in a large number of personal handicaps and behavioural
changes. Particularly vulnerable are the hearing impaired, the elderly, children in the process of language
and reading acquisition, and individuals who are not familiar with the spoken language.
Sleep disturbance is a major effect of environmental noise. It may cause primary effects during sleep, and
secondary effects that can be assessed the day after night-time noise exposure. Uninterrupted sleep is a
prerequisite for good physiological and mental functioning, and the primary effects of sleep disturbance
are: difficulty in falling asleep; awakenings and alterations of sleep stages or depth; increased blood
pressure, heart rate and finger pulse amplitude; vasoconstriction; changes in respiration; cardiac
arrhythmia; and increased body movements. The difference between the sound levels of a noise event and
background sound levels, rather than the absolute noise level, may determine the reaction probability. The
probability of being awakened increases with the number of noise events per night. The secondary, or
after-effects, the following morning or day(s) are: reduced perceived sleep quality; increased fatigue;
depressed mood or well-being; and decreased performance.
For a good night's sleep, the equivalent sound level should not exceed 30 dB(A) for continuous
background noise, and individual noise events exceeding 45 dB(A) should be avoided. In setting limits
for single night-time noise exposures, the intermittent character of the noise has to be taken into account.
This can be achieved, for example, by measuring the number of noise events, as well as the difference
between the maximum sound level and the background sound level. Special attention should also be given
to: noise sources in an environment with low background sound levels; combinations of noise and
vibrations; and to noise sources with low-frequency components.
Physiological Functions. In workers exposed to noise, and in people living near airports, industries and
noisy streets, noise exposure may have a large temporary, as well as permanent, impact on physiological
functions. After prolonged exposure, susceptible individuals in the general population may develop
permanent effects, such as hypertension and ischaemic heart disease associated with exposure to high
sound levels. The magnitude and duration of the effects are determined in part by individual
ix

characteristics, lifestyle behaviours and environmental conditions. Sounds also evoke reflex responses,
particularly when they are unfamiliar and have a sudden onset.
Workers exposed to high levels of industrial noise for 530 years may show increased blood pressure and
an increased risk for hypertension. Cardiovascular effects have also been demonstrated after long-term
exposure to air- and road-traffic with LAeq,24h values of 6570 dB(A). Although the associations are
weak, the effect is somewhat stronger for ischaemic heart disease than for hypertension. Still, these small
risk increments are important because a large number of people are exposed.
Mental Illness. Environmental noise is not believed to cause mental illness directly, but it is assumed that
it can accelerate and intensify the development of latent mental disorders. Exposure to high levels of
occupational noise has been associated with development of neurosis, but the findings on environmental
noise and mental-health effects are inconclusive. Nevertheless, studies on the use of drugs such as
tranquillizers and sleeping pills, on psychiatric symptoms and on mental hospital admission rates, suggest
that community noise may have adverse effects on mental health.
Performance. It has been shown, mainly in workers and children, that noise can adversely affect
performance of cognitive tasks. Although noise-induced arousal may produce better performance in
simple tasks in the short term, cognitive performance substantially deteriorates for more complex tasks.
Reading, attention, problem solving and memorization are among the cognitive effects most strongly
affected by noise. Noise can also act as a distracting stimulus and impulsive noise events may produce
disruptive effects as a result of startle responses.
Noise exposure may also produce after-effects that negatively affect performance. In schools around
airports, children chronically exposed to aircraft noise under-perform in proof reading, in persistence on
challenging puzzles, in tests of reading acquisition and in motivational capabilities. It is crucial to
recognize that some of the adaptation strategies to aircraft noise, and the effort necessary to maintain task
performance, come at a price. Children from noisier areas have heightened sympathetic arousal, as
indicated by increased stress hormone levels, and elevated resting blood pressure. Noise may also produce
impairments and increase in errors at work, and some accidents may be an indicator of performance
deficits.
Social and Behavioural Effects of Noise; Annoyance. Noise can produce a number of social and
behavioural effects as well as annoyance. These effects are often complex, subtle and indirect and many
effects are assumed to result from the interaction of a number of non-auditory variables. The effect of
community noise on annoyance can be evaluated by questionnaires or by assessing the disturbance of
specific activities. However, it should be recognized that equal levels of different traffic and industrial
noises cause different magnitudes of annoyance. This is because annoyance in populations varies not only
with the characteristics of the noise, including the noise source, but also depends to a large degree on
many non-acoustical factors of a social, psychological, or economic nature. The correlation between noise
exposure and general annoyance is much higher at group level than at individual level. Noise above 80
dB(A) may also reduce helping behaviour and increase aggressive behaviour. There is particular concern
that high-level continuous noise exposures may increase the susceptibility of schoolchildren to feelings of
helplessness.
Stronger reactions have been observed when noise is accompanied by vibrations and contains lowfrequency components, or when the noise contains impulses, such as with shooting noise. Temporary,
stronger reactions occur when the noise exposure increases over time, compared to a constant noise
exposure. In most cases, LAeq,24h and Ldn are acceptable approximations of noise exposure related to
annoyance. However, there is growing concern that all the component parameters should be individually
x

assessed in noise exposure investigations, at least in the complex cases. There is no consensus on a model
for total annoyance due to a combination of environmental noise sources.
Combined Effects on Health of Noise from Mixed Sources. Many acoustical environments consist of
sounds from more than one source, i.e. there are mixed sources, and some combinations of effects are
common. For example, noise may interfere with speech in the day and create sleep disturbance at night.
These conditions certainly apply to residential areas heavily polluted with noise. Therefore, it is important
that the total adverse health load of noise be considered over 24 hours, and that the precautionary
principle for sustainable development be applied.
Vulnerable Subgroups. Vulnerable subgroups of the general population should be considered when
recommending noise protection or noise regulations. The types of noise effects, specific environments
and specific lifestyles are all factors that should be addressed for these subgroups. Examples of vulnerable
subgroups are: people with particular diseases or medical problems (e.g. high blood pressure); people in
hospitals or rehabilitating at home; people dealing with complex cognitive tasks; the blind; people with
hearing impairment; fetuses, babies and young children; and the elderly in general. People with impaired
hearing are the most adversely affected with respect to speech intelligibility. Even slight hearing
impairments in the high-frequency sound range may cause problems with speech perception in a noisy
environment. A majority of the population belongs to the subgroup that is vulnerable to speech
interference.
4.

Guideline values

In chapter 4, guideline values are given for specific health effects of noise and for specific environments.
Specific health effects.
Interference with Speech Perception. A majority of the population is susceptible to speech interference by
noise and belongs to a vulnerable subgroup. Most sensitive are the elderly and persons with impaired
hearing. Even slight hearing impairments in the high-frequency range may cause problems with speech
perception in a noisy environment. From about 40 years of age, the ability of people to interpret difficult,
spoken messages with low linguistic redundancy is impaired compared to people 2030 years old. It has
also been shown that high noise levels and long reverberation times have more adverse effects in children,
who have not completed language acquisition, than in young adults.
When listening to complicated messages (at school, foreign languages, telephone conversation) the
signal-to-noise ratio should be at least 15 dB with a voice level of 50 dB(A). This sound level corresponds
on average to a casual voice level in both women and men at 1 m distance. Consequently, for clear speech
perception the background noise level should not exceed 35 dB(A). In classrooms or conference rooms,
where speech perception is of paramount importance, or for sensitive groups, background noise levels
should be as low as possible. Reverberation times below 1 s are also necessary for good speech
intelligibility in smaller rooms. For sensitive groups, such as the elderly, a reverberation time below 0.6 s
is desirable for adequate speech intelligibility even in a quiet environment.
Hearing Impairment. Noise that gives rise to hearing impairment is by no means restricted to
occupational situations. High noise levels can also occur in open air concerts, discotheques, motor sports,
shooting ranges, in dwellings from loudspeakers, or from leisure activities. Other important sources of
loud noise are headphones, as well as toys and fireworks which can emit impulse noise. The ISO standard
1999 gives a method for estimating noise-induced hearing impairment in populations exposed to all types
of noise (continuous, intermittent, impulse) during working hours. However, the evidence strongly
suggests that this method should also be used to calculate hearing impairment due to noise exposure from
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environmental and leisure time activities. The ISO standard 1999 implies that long-term exposure to
LAeq,24h noise levels of up to 70 dB(A) will not result in hearing impairment. To avoid hearing loss
from impulse noise exposure, peak sound pressures should never exceed 140 dB for adults, and 120 dB
for children.
Sleep Disturbance. Measurable effects of noise on sleep begin at LAeq levels of about 30 dB. However,
the more intense the background noise, the more disturbing is its effect on sleep. Sensitive groups mainly
include the elderly, shift workers, people with physical or mental disorders and other individuals who
have difficulty sleeping.
Sleep disturbance from intermittent noise events increases with the maximum noise level. Even if the total
equivalent noise level is fairly low, a small number of noise events with a high maximum sound pressure
level will affect sleep. Therefore, to avoid sleep disturbance, guidelines for community noise should be
expressed in terms of the equivalent sound level of the noise, as well as in terms of maximum noise levels
and the number of noise events. It should be noted that low-frequency noise, for example, from
ventilation systems, can disturb rest and sleep even at low sound pressure levels.
When noise is continuous, the equivalent sound pressure level should not exceed 30 dB(A) indoors, if
negative effects on sleep are to be avoided. For noise with a large proportion of low-frequency sound a
still lower guideline value is recommended. When the background noise is low, noise exceeding 45 dB
LAmax should be limited, if possible, and for sensitive persons an even lower limit is preferred. Noise
mitigation targeted to the first part of the night is believed to be an effective means for helping people fall
asleep. It should be noted that the adverse effect of noise partly depends on the nature of the source. A
special situation is for newborns in incubators, for which the noise can cause sleep disturbance and other
health effects.
Reading Acquisition. Chronic exposure to noise during early childhood appears to impair reading
acquisition and reduces motivational capabilities. Evidence indicates that the longer the exposure, the
greater the damage. Of recent concern are the concomitant psychophysiological changes (blood pressure
and stress hormone levels). There is insufficient information on these effects to set specific guideline
values. It is clear, however, that daycare centres and schools should not be located near major noise
sources, such as highways, airports, and industrial sites.
Annoyance. The capacity of a noise to induce annoyance depends upon its physical characteristics,
including the sound pressure level, spectral characteristics and variations of these properties with time.
During daytime, few people are highly annoyed at LAeq levels below 55 dB(A), and few are moderately
annoyed at LAeq levels below 50 dB(A). Sound levels during the evening and night should be 510 dB
lower than during the day. Noise with low-frequency components require lower guideline values. For
intermittent noise, it is emphasized that it is necessary to take into account both the maximum sound
pressure level and the number of noise events. Guidelines or noise abatement measures should also take
into account residential outdoor activities.
Social Behaviour. The effects of environmental noise may be evaluated by assessing its interference with
social behavior and other activities. For many community noises, interference with
rest/recreation/watching television seem to be the most important effects. There is fairly consistent
evidence that noise above 80 dB(A) causes reduced helping behavior, and that loud noise also increases
aggressive behavior in individuals predisposed to aggressiveness. In schoolchildren, there is also concern
that high levels of chronic noise contribute to feelings of helplessness. Guidelines on this issue, together
with cardiovascular and mental effects, must await further research.

xii

Specific environments.
A noise measure based only on energy summation and expressed as the conventional equivalent measure,
LAeq, is not enough to characterize most noise environments. It is equally important to measure the
maximum values of noise fluctuations, preferably combined with a measure of the number of noise
events. If the noise includes a large proportion of low-frequency components, still lower values than the
guideline values below will be needed. When prominent low-frequency components are present, noise
measures based on A-weighting are inappropriate. The difference between dB(C) and dB(A) will give
crude information about the presence of low-frequency components in noise, but if the difference is more
than 10 dB, it is recommended that a frequency analysis of the noise be performed. It should be noted that
a large proportion of low-frequency components in noise may increase considerably the adverse effects
on health.
In Dwellings. The effects of noise in dwellings, typically, are sleep disturbance, annoyance and speech
interference. For bedrooms the critical effect is sleep disturbance. Indoor guideline values for bedrooms
are 30 dB LAeq for continuous noise and 45 dB LAmax for single sound events. Lower noise levels may
be disturbing depending on the nature of the noise source. At night-time, outside sound levels about 1
metre from facades of living spaces should not exceed 45 dB LAeq, so that people may sleep with
bedroom windows open. This value was obtained by assuming that the noise reduction from outside to
inside with the window open is 15 dB. To enable casual conversation indoors during daytime, the sound
level of interfering noise should not exceed 35 dB LAeq. The maximum sound pressure level should be
measured with the sound pressure meter set at "Fast".
To protect the majority of people from being seriously annoyed during the daytime, the outdoor sound
level from steady, continuous noise should not exceed 55 dB LAeq on balconies, terraces and in outdoor
living areas. To protect the majority of people from being moderately annoyed during the daytime, the
outdoor sound level should not exceed 50 dB LAeq. Where it is practical and feasible, the lower outdoor
sound level should be considered the maximum desirable sound level for new development.
In Schools and Preschools. For schools, the critical effects of noise are speech interference, disturbance of
information extraction (e.g. comprehension and reading acquisition), message communication and
annoyance. To be able to hear and understand spoken messages in class rooms, the background sound
level should not exceed 35 dB LAeq during teaching sessions. For hearing impaired children, a still lower
sound level may be needed. The reverberation time in the classroom should be about 0.6 s, and preferably
lower for hearing impaired children. For assembly halls and cafeterias in school buildings, the
reverberation time should be less than 1 s. For outdoor playgrounds the sound level of the noise from
external sources should not exceed 55 dB LAeq, the same value given for outdoor residential areas in
daytime.
For preschools, the same critical effects and guideline values apply as for schools. In bedrooms in
preschools during sleeping hours, the guideline values for bedrooms in dwellings should be used.
In Hospitals. For most spaces in hospitals, the critical effects are sleep disturbance, annoyance, and
communication interference, including warning signals. The LAmax of sound events during the night
should not exceed 40 dB(A) indoors. For ward rooms in hospitals, the guideline values indoors are 30dB
LAeq, together with 40 dB LAmax during night. During the day and evening the guideline value indoors
is 30 dB LAeq. The maximum level should be measured with the sound pressure instrument set at "Fast".
Since patients have less ability to cope with stress, the LAeq level should not exceed 35 dB in most rooms
in which patients are being treated or observed. Attention should be given to the sound levels in intensive
care units and operating theaters. Sound inside incubators may result in health problems for neonates,
xiii

including sleep disturbance, and may also lead to hearing impairment. Guideline values for sound levels
in incubators must await future research.
Ceremonies, Festivals and Entertainment Events. In many countries, there are regular ceremonies,
festivals and entertainment events to celebrate life periods. Such events typically produce loud sounds,
including music and impulsive sounds. There is widespread concern about the effect of loud music and
impulsive sounds on young people who frequently attend concerts, discotheques, video arcades, cinemas,
amusement parks and spectator events. At these events, the sound level typically exceeds 100 dB LAeq.
Such noise exposure could lead to significant hearing impairment after frequent attendances.
Noise exposure for employees of these venues should be controlled by established occupational
standards; and at the very least, the same standards should apply to the patrons of these premises. Patrons
should not be exposed to sound levels greater than 100 dB LAeq during a four-hour period more than four
times per year. To avoid acute hearing impairment the LAmax should always be below 110 dB.
Headphones. To avoid hearing impairment from music played back in headphones, in both adults and
children, the equivalent sound level over 24 hours should not exceed 70 dB(A). This implies that for a
daily one hour exposure the LAeq level should not exceed 85 dB(A). To avoid acute hearing impairment
LAmax should always be below 110 dB(A). The exposures are expressed in free-field equivalent sound
level.
Toys, Fireworks and Firearms. To avoid acute mechanical damage to the inner ear from impulsive sounds
from toys, fireworks and firearms, adults should never be exposed to more than 140 dB(lin) peak sound
pressure level. To account for the vulnerability in children when playing, the peak sound pressure
produced by toys should not exceed 120 dB(lin), measured close to the ears (100 mm). To avoid acute
hearing impairment LAmax should always be below 110 dB(A).
Parkland and Conservation Areas. Existing large quiet outdoor areas should be preserved and the signalto-noise ratio kept low.
Table 1 presents the WHO guideline values arranged according to specific environments and critical
health effects. The guideline values consider all identified adverse health effects for the specific
environment. An adverse effect of noise refers to any temporary or long-term impairment of physical,
psychological or social functioning that is associated with noise exposure. Specific noise limits have been
set for each health effect, using the lowest noise level that produces an adverse health effect (i.e. the
critical health effect). Although the guideline values refer to sound levels impacting the most exposed
receiver at the listed environments, they are applicable to the general population. The time base for LAeq
for "daytime" and "night-time" is 1216 hours and 8 hours, respectively. No time base is given for
evenings, but typically the guideline value should be 510 dB lower than in the daytime. Other time bases
are recommended for schools, preschools and playgrounds, depending on activity.
It is not enough to characterize the noise environment in terms of noise measures or indices based only on
energy summation (e.g., LAeq), because different critical health effects require different descriptions. It is
equally important to display the maximum values of the noise fluctuations, preferably combined with a
measure of the number of noise events. A separate characterization of night-time noise exposures is also
necessary. For indoor environments, reverberation time is also an important factor for things such as
speech intelligibility. If the noise includes a large proportion of low-frequency components, still lower
guideline values should be applied. Supplementary to the guideline values given in Table 1, precautions
should be taken for vulnerable groups and for noise of certain character (e.g. low-frequency components,
low background noise).
xiv

Table 1: Guideline values for community noise in specific environments.

Serious annoyance, daytime and evening

Moderate annoyance, daytime and evening
Speech intelligibility & moderate annoyance,
daytime & evening
Sleep disturbance, night-time
Sleep disturbance, window open (outdoor
values)
Speech intelligibility, disturbance of information
extraction, message communication
Sleep disturbance

55
50
35

Time
base
[hours]
16
16
16

30
45

8
8

45
60

35

Annoyance (external source)

55

Sleep disturbance, night-time

Sleep disturbance, daytime and evenings

30
30

during
class
sleepingtime
During
play
8
16

Interference with rest and recovery

#1

Hearing impairment

70

24

110

Hearing impairment (patrons:<5 times/year)

100

110

Hearing impairment

85

110

Hearing impairment (free-field value)

85 #4

110

Hearing impairment (adults)

Hearing impairment (children)

140
#2
120
#2

L Aeq
[dB(A)]

Specific environment Critical health effect(s)

Outdoor living area
Dwelling, indoors
Inside bedrooms
Outside bedrooms
School class rooms &
pre-schools, indoors
Pre-school bedrooms,
indoor
School, playground
outdoor
Hospital, ward rooms,
indoors
Hospitals, treatment
rooms, indoors
Industrial, commercial
shopping and traffic
areas, indoors and
outdoors
Ceremonies, festivals
and entertainment
events
Public addresses,
indoors and outdoors
Music and other
sounds through
headphones/
earphones
Impulse sounds from
toys, fireworks and
firearms

30

Outdoors in parkland
Disruption of tranquillity
#3
and conservations
areas
#1: As low as possible.
#2: Peak sound pressure (not LAF, max) measured 100 mm from the ear.
#3: Existing quiet outdoor areas should be preserved and the ratio of intruding noise to natural
background sound should be kept low.
#4: Under headphones, adapted to free-field values.
xv

L Amax
fast
[dB]
-

45
40
-

5.

Noise Management

Chapter 5 is devoted to noise management with discussions on: strategies and priorities in managing
indoor noise levels; noise policies and legislation; the impact of environmental noise; and on the
enforcement of regulatory standards.
The fundamental goals of noise management are to develop criteria for deriving safe noise exposure
levels and to promote noise assessment and control as part of environmental health programmes. These
basic goals should guide both international and national policies for noise management. The United
Nation's Agenda 21 supports a number of environmental management principles on which government
policies, including noise management policies, can be based: the principle of precaution; the "polluter
pays" principle; and noise prevention. In all cases, noise should be reduced to the lowest level achievable
in the particular situation. When there is a reasonable possibility that the public health will be endangered,
even though scientific proof may be lacking, action should be taken to protect the public health, without
awaiting the full scientific proof. The full costs associated with noise pollution (including monitoring,
management, lowering levels and supervision) should be met by those responsible for the source of noise.
Action should be taken where possible to reduce noise at the source.
A legal framework is needed to provide a context for noise management. National noise standards can
usually be based on a consideration of international guidelines, such as these Guidelines for Community
Noise, as well as national criteria documents, which consider dose-response relationships for the effects of
noise on human health. National standards take into account the technological, social, economic and
political factors within the country. A staged program of noise abatement should also be implemented to
achieve the optimum health protection levels over the long term.
Other components of a noise management plan include: noise level monitoring; noise exposure mapping;
exposure modeling; noise control approaches (such as mitigation and precautionary measures); and
evaluation of control options. Many of the problems associated with high noise levels can be prevented at
low cost, if governments develop and implement an integrated strategy for the indoor environment, in
concert with all social and economic partners. Governments should establish a "National Plan for a
Sustainable Noise Indoor Environment" that applies both to new construction as well as to existing
buildings.
The actual priorities in rational noise management will differ for each country. Priority setting in noise
management refers to prioritizing the health risks to be avoided and concentrating on the most important
sources of noise. Different countries have adopted a range of approaches to noise control, using different
policies and regulations. A number of these are outlined in chapter 5 and Appendix 2, as examples. It is
evident that noise emission standards have proven insufficient and that the trends in noise pollution are
unsustainable.
The concept of environmental an environmental noise impact analysis is central to the philosophy of
managing environmental noise. Such an analysis should be required before implementing any project that
would significantly increase the level of environmental noise in a community (typically, greater than a 5
dB increase). The analysis should include: a baseline description of the existing noise environment; the
expected level of noise from the new source; an assessment of the adverse health effects; an estimation of
the population at risk; the calculation of exposure-response relationships; an assessment of risks and their
acceptability; and a cost-benefit analysis.

xvi

Noise management should:

a.

Start monitoring human exposures to noise.

b.

Have health control require mitigation of noise immissions, and not just of noise
source emissions. The following should be taken into consideration:
- specific environments such as schools, playgrounds, homes, hospitals.
- environments with multiple noise sources, or which may amplify the effects of noise.
- sensitive time periods such as evenings, nights and holidays.
- groups at high risk, such as children and the hearing impaired.

c.

Consider the noise consequences when planning transport systems and land use.

d.

Introduce surveillance systems for noise-related adverse health effects.

e.

Assess the effectiveness of noise policies in reducing adverse health effects and
exposure, and in improving supportive "soundscapes"

f.

Adopt these Guidelines for Community Noise as intermediary targets for

improving human health.

g.

Adopt precautionary actions for a sustainable development of the acoustical

environments.

Conclusions and recommendations

In chapter 6 are discussed: the implementation of the guidelines; further WHO work on noise; and
research needs are recommended.
Implementation. For implementation of the guidelines it is recommended that:
Governments should protection the population from community noise and consider it an integral part
of their policy of environmental protection.
Governments should consider implementing action plans with short-term, medium-term and longterm objectives for reducing noise levels.
Governments should adopt the Health Guidelines for Community Noise values as targets to be
achieved in the long-term.
Governments should include noise as an important public health issue in environmental impact
assessments.

Legislation should be put in place to allow for the reduction of sound levels.

Existing legislation should be enforced.

Municipalities should develop low noise implementation plans.

xvii

 Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses should be considered potential instruments for

meaningful management decisions.

Governments should support more policy-relevant research.

Future Work. The Expert Task Force worked out several suggestions for future work for the WHO in the
field of community noise. WHO should:

Provide leadership and technical direction in defining future noise research priorities.

Organize workshops on how to apply the guidelines.

Provide leadership and coordinate international efforts to develop techniques for designing supportive
sound environments (e.g. "soundscapes").
Provide leadership for programs to assess the effectiveness of health-related noise policies and
regulations.
Provide leadership and technical direction for the development of sound methodologies for
environmental and health impact plans.
Encourage further investigation into using noise exposure as an indicator of environmental
deterioration (e.g. black spots in cities).
Provide leadership and technical support, and advise developing countries to facilitate development of
noise policies and noise management.
Research and Development. A major step forward in raising the awareness of both the public and of
decision makers is the recommendation to concentrate more research and development on variables which
have monetary consequences. This means that research should consider not only dose-response
relationships between sound levels, but also politically relevant variables, such as noise-induced social
handicap; reduced productivity; decreased performance in learning; workplace and school absenteeism;
increased drug use; and accidents.
In Appendices 16 are given: bibliographic references; examples of regional noise situations (African
Region, American Region, Eastern Mediterranean Region, South East Asian Region, Western Pacific
Region); a glossary; a list of acronyms; and a list of participants.

xviii

1. Introduction
Community noise (also called environmental noise, residential noise or domestic noise) is
defined as noise emitted from all sources, except noise at the industrial workplace. Main sources
of community noise include road, rail and air traffic, industries, construction and public work,
and the neighbourhood. Typical neighbourhood noise comes from premises and installations
related to the catering trade (restaurant, cafeterias, discotheques, etc.); from live or recorded
music; from sporting events including motor sports; from playgrounds and car parks; and from
domestic animals such as barking dogs. The main indoor sources are ventilation systems, office
machines, home appliances and neighbours. Although many countries have regulations on
community noise from road, rail and air traffic, and from construction and industrial plants, few
have regulations on neighbourhood noise. This is probably due to the lack of methods to define
and measure it, and to the difficulty of controlling it. In developed countries, too, monitoring of
compliance with, and enforcement of, noise regulations are weak for lower levels of urban noise
that correspond to occupationally controlled levels (>85 dB LAeq,8h; Frank 1998).
Recommended guideline values based on the health effects of noise, other than occupationallyinduced effects, are often not taken into account.
The extent of the community noise problem is large. In the European Union about 40% of the
population is exposed to road traffic noise with an equivalent sound pressure level exceeding 55
dBA daytime; and 20% is exposed to levels exceeding 65 dBA (Lambert & Vallet 19 1994).
When all transportation noise is considered, about half of all European Union citizens live in
zones that do not ensure acoustical comfort to residents. At night, it is estimated that more than
30% is exposed to equivalent sound pressure levels exceeding 55 dBA, which are disturbing to
sleep. The noise pollution problem is also severe in the cities of developing countries and is
caused mainly by traffic. Data collected alongside densely traveled roads were found to have
equivalent sound pressure levels for 24 hours of 7580 dBA (e.g. National Environment Board
Thailand 19 1990; Mage & Walsh 19 1998).
In contrast to many other environmental problems, noise pollution continues to grow,
accompanied by an increasing number of complaints from affected individuals. Most people are
typically exposed to several noise sources, with road traffic noise being a dominant source
(OECD-ECMT 19 1995). Population growth, urbanization and to a large extent technological
development are the main driving forces, and future enlargements of highway systems,
international airports and railway systems will only increase the noise problem. Viewed globally,
the growth in urban environmental noise pollution is unsustainable, because it involves not
simply the direct and cumulative adverse effects on health. It also adversely affects future
generations by degrading residential, social and learning environments, with corresponding
economical losses (Berglund 1998). Thus, noise is not simply a local problem, but a global issue
that affects everyone (Lang 1999; Sandberg 1999) and calls for precautionary action in any
environmental planning situation.
The objective of the World Health Organization (WHO) is the attainment by all peoples of the
highest possible level of health. As the first principle of the WHO Constitution the definition of
19

health is given as: "A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely
the absence of disease or infirmity". This broad definition of health embraces the concept of
well-being and, thereby, renders noise impacts such as population annoyance, interference with
communication, and impaired task performance as health issues. In 1992, a WHO Task Force
also identified the following specific health effects for the general population that may result
from community noise: interference with communication; annoyance responses; effects on sleep,
and on the cardiovascular and psychophysiological systems; effects on performance,
productivity, and social behavior; and noise-induced hearing impairment (WHO 1993; Berglund
& Lindvall 1995; cf. WHO 1980). Hearing damage is expected to result from both occupational
and environmental noise, especially in developing countries, where compliance with noise
regulation is known to be weak (Smith 1998).
Noise is likely to continue as a major issue well into the next century, both in developed and in
developing countries. Therefore, strategic action is urgently required, including continued noise
control at the source and in local areas. Most importantly, joint efforts among countries are
necessary at a system level, in regard to the access and use of land, airspace and seawaters, and
in regard to the various modes of transportation. Certainly, mankind would benefit from societal
reorganization towards healthy transport. To understand noise we must understand the different
types of noise and how we measure it, where noise comes from and the effects of noise on
human beings. Furthermore, noise mitigation, including noise management, has to be actively
introduced and in each case the policy implications have to be evaluated for efficiency.
This document is organized as follows. In Chapter 2 noise sources and measurement are
discussed, including the basic aspects of source characteristics, sound propagation and
transmission. In Chapter 3 the adverse health effects of noise are characterized. These include
noise-induced hearing impairment, interference with speech communication, sleep disturbance,
cardiovascular and physiological effects, mental health effects, performance effects, and
annoyance reactions. This chapter is rounded out by a consideration of combined noise sources
and their effects, and a discussion of vulnerable groups. In Chapter 4 the Guideline values are
presented. Chapter 5 is devoted to noise management. Included are discussions of: strategies and
priorities in the management of indoor noise levels; noise policies and legislation; environmental
noise impact; and enforcement of regulatory standards. In Chapter 6 implementation of the WHO
Guidelines is discussed, as well as future WHO work on noise and its research needs. In
Appendices 16 are given: bibliographic references; examples of regional noise situations
(African Region, American Region, Eastern Mediterranean Region, South East Asian Region,
Western Pacific Region); a glossary; a list of acronyms; and a list of participants.

20

2. Noise sources and their measurement

2.1.Basic Aspects of Acoustical Measurements
Most environmental noises can be approximately described by one of several simple measures.
They are all derived from overall sound pressure levels, the variation of these levels with time
and the frequency of the sounds. Ford (1987) gives a more extensive review of various
environmental noise measures. Technical definitions are found in the glossary in Appendix 3.

2.1.1. Sound pressure level

The sound pressure level is a measure of the air vibrations that make up sound. All measured
sound pressures are referenced to a standard pressure that corresponds roughly to the threshold of
hearing at 1 000 Hz. Thus, the sound pressure level indicates how much greater the measured
sound is than this threshold of hearing. Because the human ear can detect a wide range of sound
pressure levels (10102 Pascal (Pa)), they are measured on a logarithmic scale with units of
decibels (dB). A more technical definition of sound pressure level is found in the glossary.
The sound pressure levels of most noises vary with time. Consequently, in calculating some
measures of noise, the instantaneous pressure fluctuations must be integrated over some time
interval. To approximate the integration time of our hearing system, sound pressure meters have
a standard Fast response time, which corresponds to a time constant of 0.125 s. Thus, all
measurements of sound pressure levels and their variation over time should be made using the
Fast response time, to provide sound pressure measurements more representative of human
hearing. Sound pressure meters may also include a Slow response time with a time constant of 1
s, but its sole purpose is that one can more easily estimate the average value of rapidly
fluctuating levels. Many modern meters can integrate sound pressures over specified periods and
provide average values. It is not recommended that the Slow response time be used when
integrating sound pressure meters are available.
Because sound pressure levels are measured on a logarithmic scale they cannot be added or
averaged arithmetically. For example, adding two sounds of equal pressure levels results in a
total pressure level that is only 3 dB greater than each individual sound pressure level.
Consequently, when two sounds are combined the resulting sound pressure level will be
significantly greater than the individual sound levels only if the two sounds have similar pressure
levels. Details for combining sound pressure levels are given in Appendix 2.

2.1.2. Frequency and frequency weighting

The unit of frequency is the Hertz (Hz), and it refers to the number of vibrations per second of
the air in which the sound is propagating. For tonal sounds, frequency is associated with the
perception of pitch. For example, orchestras often tune to the frequency of 440 Hz. Most
environmental sounds, however, are made up of a complex mix of many different frequencies.
They may or may not have discrete frequency components superimposed on noise with a broad

21

frequency spectrum (i.e. sound with a broad range of frequencies). The audible frequency range
is normally considered to range from 2020 000 Hz. Below 20 Hz we hear individual sound
pulses rather than recognizable tones. Hearing sensitivity to higher frequencies decreases with
age and exposure to noise. Thus, 20 000 Hz represents an upper limit of audibility for younger
listeners with unimpaired hearing.
Our hearing systems are not equally sensitive to all sound frequencies (ISO 1987a). Thus, not all
frequencies are perceived as being equally loud at the same sound pressure level, and when
calculating overall environmental noise ratings it is necessary to consider sounds at some
frequencies as more important than those at other frequencies. Detailed frequency analyses are
commonly performed with standard sets of octave or 1/3 octave bandwidth filters. Alternatively,
Fast Fourier Transform techniques or other types of filters can be used to determine the relative
strengths of the various frequency components making up a particular environmental noise.
Frequency weighting networks provide a simpler approach for weighting the importance of
different frequency components in one single number rating. The A-weighting is most
commonly used and is intended to approximate the frequency response of our hearing system. It
weights lower frequencies as less important than mid- and higher-frequency sounds. Cweighting is also quite common and is a nearly flat frequency response with the extreme high
and low frequencies attenuated. When no frequency analysis is possible, the difference between
A-weighted and C-weighted levels gives an indication of the amount of low frequency content in
the measured noise. When the sound has an obvious tonal content, a correction to account for
the additional annoyance may be used (ISO 1987b).

2.1.3. Equivalent continuous sound pressure level

According to the equal energy principle, the effect of a combination of noise events is related to
the combined sound energy of those events. Thus, measures such as the equivalent continuous
sound pressure level (LAeq,T) sum up the total energy over some time period (T) and give a
level equivalent to the average sound energy over that period. Such average levels are usually
based on integration of A-weighted levels. Thus LAeq,T is the average energy equivalent level
of the A-weighted sound over a period T.

2.1.4. Individual noise events

It is often desired to measure the maximum level (LAmax) of individual noise events. For cases
such as the noise from a single passing vehicle, LAmax values should be measured using the
Fast response time because it will give a good correlation with the integration of loudness by our
hearing system. However, for very short-duration impulsive sounds it is often desirable to
measure the instantaneous peak amplitude to assess potential hearing-damage risk. If actual
instantaneous pressure cannot be determined, then a time-integrated peak level with a time
constant of no more than 0.05 ms should be used (ISO 1987b). Such peak readings are often
made using the C- (or linear) frequency weightings.
Alternatively, discrete sound events can be evaluated in terms of their A-weighted sound
exposure level (SEL, for defintion see appendix 5). The total amount of sound energy in a

22

particular event is assessed by the SEL. One can add up the SEL values of individual events to
calculate a LAeq,T over some time period, T, of interest. In some cases the SEL may provide
more consistent evaluations of individual noise events because they are derived from the
complete history of the event and not just one maximum value. However, A-weighted SEL
measurements have been shown to be inadequate for assessing the (perceived) loudness of
complex impulsive sounds, such as those from large and small weapons (Berglund et al. 1986).
In contrast, C-weighted SEL values have been found useful for rating impulsive sounds such as
gun shots (Vos 1996; Buchta 1996; ISO 1987b).

2.1.5. Choice of noise measure

LAeq,T should be used to measure continuing sounds such as road traffic noise, many types of
industrial noises and noise from ventilation systems in buildings. When there are distinct events
to the noise such as with aircraft or railway noise, measures of the individual events should be
obtained (using, for example, LAmax or SEL), in addition to LAeq,T measurements.
In the past, time-varying environmental sound levels have also been described in terms of
percentile levels. These are derived from a statistical distribution of measured sound levels over
some period. For example, L10 is the A-weighted level exceeded 10% of the time. L10 values
have been widely used to measure road-traffic noise, but they are usually found to be highly
correlated measures of the individual events, as are LAmax and SEL. L90 or L95 can be used as
a measure of the general background sound pressure level that excludes the potentially
confounding influence of particular local noise events.

2.1.6. Sound and noise

Physically, there is no distinction between sound and noise: sound is a sensory perception
evoked by physiological processes in the auditory brain. The complex pattern of sound waves is
perceptually classified as Gestalts and are labeled as noise, music, speech, etc. Consequently,
it is not possible to define noise exclusively on the basis of the physical parameters of sound.
Instead, it is common practice to define noise simply as unwanted sound. However, in some
situations noise may adversely affect health in the form of acoustical energy.

2.2. Sources of Noise

This section describes various sources of noise that can affect a community. Namely, noise from
industry, transportation, and from residential and leisure areas. It should be noted that equal
values of LAeq,T for different sources do not always imply the same expected effect.

2.2.1. Industrial noise

Mechanized industry creates serious noise problems. It is responsible for intense noise indoors
as well as outdoors. This noise is due to machinery of all kinds and often increases with the
power of the machines. Sound generation mechanisms of machinery are reasonably well
understood. The noise may contain predominantly low or high frequencies, tonal components,
23

be impulsive or have unpleasant and disruptive temporal sound patterns. Rotating and
reciprocating machines generate sound that includes tonal components; and air-moving
equipment tends also to generate noise with a wide frequency range. The high sound pressure
levels are caused by components or gas flows that move at high speed (for example, fans, steam
pressure relief valves), or by operations involving mechanical impacts (for example, stamping,
riveting, road breaking). Machinery should preferably be silenced at the source.
Noise from fixed installations, such as factories or construction sites, heat pumps and ventilation
systems on roofs, typically affect nearby communities. Reductions may be achieved by
encouraging quieter equipment or by zoning of land into industrial and residential areas.
Requirements for passive (sound insulating enclosures) and active noise control, or restriction of
operation time, may also be effective.

2.2.2. Transportation noise

Transportation noise is the main source of environmental noise pollution, including road traffic,
rail traffic and air traffic. As a general rule, larger and heavier vehicles emit more noise than
smaller and lighter vehicles. Exceptions would include: helicopters and 2- and 3-wheeled road
vehicles.
The noise of road vehicles is mainly generated from the engine and from frictional contact
between the vehicle and the ground and air. In general, road-contact noise exceeds engine noise
at speeds higher than 60 km/h. The physical principle responsible for generating noise from tireroad contact is less well understood. The sound pressure level from traffic can be predicted from
the traffic flow rate, the speed of the vehicles, the proportion of heavy vehicles, and the nature of
the road surface. Special problems can arise in areas where the traffic movements involve a
change in engine speed and power, such as at traffic lights, hills, and intersecting roads; or where
topography, meteorological conditions and low background levels are unfavourable (for
example, mountain areas).
Railway noise depends primarily on the speed of the train, but variations are present depending
upon the type of engine, wagons, and rails and their foundations, as well as the roughness of
wheels and rails. Small radius curves in the track, such as may occur for urban trains, can lead to
very high levels of high-frequency sound referred to as wheel squeal. Noise can be generated in
stations because of running engines, whistles and loudspeakers, and in marshaling yards because
of shunting operations. The introduction of high-speed trains has created special noise problems
with sudden, but not impulsive, rises in noise. At speeds greater than 250 km/h, the proportion
of high-frequency sound energy increases and the sound can be perceived as similar to that of
overflying jet aircraft. Special problems can arise in areas close to tunnels, in valleys or in areas
where the ground conditions help generate vibrations. The long-distance propagation of noise
from high-speed trains will constitute a problem in the future if otherwise environment-friendly
railway systems are expanded.
Aircraft operations generate substantial noise in the vicinity of both commercial and military
airports. Aircraft takeoffs are known to produce intense noise, including vibration and rattle.
The landings produce substantial noise in long low-altitude flight corridors. The noise is

24

produced by the landing gear and automatic power regulation, and also when reverse thrust is
applied, all for safety reasons. In general, larger and heavier aircraft produce more noise than
lighter aircraft. The main mechanism of noise generation in the early turbojet-powered aircraft
was the turbulence created by the jet exhaust mixing with the surrounding air. This noise source
has been significantly reduced in modern high by-pass ratio turbo-fan engines that surround the
high-velocity jet exhaust with lower velocity airflow generated by the fan. The fan itself can be
a significant noise source, particularly during landing and taxiing operations. Multi-bladed
turbo-prop engines can produce relatively high levels of tonal noise. The sound pressure level
from aircraft is, typically, predicted from the number of aircraft, the types of airplanes, their
flight paths, the proportions of takeoffs and landings and the atmospheric conditions. Severe
noise problems may arise at airports hosting many helicopters or smaller aircraft used for private
business, flying training and leisure purposes. Special noise problems may also arise inside
airplanes because of vibration. The noise emission from future superjets is unknown.
A sonic boom consists of a shock wave in the air, generated by an aircraft when it flies at a speed
slightly greater than the local speed of sound. An aircraft in supersonic flight trails a sonic boom
that can be heard up to 50 km on either side of its ground track, depending upon the flight
altitude and the size of the aircraft (Warren 1972). A sonic boom can be heard as a loud doubleboom sound. At high intensity it can damage property.
Noise from military airfields may present particular problems compared to civil airports (von
Gierke & Harris 1987). For example, when used for night-time flying, for training interrupted
landings and takeoffs (so-called touch-and-go), or for low-altitude flying. In certain instances,
including wars, specific military activities introduce other intense noise pollution from heavy
vehicles (tanks), helicopters, and small and large fire-arms.

2.2.3. Construction noise and building services noise

Building construction and excavation work can cause considerable noise emissions. A variety of
sounds come from cranes, cement mixers, welding, hammering, boring and other work
processes. Construction equipment is often poorly silenced and maintained, and building
operations are sometimes carried out without considering the environmental noise consequences.
Street services such as garbage disposal and street cleaning can also cause considerable
disturbance if carried out at sensitive times of day. Ventilation and air conditioning plants and
ducts, heat pumps, plumbing systems, and lifts (elevators), for example, can compromise the
internal acoustical environment and upset nearby residents.

2.2.4. Domestic noise and noise from leisure activities

In residential areas, noise may stem from mechanical devices (e.g. heat pumps, ventilation
systems and traffic), as well as voices, music and other kinds of sounds generated by neighbours
(e.g. lawn movers, vacuum cleaners and other household equipment, music reproduction and
noisy parties). Aberrant social behavior is a well-recognized noise problem in multifamily
dwellings, as well as at sites for entertainment (e.g. sports and music events). Due to
predominantly low-frequency components, noise from ventilation systems in residential
buildings may also cause considerable concern even at low and moderate sound pressure levels.

25

The use of powered machines in leisure activities is increasing. For example, motor racing, offroad vehicles, motorboats, water skiing, snowmobiles etc., and these contribute significantly to
loud noises in previously quiet areas. Shooting activities not only have considerable potential for
disturbing nearby residents, but can also damage the hearing of those taking part. Even tennis
playing, church bell ringing and other religious activities can lead to noise complaints.
Some types of indoor concerts and discotheques can produce extremely high sound pressure
levels. Associated noise problems outdoors result from customers arriving and leaving. Outdoor
concerts, fireworks and various types of festivals can also produce intense noise. The general
problem of access to festivals and leisure activity sites often adds to road traffic noise problems.
Severe hearing impairment may also arise from intense sound produced as music in headphones
or from childrens toys.

2.3. The Complexity of Noise and Its Practical Implications

2.3.1. The problem
One must consider many different characteristics to describe environmental noises completely.
We can consider the sound pressure level of the noise and how this level varies over a variety of
periods, ranging from minutes or seconds to seasonal variations over several months. Where
sound pressure levels vary quite substantially and rapidly, such as in the case of low-level jet
aircraft, one might also want to consider the rate of change of sound pressure levels (Berry 1995;
Kerry et al. 1997). At the same time, the frequency content of each noise will also determine its
effect on people, as will the number of events when there are relatively small numbers of discrete
noisy events. Combinations of these characteristics determine how each type of environmental
noise affects people. These effects may be annoyance, sleep disturbance, speech interference,
increased stress, hearing impairment or other health-related effects.
Thus, in total there is a very complex multidimensional relationship between the various
characteristics of the environmental noise and the effects it has on people. Unfortunately, we do
not completely understand all of the complex links between noise characteristics and the
resulting effects on people. Thus, current practice is to reduce the assessment of environmental
noise to a small number of quite simple quantities that are known to be reasonably well related to
the effects of noise on people (LAeq,T for continuing sounds and LAmax or SEL where there are
a small number of distinct noise events). These simple measures have the distinct advantage that
they are relatively easy and inexpensive to obtain and hence are more likely to be widely
adopted. On the other hand, they may ignore some details of the noise characteristics that relate
to particular types of effects on people.

2.3.2. Time variation

There is evidence that the pattern of noise variation with time relates to annoyance (Berglund et
al. 1976). It has been suggested that the equal-energy principle is a simple concept for obtaining
a measure representative of the annoyance of a number of noise events. For example, the
LAeq,T of the noise from a busy road may be a good indicator of the annoyance this noise may

26

cause for nearby residents. However, such a measure may not be very useful for predicting the
disturbance to sleep of a small number of very noisy aircraft fly-overs. The disturbance caused
by small numbers of such discrete events is usually better related to maximum sound pressure
levels and the number of events.
While using LAeq,T measures is the generally accepted approach, it is still important to
appreciate the limitations and errors that may occur. For example, some years ago measures that
assessed the variation of sound pressure levels with time were popular. Subsequently, these have
been shown not to improve predictions of annoyance with road traffic noise (Bradley 1978).
However, it is possible that time variations may contribute to explaining the very different
amounts of annoyance caused by equal LAeq,T levels of road-traffic noise, train noise and
aircraft noise (cf. Miedema & Vos 1998).
More regular variations of sound pressure levels with time have been found to increase the
annoying aspects of the noise. For example, noises that vary periodically to create a throbbing or
pulsing sensation can be more disturbing than continuous noise (Bradley 1994b). Research
suggests that variations at about 4 per second are most disturbing (Zwicker 1989). Noises with
very rapid onsets could also be more disturbing than indicated by their LAeq,T (Berry 1995;
Kerry et al. 1997).
LAeq,T values can be calculated for various time periods and it is very important to specify this
period. It is quite common to calculate LAeq,T values separately for day- and night-time
periods. In combining day and night LAeq,T values it is usually assumed that people will be
more sensitive to noise during the night-time period. A weighting is thus normally added to
night-time LAeq,T values when calculating a combined measure for a 24 hour period. For
example, day-night sound pressure measures commonly include a 10 dB night-time weighting.
Other night-time weightings have been proposed, but it has been suggested that it is not possible
to determine precisely an optimum value for night-time weightings from annoyance survey
responses, because of the large variability in responses within groups of people (Fields 1986; see
also Berglund & Lindvall 1995). Night-time weightings are intended to indicate the expected
increased sensitivity to annoyance at night and do not protect people from sleep disturbance.

2.3.3. Frequency content and loudness

Noise can also be characterized by its frequency content. This can be assessed by various types
of frequency analysis to determine the relative contributions of the frequency components to the
total noise. The combined effects of the different frequencies on people, perceived as noise, can
be approximated by simple frequency weightings. The A-weighting is now widely used to
obtain an approximate, single-number rating of the combined effects of the various frequencies.
The A-weighting response is a simplification of an equal-loudness contour. There is a family of
these equal-loudness contours (ISO 1987a) that describe the frequency response of the hearing
system for a wide range of frequencies and sound pressure levels. These equal-loudness
contours can be used to determine the perceived loudness of a single frequency sound. More
complicated procedures have been derived to estimate the perceived loudness of complex sounds
(ISO 1975). These methods involve determining the level of the sound in critical bands and the
mutual masking of these bands.

27

Many studies have compared the accuracy of predictions based on A-weighted levels with those
based on other frequency weightings, as well as more complex measures such as loudness levels
and perceived noise levels (see also Berglund & Lindvall 1995). The comparisons depend on the
particular effect that is being predicted, but generally the correlation between the more complex
measures and subjective scales are a little stronger. A-weighted measures have been particularly
criticized as not being accurate indicators of the disturbing effects of noises with strong lowfrequency components (Kjellberg et al. 1984; Persson & Bjrkman 1988; Broner & Leventhall
1993; Goldstein 1994). However, these differences in prediction accuracy are usually smaller
than the variability of responses among groups of people (Fields 1986; see also Berglund &
Lindvall 1995). Thus, in practical situations the limitations of A-weighted measures may not be
so important.
In addition to equal-loudness contours, equal-noisiness contours have also been developed for
calculating perceived noise levels (PNL) (Kryter 1959; Kryter 1994; see also section 2.7.2).
Critics have pointed out that in addition to equal-loudness and equal-noisiness contours, we
could have many other families of equal-sensation contours corresponding to other attributes of
the noises (Molino 1974). There seems to be no limit to the possible complexity and number of
such measures.

2.3.4. Influence of ambient noise level

A number of studies have suggested that the annoyance effect of a particular noise would depend
on how much that noise exceeded the level of ambient noise. This has been shown to be true for
noises that are relatively constant in level (Bradley 1993), but has not been consistently found for
time-varying noises such as aircraft noise (Gjestland et al. 1990; Fields 1998). Because at some
time during an aircraft fly-over the noise almost always exceeds the ambient level, responses to
this type of noise are less likely to be influenced by the level of the ambient noise.

2.3.5. Types of noise

A number of studies have concluded that equal levels of different noise types lead to different
annoyance (Hall et al. 1981; Griffiths 1983; Miedema 1993; Bradley 1994a; Miedema & Vos
1998). For example, equal LAeq,T levels of aircraft noise and road traffic noise will not lead to
the same mean annoyance in groups of people exposed to these noises. This may indicate that
the LAeq,T measure is not a completely satisfactory description of these noises and perhaps does
not completely reflect the characteristics of these noises that lead to annoyance. Alternatively,
the differences may be attributed to various other factors that are not part of the noise
characteristics (e.g. Flindell & Stallen 1999). For example, it has been said that aircraft noise is
more disturbing, because of the associated fear of aircraft crashing on peoples homes (cf.
Berglund & Lindvall 1995).

2.3.6. Individual differences

Finally, there is the problem of individual response differences. Different people will respond
quite differently to the same noise stimulus (Job 1988). These individual differences can be

28

quite large and it is often most useful to consider the average response of groups of people
exposed to the same sound pressure levels. In annoyance studies the percentage of highly
annoyed individuals is usually considered, because it correlates better with measured sound
pressure levels. Individual differences also exist for susceptibility to hearing impairment (e.g.
Katz 1994).

2.3.7. Recommendations
In many cases we do not have specific, accurate measures of how annoying sound will be and
must rely on the simpler quantities. As a result, current practice is to assume that the equal
energy principle is approximately valid for most types of noise, and that a simple LAeq,T type
measure will indicate reasonably well the expected effects of the noise. Where the noise consists
of a small number of discrete events, the A-weighted maximum level (LAmax) will be a better
indicator of the disturbance to sleep and other activities. However, in most cases the A-weighted
sound exposure level (SEL) will provide a more consistent measure of such single-noise events,
because it is based on an integration over the complete noise event.

2.4. Measurement Issues

2.4.1. Measurement objectives
The details of noise measurements must be planned to meet some relevant objective or purpose.
Some typical objectives would include:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.

Investigating complaints.
Assessing the number of persons exposed.
Compliance with regulations.
Land use planning and environmental impact assessments.
Evaluation of remedial measures.
Calibration and validation of predictions.
Research surveys.
Trend monitoring.

The sampling procedure, measurement location, type of measurements and the choice of
equipment should be in accord with the objective of the measurements.

2.4.2. Instrumentation
The most critical component of a sound pressure meter is the microphone, because it is difficult
to produce microphones with the same precision as the other, electronic components of a
pressure meter. In contrast, it is usually not difficult to produce the electronic components of a
microphone with the desired sensitivity and frequency-response characteristics. Lower quality
microphones will usually be less sensitive and so cannot measure very low sound pressure levels.
They may also not be able to accurately measure very high sound pressure levels found closer to
loud noise sources. Lower quality microphones will also have less well-defined frequencyresponse characteristics. Such lower quality microphones may be acceptable for survey type
29

measurements of overall A-weighted levels, but would not be preferred for more precise
measurements, including detailed frequency analysis of the sounds.
Sound pressure meters will usually include both A- and C-weighting frequency-response curves.
The uses of these frequency weightings were discussed above. They may also include a linear
weighting. Linear weightings are not defined in standards and may in practice be limited by the
response of the particular microphone being used. Instead of, or in addition to, frequencyresponse weightings, more complex sound pressure meters can also include sets of standard
bandpass filters, to permit frequency analysis of sounds. For acoustical measurements, octave
and one-third octave bandwidth filters are widely used with centre frequencies defined in
standards (ISO 1975b).
The instantaneous sound pressures are integrated with some time constant to provide sound
pressure levels. As mentioned above most meters will include both Fast- and Slow-response
times. Fast-response corresponds to a time constant of 0.125 s and is intended to approximate
the time constant of the human hearing system. Slow-response corresponds to a time constant of
1 s and is an old concept intended to make it easier to obtain an approximate average value of
fluctuating levels from simple meter readings.
Standards (IEC 1979) classify sound pressure meters as type 1 or type 2. Type 2 meters are
adequate for broad band A-weighted level measurements, where extreme precision is not
required and where very low sound pressure levels are not to be measured. Type 1 meters are
usually much more expensive and should be used where more precise results are needed, or in
cases where frequency analysis is required.
Many modern sound pressure meters can integrate sound pressure levels over some specified
time period, or may include very sophisticated digital processing capabilities. Integrating meters
make it possible to directly obtain accurate measures of LAeq,T values over a user-specified
time interval, T. By including small computers in some sound pressure meters, quite complex
calculations can be performed on the measured levels and many such results can be stored for
later read out. For example, some meters can determine the statistical distribution of sound
pressure levels over some period, in addition to the simple LAeq,T value. Recently, hand-held
meters that perform loudness calculations in real time have become available. Continuing rapid
developments in instrumentation capabilities are to be expected.

2.4.3. Measurement locations

Where local regulations do not specify otherwise, measurements of environmental noise are
usually best made close to the point of reception of the noise. For example, if there is concern
about residents exposed to road traffic noise it is better to measure close to the location of the
residents, rather than close to the road. If environmental noises are measured close to the source,
one must then estimate the effect of sound propagation to the point of reception. Sound
propagation can be quite complicated and estimates of sound pressure levels at some distance
from the source will inevitably introduce further errors into the measured sound pressure levels.
These errors can be avoided by measuring at locations close to the point of reception.

30

Measurement locations should normally be selected so that there is a clear view of the sound
source and so that the propagation of the sound to the microphone is not shielded or blocked by
structures that would reduce the incident sound pressure levels. For example, measurements of
aircraft noise should be made on the side of the building directly exposed to the noise. The
position of the measuring microphone relative to building faades or other sound-reflective
surfaces is also important and will significantly influence measured sound pressure levels (ISO
1978). If the measuring microphone is located more than several meters from reflecting
surfaces, it will provide an unbiased indication of the incident sound pressure level. At the other
extreme, when a measuring microphone is mounted on a sound-reflecting surface, such as a
building faade, sound pressure levels will be increased by 6 dB, because the direct and reflected
sound will coincide. Some standards recommend a position 2 m from the faade and an
associated 3 dB correction (ISO 1978; ASTM 1992). The effect of faade reflections must be
accounted for to represent the true level of the incident sound. Thus, while locating the
measuring microphone close to the point of reception is desirable, it leads to some other issues
that must be considered to accurately interpret measurement results. Where exposures are
measured indoors, it is necessary to measure at several positions to characterize the average
sound pressure level in a room. In other situations, it may be necessary to measure at the
position of the exposed person.

2.4.4. Sampling
Many environmental noises vary over time, such as for different times of day or from season to
season. For example, road traffic noise may be considerably louder during some hours of the
day but much quieter at night. Aircraft noise may vary with the season due to different numbers
of aircraft operations. Although permanent noise monitoring systems are becoming common
around large airports, it is usually not possible to measure sound pressure levels continuously
over a long enough period of time to completely define the environmental noise exposure. In
practice, measurements usually only sample some part of the total exposure. Such sampling will
introduce uncertainties in the estimates of the total noise exposure.
Traffic noise studies have identified various sampling schemes that can introduce errors of 2-3
dB in estimates of daytime LAeq,T values and even larger errors in night-time sound pressure
levels (Vaskor et al. 1979). These errors relate to the statistical distributions of sound pressure
levels over time (Bradley et al. 1979). Thus, the sampling errors associated with road traffic
noise may be quite different from those associated with other noise, because of the quite different
variations of sound pressure levels over time. It is also difficult to give general estimates of
sampling errors due to seasonal variations. When making environmental noise measurements it
is important that the measurement sample is representative of all of the variations in the noise in
question, including variations of the source and variations in sound propagation, such as due to
varying atmospheric conditions.

2.4.5. Calibration and quality assurance

Sound pressure meters can be calibrated using small calibrated sound sources. These devices are
placed on the measurement microphone and produce a known sound pressure level with a
specified accuracy. Such calibrations should be made at least daily, and more often if there is

31

some possibility that handling of the sound pressure meter may have modified its sensitivity. It
is also important to have a complete quality assurance plan. This should require annual
calibration of all noise measuring equipment to traceable standards and should clearly specify
correct measurement and operating procedures (ISO 1994).

2.5. Source Characteristics and Sound Propagation

To make a correct assessment of noise it is important to have some appreciation of the
characteristics of environmental noise sources and of how sound propagates from them. One
should consider the directionality of noise sources, the variability with time and the frequency
content. If these are in some way unusual, the noise may be more disturbing than expected. The
most common types of environmental noise sources are directional and include: road-traffic
noise, aircraft noise, train noise, industrial noise and outdoor entertainment facilities (cf. section
2.2). All of these types of environmental noise are produced by multiple sources, which in many
cases are moving. Thus, the characteristics of individual sources, as well as the characteristics of
the combined sources, must be considered.
For example, we can consider the radiation of sound from individual vehicles, as well as from a
line of vehicles on a particular road. Sound from an ideal point source (i.e. non-directional
source) will spread out spherically and sound pressure levels would decrease 6 dB for each
doubling of distance from the source. However, for a line of such sources, or for an integration
over the complete pass-by of an individual moving source, the combined effect leads to sound
that spreads cylindrically and to sound pressure levels that decrease at 3 dB per doubling of
distance. Thus, there are distinct differences between the propagation of sound from an ideal
point source and from moving sources. In practice one cannot adequately assess the noise from a
fixed source with measurements at a single location; it is essential to measure in a number of
directions from the source. If the single source is moving, it is necessary to measure over a
complete pass-by, to account for sound variation with direction and time.
In most real situations this simple behaviour is considerably modified by reflections from the
ground and from other nearby surfaces. One expects that when sound propagates over loose
ground, such as grass, that some sound energy will be absorbed and sound pressure levels will
actually decrease more rapidly with distance from the source. Although this is approximately
true, the propagation of sound between sources and receivers close to the ground is much more
complicated than this. The combination of direct and ground-reflected sound can combine in a
complex manner which can lead to strong cancellations at some frequencies and not at others
(Embleton & Piercy 1976). Even at quite short source-to-receiver distances, these complex
interference effects can significantly modify the propagating sound. At larger distances
(approximately 100 m or more), the propagation of sound will also be significantly affected by
various atmospheric conditions. Temperature and wind gradients as well as atmospheric
turbulence can have large effects on more distant sound pressure levels (Daigle et al. 1986).
Temperature and wind gradients can cause propagating sound to curve either upwards or
downwards, creating either areas of increased or decreased sound pressure levels at points quite
distant from the source. Atmospheric turbulence can randomize sound so that the interference
effects resulting from combinations of sound paths are reduced. Higher frequency sound is
absorbed by air depending on the exact temperature and relative humidity of the air (Crocker &

32

Price 1975; Ford 1987). Because there are many complex effects, it is not usually possible to
accurately predict sound pressure levels at large distances from a source.
Using barriers or screens to block the direct path from the source to the receiver can reduce the
propagation of sound. The attenuating effects of the screen are limited by sound energy that
diffracts or bends around the screen. Screens are more effective at higher frequencies and when
placed either close to the sound source or the receiver; they are less effective when placed far
from the receiver. Although higher screens are better, in practice it is difficult to achieve more
than about a 10 dB reduction. There should be no gaps in the screen and it must have an
adequate mass per unit area. A long building can be an effective screen, but gaps between
buildings will reduce the sound attenuation.
In some cases, it may be desirable to estimate environmental sound pressure levels using
mathematical models implemented as computer programmes (House 1987). Such computer
programmes must first model the characteristics of the source and then estimate the propagation
of the sound from the source to some receiver point. Although such prediction schemes have
several advantages, there will be some uncertainty as to the accuracy of the predicted sound
pressure levels. Such models are particularly useful for road traffic noise and aircraft noise,
because it is possible to create data bases of information describing particular sources. For more
varied types of noise, such as industrial noise, it would be necessary to first characterize the
noise sources. The models then sum up the effects of multiple sources and calculate how the
sound will propagate to receiver points. Techniques for estimating sound propagation are
improving and the accuracy of these models is also expected to improve. These models can be
particularly useful for estimating the combined effect of a large number of sources over an
extended period of time. For example, aircraft noise prediction models are typically used to
predict average yearly noise exposures, based on the combination of aircraft events over a
complete year. Such models can be applied to predict sound pressure level contours around
airports for these average yearly conditions. This is of course much less expensive than
measuring at many locations over a complete one year-period. However, such models can be
quite complex, and require skilled users and accurate data bases. Because environmental noise
prediction models are still developing, it is advisable to confirm predictions with measurements.

2.6. Sound transmission Into and Within Buildings

Sources of environmental noise are usually located outdoors; for example, road traffic, aircraft or
trains. However, people exposed to these noises are often indoors, inside their home or some
other building. It is, therefore, important to understand how environmental noises are
transmitted into buildings. Most of the same fundamentals discussed earlier apply to airborne
sound propagation between homes in multifamily dwellings, via common walls and floors.
However, within buildings we can also consider impact sound sources, such as footsteps, as well
as airborne sounds.
The amount of incident sound that is transmitted through a building faade is measured in terms
of the sound reduction index. The sound reduction index, or transmission loss, is defined as 10
times the logarithm of the ratio of incident-to-transmitted sound power, and it describes in
decibels how much the incident sound is reduced on passing through a particular panel. This

33

index of constructions usually increases with the frequency of the incident sound and with the
mass of the construction (Kremer 1950). Thus, heavier or more massive constructions tend to
have higher sound reductions. When it is not possible to achieve the desired transmission loss by
increasing the mass of a panel, increased sound reduction can be achieved by a double panel
construction. The two layers should be isolated with respect to vibrations and there should be
sound absorbing material in the cavity. Such double panel constructions can provide much
greater sound reduction than a single panel. Because sound reduction is also greater at higher
frequencies most problems occur at lower frequencies, where most environmental noise sources
produce relatively high sound pressure levels.
The sound reduction of buildings can be measured in standard laboratory tests, where the test
panel is constructed in an opening between two reverberant test chambers (ISO 1995; ASTM
1997). In these tests sound fields are quite diffuse in both test chambers and the sound reduction
index is calculated as the difference between the average sound pressure levels in the two rooms,
plus a correction involving the area of the test panel and the total sound absorption in the
receiving room. The sound reduction of a complete building faade can also be measured in the
field using either natural environmental noises or test signals from loudspeakers (ISO 1978;
ASTM 1992). In either case the noise, as transmitted through the faade, must be greater in level
than other sounds in the receiving room. For this outdoor-to-indoor sound propagation case, the
measured sound reduction index will also depend on the angle of incidence of the outdoor sound,
as well as the position of the outdoor measuring microphone relative to the building faade.
Corrections of up to 6 dB must be made to the sound pressure level measured outdoors, to
account for the effect of reflections from the faade (see also section 2.4.3).
The sound reduction of most real building faades is determined by a combination of several
different elements. For example, a wall might include windows, doors or some other type of
element. If the sound reduction index values of each element are known, the values for the
combined construction can be calculated from the area-weighted sums of the sound energy
transmitted through each separate element. Although parts of the building faade, such as
massive wall constructions, can be very effective barriers to sound, the sound reduction index of
the complete faade is often greatly reduced by less effective elements such as windows, doors
or ventilation openings. Completely open windows as such would have a sound reduction index
of 0 dB. If window openings makes up 10% of the area of a wall, the sound reduction index of
the combined wall and open window could not exceed 10 dB. Thus it is not enough to specify
effective sound reducing faade constructions, without also solving the problem of adequate
ventilation that does not compromise the sound transmission reduction by the building faade.
Sound reduction index values are measured at different frequencies and from these, single
number ratings are determined. Most common are the ISO weighted sound reduction index (ISO
1996) and the equivalent ASTM sound transmission class (ASTM 1994a). However, in their
original form these single number ratings are only appropriate for typical indoor noises that
usually do not have strong low frequency components. Thus, they are usually not appropriate
single number ratings of the ability of a building faade to block typical environmental noises.
More recent additions to the ISO procedure have included source spectrum corrections intended
to correct approximately for other types of sources (ISO 1996). Alternatively, the ASTMOutdoor-Indoor Transmission Class rating calculates the A-weighted level reduction to a

34

standard environmental noise source spectrum (ASTM 1994b). Within buildings the impact
sound insulation index can be measured with a standard impact source and determined according
to ISO and ASTM standards (ISO 1998; ASTM 1994c 1996)

2.7. More Specialized Noise Measures

2.7.1. Loudness and perceived noise levels
There are procedures to accurately rate the loudness of complex sounds (Zwicker 1960; Stevens
1972; ISO 1975a). These usually start from a 1/3 octave spectrum of the noise. The combination
of the loudness contributions of each 1/3 octave band with estimates of mutual masking effects,
leads to a single overall loudness rating in sones. A similar system for rating the noisiness of
sounds has also been developed (Kryter 1994). Again a 1/3 octave spectrum of the noise is
required and the 1/3 octave noise levels are compared with a set of equal-noisiness contours.
The individual 1/3 octave band noisiness estimates are combined to give an overall perceived
noise level (PNL) that is intended to accurately estimate subjective evaluations of the same
sound. The PNL metric was initially developed to rate jet aircraft noise.
PNL values will vary with time, for example when an aircraft flies by a measuring point. The
effective perceived noise level measure (EPNL) is derived from PNL values and is intended to
provide a complete rating of an aircraft fly-over. EPNL values add both a duration correction
and a tone correction to PNL values. The duration correction ensures that longer duration events
are rated as more disturbing. Similarly, noise spectra that seem to have prominent tonal
components are rated as more disturbing by the tone-correction procedure. There is some
evidence that these tone corrections are not always successful in improving predictions of
adverse responses to noise events (Scharf & Hellman 1980). EPNL values are used in the
certification testing of new aircraft. These more precise measures ensure that the noise from new
aircraft is rated as accurately as possible.

2.7.2. Aviation noise measures

There are many measures for evaluating the long-term average sound pressure levels from
aircraft near airports (Ford 1987; House 1987). They include different frequency weightings,
different summations of levels and numbers of events, as well as different time-of-day
weightings. Most measures are based on either A-weighted or PNL-weighted sound pressure
levels. Because of the many other large uncertainties in predicting community response to
aircraft noise, there seems little justification for using the more complex PNL-weighted sound
pressure levels and there is a trend to change to A-weighted measures.
Most aviation noise measures are based on an equal energy approach and hence they sum up the
total energy of a number of aircraft fly-overs. However, some older measures were based on
different combinations of the level of each event and the number of events. These types of
measures are gradually being replaced by measures based on the equal energy hypothesis such as
LAeq,T values. There is also a range of time-of-day weightings incorporated into current aircraft
noise measures. Night-time weightings of 612 dB are currently in use. Some countries also
include an intermediate evening weighting.

35

The day-night sound pressure level Ldn (von Gierke 1975; Ford 1987) is an LAeq,T based
measure with a 10 dB night-time weighting. It is based on A-weighted sound pressure levels and
the equal energy principle. The noise exposure forecast (NEF) (Bishop & Horonjeff 1967) is
based on the EPNL values of individual aircraft events and includes a 12 dB night-time
weighting. It sums multiple events on an equal energy basis. However, the Australian variation
of the NEF measure has a 6 dB evening weighting and a 6 dB night-time weighting (Bullen &
Hede 1983). The German airport noise equivalent level (LEQ(FLG)) is based on A-weighted
levels, but does not follow the equal energy principle.
The weighted equivalent continuous perceived noise level (WECPNL) measure (Ford 1987)
proposed by ICAO is based on the equal energy principle and maximum PNL values of aircraft
fly-overs. However, in Japan an approximation to this measure is used and is based on
maximum A-weighted levels. The noise and number index (NNI), formerly used in the United
Kingdom, was derived from maximum PNL values but was not based on the equal energy
principle. An approximation to the original version of the NNI has been used in Switzerland and
is based on maximum A-weighted levels of aircraft fly-overs, but its use will soon be
discontinued. Changes in these measures are slow because their use is often specified in national
legislation. However, several countries have changed to measures that are based on the equal
energy principle and A-weighted sound pressure levels.

2.7.3. Impulsive noise measures

Impulsive sounds, such as gun shots, hammer blows, explosions of fireworks or other blasts, are
sounds that significantly exceed the background sound pressure level for a very short duration.
Typically each impulse lasts less than one second. Measurements with the meter set to Fast
response (section 2.1.1) do not accurately represent impulsive sounds. Therefore the meter
response time must be shorter to measure such impulse type sounds. C-weighted levels have
been found useful for ratings of gun shots (ISO 1987). Currently no mathematical description
exists which unequivocally defines impulsive sounds, nor is there a universally accepted
procedure for rating the additional annoyance of impulsive sounds (HCN 1997). Future versions
of ISO Standard 1996 (present standard in ISO 1987b) are planned to improve this situation.

2.7.4. Measures of speech intelligibility

The intelligibility of speech depends primarily on the speech-to-noise ratio. If the level of the
speech sounds are 15 dB or more above the level of the ambient noise, the speech intelligibility
at 1 m distance will be close to 100% (Houtgast 1981; Bradley 1986b). This can be most simply
rated in terms of the speech-to-noise ratio of the A-weighted speech and noise levels.
Alternatively, the speech intelligibility index (formerly the articulation index) can be used if
octave or 1/3 octave band spectra of the speech and noise are available (ANSI 1997).
When indoors, speech intelligibility also depends on the acoustical properties of the space. The
acoustical properties of spaces have for many years been rated in terms of reverberation times.
The reverberation time is approximately the time it takes for a sound in a room to decrease to
inaudibility after the source has been stopped. Optimum reverberation times for speech have

36

been specified as a function of the size of the room. In large rooms, such as lecture halls and
theaters, a reverberation time for speech of about 1 s is recommended. In smaller rooms such as
classrooms, the recommended value for speech is about 0.6 s (Bradley 1986b,c). More modern
measures of room acoustics have been found to be better correlates of speech intelligibility, and
some combine an assessment of both the speech/noise ratio and room acoustics (Bradley
1986a,c). The most widely known is the speech transmission index (STI) (Houtgast &
Steeneken 1983), or the abbreviated version of this measure referred to as RASTI (Houtgast &
Steeneken 1985; IEC 1988). In smaller rooms, such as school classrooms, the conventional
approach of requiring adequately low ambient noise levels, as well as some optimum
reverberation time, is probably adequate to ensure good speech intelligibility (Bradley 1986b).
In larger rooms and other more specialized situations, use of the more modern measures may be
helpful.

2.7.5. Indoor noise ratings

The simplest procedure for rating levels of indoor noise is to measure them in terms of integrated
A-weighted sound pressure levels, as measured by LAeq,T. As discussed earlier, this approach
has been criticized as not being the most accurate rating of the negative effects of various types
of noises, and is thought to be particularly inadequate when there are strong low-frequency
components. Several more complex rating schemes are available based on octave band
measurements of indoor noises. In Europe the noise rating system (Burns 1968), and in North
America the noise criterion (Beranek 1971), both include sets of equal-disturbance type contours.
Measured octave band sound pressure levels are compared with these contours and an overall
noise rating is determined. More recently, two new schemes have been proposed: the balanced
noise criterion procedure (Beranek 1989) and the room criterion system (Blazier 1998). These
schemes are based on a wider range of octave bands extending from 168 000 Hz. They provide
both a numerical and a letter rating of the noise. The numerical part indicates the level of the
central frequencies important for speech communication and the letter indicates whether the
quality of the sound is predominantly low-, medium- or high-frequency in nature. Extensive
comparisons of these room noise rating procedures have yet to be performed. Because the newer
measures include a wider range of frequencies, they can better assess a wider range of noise
problems.

2.8. Summary
Where there are no clear reasons for using other measures, it is recommended that LAeq,T be
used to evaluate more-or-less continuous environmental noises. LAeq,T should also be used to
assess ongoing noises that may be composed of individual events with randomly varying sound
pressure levels. Where the noise is principally composed of a small number of discrete events
the additional use of LAmax or SEL is recommended. As pointed out in this chapter, there are
definite limitations to these simple measures, but there are also many practical advantages,
including economy and the benefits of a standardized approach.
The sound pressure level measurements should include all variations over time to provide results
that best represent the noise in question. This would include variations in both the source and in
propagation of the noise from the source to the receiver. Measurements should normally be

37

made close to typical points of reception. The accuracy of the measurements and the details of
the measurement procedure must be adapted to the type of noise and to other details of the noise
exposure. Assessment of speech intelligibility, aviation noise or impulse noise may require the
use of more specialized methods. Where the exposed people are indoors and noise
measurements are made outdoors, the sound attenuating properties of the building faade must
also be measured or estimated.

38

3. Adverse Health Effects Of Noise

3.1. Introduction
The perception of sounds in day-to-day life is of major importance for human well-being.
Communication through speech, sounds from playing children, music, natural sounds in
parklands, parks and gardens are all examples of sounds essential for satisfaction in every day
life. Conversely, this document is related to the adverse effects of sound (noise). According to
the International Programme on Chemical Safety (WHO 1994), an adverse effect of noise is
defined as a change in the morphology and physiology of an organism that results in impairment
of functional capacity, or an impairment of capacity to compensate for additional stress, or
increases the susceptibility of an organism to the harmful effects of other environmental
influences. This definition includes any temporary or long-term lowering of the physical,
psychological or social functioning of humans or human organs. The health significance of
noise pollution is given in this chapter under separate headings, according to the specific effects:
noise-induced hearing impairment; interference with speech communication; disturbance of rest
and sleep; psychophysiological, mental-health and performance effects; effects on residential
behaviour and annoyance; as well as interference with intended activities. This chapter also
considers vulnerable groups and the combined effects of sounds from different sources.
Conclusions based on the details given in this chapter are given in Chapter 4 as they relate to
guideline values.

3.2. Noise-Induced Hearing Impairment

Hearing impairment is typically defined as an increase in the threshold of hearing. It is assessed
by threshold audiometry. Hearing handicap is the disadvantage imposed by hearing impairment
sufficient to affect ones personal efficiency in the activities of daily living. It is usually
expressed in terms of understanding conventional speech in common levels of background noise
(ISO 1990). Worldwide, noise-induced hearing impairment is the most prevalent irreversible
occupational hazard. In the developing countries, not only occupational noise, but also
environmental noise is an increasing risk factor for hearing impairment. In 1995, at the World
Health Assembly, it was estimated that there are 120 million persons with disabling hearing
difficulties worldwide (Smith 1998). It has been shown that men and women are equally at risk
of noise-induced hearing impairment (ISO 1990; Berglund & Lindvall 1995).
Apart from noise-induced hearing impairment, hearing damage in populations is also caused by
certain diseases; some industrial chemicals; ototoxic drugs; blows to the head; accidents; and
hereditary origins. Deterioration of hearing capability is also associated with the aging process
per se (presbyacusis). Present knowledge of the physiological effects of noise on the auditory
system is based primarily on laboratory studies on animals. After noise exposure, the first
morphological changes are usually found in the inner and outer hair cells of the cochlea, where
the stereocilia become fused and bent. After more prolonged exposure, the outer and inner hair
cells related to transmission of high-frequency sounds are missing. See Berglund & Lindvall
(1995) for further discussion.
The ISO Standard 1999 (ISO 1990) gives a method for calculating noise-induced hearing
39

impairment in populations exposed to all types of noise (continuous, intermittent, impulse)

during working hours. Noise exposure is characterized by LAeq over 8 hours (LAeq,8h). In the
Standard, the relationships between LAeq,8h and noise-induced hearing impairment are given
for frequencies of 5006 000 Hz, and for exposure times of up to 40 years. These relations show
that noise-induced hearing impairment occurs predominantly in the high-frequency range of 3
0006 000 Hz, the effect being largest at 4 000 Hz. With increasing LAeq,8h and increasing
exposure time, noise-induced hearing impairment also occurs at 2 000 Hz. But at LAeq,8h levels
of 75 dBA and lower, even prolonged occupational noise exposure will not result in noiseinduced hearing impairment (ISO 1990). This value is equal to that specified in 1980 by the
World Health Organization (WHO 1980a).
The ISO Standard 1999 (ISO 1990) specifies hearing impairment in statistical terms (median
values, and percentile fractions between 0.05 and 0.95). The extent of noise-induced hearing
impairment in populations exposed to occupational noise depends on the value of LAeq,8h and
the number of years of noise exposure. However, for high LAeq,8h values, individual
susceptibility seems to have a considerable effect on the rate of progression of hearing
impairment. For daily exposures of 816 h, noise-induced hearing impairment can be reasonably
well estimated from LAeq,8h extrapolated to the longer exposure times (Axelsson et al. 1986).
In this adaptation of LAeq,8h for daily exposures other than 8 hours, the equal energy principle
is assumed to be applicable. For example, the hearing impairment due to a 16 h daily exposure is
equivalent to that at LAeq,8h plus 3 dB (LAeq,16h = LAeq,8h + 10*log10 (16/8) = LAeq,8h + 3
dB. For a 24 h exposure, LAeq,24h = LAeq,8h + 10*log10 (24/8) = LAeq,8h + 5 dB).
Since the calculation method specified in the ISO Standard 1999 (ISO 1990) is the only
universally adopted method for estimating occupational noise-induced hearing impairment,
attempts have been made to assess whether the method is also applicable to hearing impairment
due to environmental noise, including leisure-time noise. There is ample evidence that shooting
noise, with LAeq,24h values of up to 80 dB, induces the same hearing impairment as an
equivalent occupational noise exposure (Smoorenburg 1998). Moreover, noise-induced hearing
impairment studies from motorbikes are also in agreement with results from ISO Standard 1999
(ISO 1990). Hearing impairment in young adults and children 12 years and older has been
assessed by LAeq on a 24 h time basis, for a variety of environmental and leisure-time exposure
patterns (e.g. Passchier-Vermeer 1993; HCN 1994). These include pop music in discotheques
and concerts (Babisch & Ising 1989; ISO 1990); pop music through headphones (Ising et al.
1994; Struwe et al. 1996; Passchier-Vermeer et al. 1998); music played by brass bands and
symphony orchestras (van Hees 1992). The results are in agreement with values predicted by the
ISO Standard 1999 method on the basis of adjusted time.
In the publications cited above, exposure to noise with known characteristics, such as duration
and level, was related to hearing impairment. In addition to these publications, there is also an
extensive literature showing hearing impairment in populations exposed to specific types of nonoccupational noise, although these exposures are not well characterized. These noises originate
from shooting, motorcycling, snowmobile driving, playing in arcades, listening to music at
concerts and through headphones, using noisy toys, and fireworks (e.g. Brookhouser et al. 1992;
see also Berglund & Lindvall 1995). Although the characteristics of these exposures are to a
certain extent unknown, the details in the publications suggest that LAeq,24h values of these

40

exposures exceed 70 dB.

In contrast, epidemiological studies failed to show hearing damage in populations exposed to an
LAeq,24h of less than 70 dB (Lindemann et al. 1987). The data imply that even a lifetime
exposure to environmental and leisure-time noise with an LAeq,24h <70 dBA would not cause
hearing impairment in the large majority of people (over 95%). Overall, the results of many
studies strongly suggest that the method from ISO Standard 1999 can also be used to estimate
hearing impairment due to environmental and leisure-time noise, in addition to estimating the
effects of occupational noise exposure.
Although the evidence suggests that the calculation method from ISO Standard 1999 (ISO 1990)
should also be accepted for environmental and leisure time noise exposures, large-scale
epidemiological studies of the general population do not exist to support this proposition.
Taking into account the limitations of the studies, care should be taken with respect to the
following aspects:
a. Data from animal experiments indicate that children may be more vulnerable in
acquiring noise-induced hearing impairment than adults.
b. At very high instantaneous sound pressure levels, mechanical damage to the ear may
occur (Hanner & Axelsson 1988). Occupational limits are set at peak sound pressure
levels of 140 dB (EU 1986a). For adults exposed to environmental and leisure-time
noise, this same limit is assumed to be valid. In the case of children, however, taking
into account their habits while playing with noisy toys, peak sound pressure levels
should never exceed 120 dB.
c. For shooting noise with LAeq,24h over 80 dB, studies on temporary threshold shift
suggest the possibility of an increased risk for noise-induced hearing impairment
(Smoorenburg 1998).
d. Risk for noise-induced hearing impairment may increase when the noise exposure is
combined with exposure to vibrations, the use of ototoxic drugs, or some chemicals
(Fechter 1999). In these circumstances, long-term exposure to LAeq,24h of 70 dBA
may induce small hearing impairments.
e. It is uncertain whether the relationships between hearing impairment and noise
exposure given in ISO Standard 1999 (ISO 1990) are applicable for environmental
sounds of short rise time. For example, in the case of military low-altitude flying
areas (75300 m above ground) LAmax values of 110130 dB occur within seconds
after the onset of the sound.
Usually noise-induced hearing impairment is accompanied by an abnormal loudness perception
which is known as loudness recruitment (cf. Berglund & Lindvall 1995). With a considerable
loss of auditory sensitivity, some sounds may be perceived as distorted (paracusis). Another
sensory effect that results from noise exposure is tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Commonly,
tinnitus is referred to as sounds that are emitted by the inner ear itself (physiological tinnitus).

41

Tinnitus is a common and often disturbing accompaniment of occupational hearing impairment

(Vernon and Moller 1995) and has become a risk for teenagers attending pop concerts and
discotheques (Hetu & Fortin 1995; Passchier-Vermeer et al. 1998; Axelsson & Prasher 1999).
Noise-induced tinnitus may be temporary, lasting up to 24 hours after exposure, or may have a
more permanent character, such as after prolonged occupational noise exposure. Sometimes
tinnitus is due to the sound produced by the blood flow through structures in the ear.
The main social consequence of hearing impairment is an inability to understand speech in daily
living conditions, which is considered a severe social handicap. Even small values of hearing
impairment (10 dB averaged over 2 000 and 4 000 Hz, and over both ears) may have an effect on
the understanding of speech. When the hearing impairment exceeds 30 dB (again averaged over
2 000 and 4 000 Hz and both ears) a social hearing handicap is noticeable (cf. Katz 1994;
Berglund & Lindvall 1995).
In the past, hearing protection has mainly emphasized occupational noise exposures at high
values of LAeq,8h, or situations with high impulsive sounds. The near-universal adoption of an
LAeq,8h value of 85 dB (or lower) as the limit for unprotected occupational noise exposure,
together with requirements for personal hearing protection, has made cases of severe unprotected
exposures more rare. This is particularly true for developed countries. However, monitoring of
compliance and enforcement action for sound pressure levels just over the limits may be weak,
especially in non-industrial environments in developed countries (Franks 1998), as well as in
occupational and urban environments in developing countries (Smith 1998). Nevertheless,
regulations for occupational noise exposure exist almost worldwide and exposures to
occupational noise are to a certain extent under control.
On the other hand, environmental noise exposures due to a number of noisy activities, especially
those during leisure-time activities of children and young adults, have scarcely been regulated.
Given both the increasing number of noisy activities and the increasing exposure duration, such
as loud music in cars and the use of Walkmen and Discmen, regulatory activities in this field are
to be encouraged. Dose-response data are lacking for the general population. However, judging
from the limited data for study groups (teenagers, young adults and women), and the assumption
that time of exposure can be equated with sound energy, the risk for hearing impairment would
be negligible for LAeq,24h values of 70 dBA over a lifetime. To avoid hearing impairment,
impulse noise exposures should never exceed 140 dB peak sound pressure in adults, and 120 dB
peak sound pressure in children.

3.3. Interference with Speech Communication

Noise interference with speech comprehension results in a large number of personal disabilities,
handicaps and behavioural changes. Problems with concentration, fatigue, uncertainty and lack
of self-confidence, irritation, misunderstandings, decreased working capacity, problems in
human relations, and a number of stress reactions have all been identified (Lazarus 1998).
Particularly vulnerable to these types of effects are the hearing impaired, the elderly, children in
the process of language and reading acquisition, and individuals who are not familiar with the
spoken language (e.g., Lazarus 1998). Thus, vulnerable persons constitute a substantial
proportion of a countrys population.

42

Most of the acoustical energy of speech is in the frequency range 1006 000 Hz, with the most
important cue-bearing energy being between 3003 000 Hz. Speech interference is basically a
masking process in which simultaneous, interfering noise renders speech incapable of being
understood. The higher the level of the masking noise, and the more energy it contains at the
most important speech frequencies, the greater will be the percentage of speech sounds that
become indiscernible to the listener. Environmental noise may also mask many other acoustical
signals important for daily life, such as door bells, telephone signals, alarm clocks, fire alarms
and other warning signals, and music (e.g., Edworthy & Adams 1996). The masking effect of
interfering noise in speech discrimination is more pronounced for hearing-impaired persons than
for persons with normal hearing, particularly if the interfering noise is composed of speech or
babble.
As the sound pressure level of an interfering noise increases, people automatically raise their
voice to overcome the masking effect upon speech (increase of vocal effort). This imposes an
additional strain on the speaker. For example, in quiet surroundings, the speech level at 1 m
distance averages 4550 dBA, but is 30 dBA higher when shouting. However, even if the
interfering noise is moderately loud, most of the sentences during ordinary conversation can still
be understood fairly well. Nevertheless, the interpretation required for compensating the
masking effect of the interfering sounds, and for comprehending what was said, imposes an
additional strain on the listener. One contributing factor could be that speech spoken loudly is
more difficult to understand than speech spoken softly, when compared at a constant speech-tonoise ratio (cf. Berglund & Lindvall 1995).
Speech levels vary between individuals because of factors such as gender and vocal effort.
Moreover, outdoor speech levels decrease by about 6 dB for a doubling in the distance between
talker and listener. Speech intelligibility in everyday living conditions is influenced by speech
level, speech pronunciation, talker-to-listener distance, sound pressure levels, and to some extent
other characteristics of interfering noise, as well as room characteristics (e.g. reverberation).
Individual capabilities of the listener, such as hearing acuity and the level of attention of the
listener, are also important for the intelligibility of speech. Speech communication is affected
also by the reverberation characteristics of the room. For example, reverberation times greater
than 1 s produce loss in speech discrimination. Longer reverberation times, especially when
combined with high background interfering noise, make speech perception more difficult. Even
in a quiet environment, a reverberation time below 0.6 s is desirable for adequate speech
intelligibility by vulnerable groups. For example, for older hearing-handicapped persons, the
optimal reverberation time for speech intelligibility is 0.30.5 s (Plomp 1986).
For complete sentence intelligibility in listeners with normal hearing, the signal-to-noise ratio
(i.e. the difference between the speech level and the sound pressure level of the interfering noise)
should be 1518 dBA (Lazarus 1990). This implies that in smaller rooms, noise levels above 35
dBA interferes with the intelligibility of speech (Bradley 1985). Earlier recommendations
suggested that sound pressure levels as high as 45 dBA would be acceptable (US EPA 1974).
With raised voice (increased vocal effort) sentences may be 100% intelligible for noise levels of
up to 55 dBA; and sentences spoken with straining vocal effort can be 100% intelligible with
noise levels of about 65 dBA. For speech to be intelligible when listening to complicated

43

messages (at school, listening to foreign languages, telephone conversation), it is recommended

that the signal-to-noise ratio should be at least 15 dBA. Thus, with a speech level of 50 dBA, (at
1 m distance this level corresponds to a casual speech level of both women and men), the sound
pressure level of interfering noise should not exceed 35 dBA. For vulnerable groups even lower
background levels are needed. If it is not possible to meet the strictest criteria for vulnerable
persons in sensitive situations (e.g. in classrooms), one should strive for as low background
levels as possible.

3.4. Sleep Disturbance

Uninterrupted sleep is known to be a prerequisite for good physiological and mental functioning
of healthy persons (Hobson 1989); sleep disturbance, on the other hand, is considered to be a
major environmental noise effect. It is estimated that 80-90% of the reported cases of sleep
disturbance in noisy environments are for reasons other than noise originating outdoors. For
example, sanitary needs; indoor noises from other occupants; worries; illness; and climate (e.g.
Reyner & Horne 1995). Our understanding of the impact of noise exposure on sleep stems
mainly from experimental research in controlled environments. Field studies conducted with
people in their normal living situations are scarce. Most of the more recent field research on
sleep disturbance has been conducted for aircraft noise (Fidell et al. 1994 1995a,b 1998; Horne et
al. 1994 1995; Maschke et al. 1995 1996; Ollerhead et al. 1992; Passchier-Vermeer 1999). Other
field studies have examined the effects of road traffic and railway noise (Griefahn et al. 1996
1998).
The primary sleep disturbance effects are: difficulty in falling asleep (increased sleep latency
time); awakenings; and alterations of sleep stages or depth, especially a reduction in the
proportion of REM-sleep (REM = rapid eye movement) (Hobson 1989). Other primary
physiological effects can also be induced by noise during sleep, including increased blood
pressure; increased heart rate; increased finger pulse amplitude; vasoconstriction; changes in
respiration; cardiac arrhythmia; and an increase in body movements (cf. Berglund & Lindvall
1995). For each of these physiological effects, both the noise threshold and the noise-response
relationships may be different. Different noises may also have different information content and
this also could affect physiological threshold and noise-response relationships (Edworthy 1998).
Exposure to night-time noise also induces secondary effects, or so-called after effects. These are
effects that can be measured the day following the night-time exposure, while the individual is
awake. The secondary effects include reduced perceived sleep quality; increased fatigue;
depressed mood or well-being; and decreased performance (hrstrm 1993a; Passchier-Vermeer
1993; Carter 1996; Pearsons et al. 1995; Pearsons 1998).
Long-term effects on psychosocial well-being have also been related to noise exposure during
the night (hrstrm 1991). Noise annoyance during the night-time increased the total noise
annoyance expressed by people in the following 24 h. Various studies have also shown that
people living in areas exposed to night-time noise have an increased use of sedatives or sleeping
pills. Other frequently reported behavioural effects of night-time noise include closed bedroom
windows and use of personal hearing protection. Sensitive groups include the elderly, shift
workers, persons especially vulnerable to physical or mental disorders and other individuals with

44

sleeping difficulties.
Questionnaire data indicate the importance of night-time noise on the perception of sleep quality.
A recent Japanese investigation was conducted for 3 600 women (2080 years old) living in
eight roadside zones with different road traffic noise. The results showed that four measures of
perceived sleep quality (difficulty in falling asleep; waking up during sleep; waking up too early;
feelings of sleeplessness one or more days a week) correlated significantly with the average
traffic volumes during night-time. An in-depth investigation of 19 insomnia cases and their
matched controls (age,work) measured outdoor and indoor sound pressure levels during sleep
(Kageyama et al. 1997). The study showed that road traffic noise in excess of 30 dB LAeq for
nighttime induced sleep disturbance, consistent with the results of hrstrm (1993b).
Meta-analyses of field and laboratory studies have suggested that there is a relationship between
the SEL for a single night-time noise event and the percentage of people awakened, or who
showed sleep stage changes (e.g. Ollerhead et al. 1992; Passchier-Vermeer 1993; Finegold et al.
1994; Pearsons et al. 1995). All of these studies assumed that the number of awakenings per
night for each SEL value is proportional to the number of night-time noise events. However, the
results have been criticized for methodological reasons. For example, there were small groups of
sleepers; too few original studies; and indoor exposure was estimated from outdoor sound
pressure levels (NRC-CNRC 1994; Beersma & Altena 1995; Vallet 1998). The most important
result of the meta-analyses is that there is a clear difference in the dose-response curves for
laboratory and field studies, and that noise has a lower effect under real-life conditions (Pearsons
et al. 1995; Pearsons 1998).
However, this result has been questioned, because the studies were not controlled for such things
as the sound insulation of the buildings, and the number of bedrooms with closed windows.
Also, only two indicators of sleep disturbance were considered (awakening and sleep stage
changes). The meta-analyses thus neglected other important sleep disturbance effects (hrstrm
1993b; Carter et al. 1994a; Carter et al. 1994b; Carter 1996; Kuwano et al. 1998). For example,
for road traffic noise, perceived sleep quality is related both to the time needed to fall asleep and
the total sleep time (hrstrm & Bjrkman 1988). Individuals who are more sensitive to noise
(as assessed by different questionnaires) report worse sleep quality both in field studies and in
laboratory studies.
A further criticism of the meta-analyses is that laboratory experiments have shown that
habituation to night-time noise events occurs, and that noise-induced awakening decreases with
increasing number of sound exposures per night. This is in contrast to the assumption used in the
meta-analyses, that the percentage of awakenings is linearly proportional to the number of nighttime noise events. Studies have also shown that the frequency of noise-induced awakenings
decreases for at least the first eight consecutive nights. So far, habituation has been shown for
awakenings, but not for heart rate and after effects such as perceived sleep quality, mood and
performance (hrstrm and Bjrkman 1988).
Other studies suggest that it is the difference in sound pressure levels between a noise event and
background, rather than the absolute sound pressure level of the noise event, that determines the
reaction probability. The time interval between two noise events also has an important influence

45

of the probability of obtaining a response (Griefahn 1977; cf. Berglund & Lindvall 1995).
Another possible factor is the persons age, with older persons having an increased probability of
awakening. However, one field study showed that noise-induced awakenings are independent of
age (Reyner & Horne 1995).
For a good sleep, it is believed that indoor sound pressure levels should not exceed
approximately 45 dB LAmax more than 1015 times per night (Vallet & Vernet 1991), and most
studies show an increase in the percentage of awakenings at SEL values of 5560 dBA
(Passchier-Vermeer 1993; Finegold et al. 1994; Pearsons et al. 1995). For intermittent events
that approximate aircraft noise, with an effective duration of 1030 s, SEL values of 5560 dBA
correspond to a LAmax value of 45 dB. Ten to 15 of these events during an eight-hour nighttime implies an LAeq,8h of 2025 dB. This is 510 dB below the LAeq,8h of 30 dB for
continuous night-time noise exposure, and shows that the intermittent character of noise has to
be taken into account when setting night-time limits for noise exposure. For example, this can be
achieved by considering the number of noise events and the difference between the maximum
sound pressure level and the background level of these events.
Special attention should also be given to the following considerations:
a. Noise sources in an environment with a low background noise level. For example,
night-traffic in suburban residential areas.
b. Environments where a combination of noise and vibrations are produced.
example, railway noise, heavy duty vehicles.

For

c. Sources with low-frequency components. Disturbances may occur even though the
sound pressure level during exposure is below 30 dBA.
If negative effects on sleep are to be avoided the equivalent sound pressure level should not
exceed 30 dBA indoors for continuous noise. If the noise is not continuous, sleep disturbance
correlates best with LAmax and effects have been observed at 45 dB or less. This is particularly
true if the background level is low. Noise events exceeding 45 dBA should therefore be limited
if possible. For sensitive people an even lower limit would be preferred. It should be noted that
it should be possible to sleep with a bedroom window slightly open (a reduction from outside to
inside of 15 dB). To prevent sleep disturbances, one should thus consider the equivalent sound
pressure level and the number and level of sound events. Mitigation targeted to the first part of
the night is believed to be effective for the ability to fall asleep.

46

3.5. Cardiovascular and Physiological Effects

Epidemiological and laboratory studies involving workers exposed to occupational noise, and
general populations (including children) living in noisy areas around airports, industries and
noisy streets, indicate that noise may have both temporary and permanent impacts on
physiological functions in humans. It has been postulated that noise acts as an environmental
stressor (for a review see Passchier-Vermeer 1993; Berglund & Lindvall 1995). Acute noise
exposures activate the autonomic and hormonal systems, leading to temporary changes such as
increased blood pressure, increased heart rate and vasoconstriction. After prolonged exposure,
susceptible individuals in the general population may develop permanent effects, such as
hypertension and ischaemic heart disease associated with exposures to high sound pressure levels
(for a review see Passchier-Vermeer 1993; Berglund & Lindvall 1995). The magnitude and
duration of the effects are determined in part by individual characteristics, lifestyle behaviours
and environmental conditions. Sounds also evoke reflex responses, particularly when they are
unfamiliar and have a sudden onset.
Laboratory experiments and field quasi-experiments show that if noise exposure is temporary,
the physiological system usually returns - after the exposure terminates - to a normal (preexposure) state within a time in the range of the exposure duration. If the exposure is of
sufficient intensity and unpredictability, cardiovascular and hormonal responses may appear,
including increases in heart rate and peripheral vascular resistance; changes in blood pressure,
blood viscosity and blood lipids; and shifts in electrolyte balance (Mg/Ca) and hormonal levels
(epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol). The first four effects are of interest because of noiserelated coronary heart disease (Ising & Gnther 1997). Laboratory and clinical data suggest that
noise may significantly elevate gastrointestinal motility in humans.
By far the greatest number of occupational and community noise studies have focused on the
possibility that noise may be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Many studies in
occupational settings have indicated that workers exposed to high levels of industrial noise for 5
30 years have increased blood pressure and statistically significant increases in risk for
hypertension, compared to workers in control areas (Passchier-Vermeer 1993). In contrast, only
a few studies on environmental noise have shown that populations living in noisy areas around
airports and on noisy streets have an increased risk for hypertension. The overall evidence
suggests a weak association between long-term environmental noise exposure and hypertension
(HCN 1994; Berglund & Lindvall 1995; IEH 1997), and no dose-response relationships could be
established.
Recently, an updated summary of available studies for ischaemic heart disease has been
presented (Babisch 1998a; Babisch 1998b; Babisch et al. 1999; see also Thompson 1996). The
studies reviewed include case-control and cross-sectional designs, as well as three longitudinal
studies. However, it has not yet been possible to conduct the most advanced quantitative
integrated analysis of the available studies. Relative risks and their confidence intervals could be
estimated only for the classes of high noise levels (mostly >65 dBA during daytime) and low
levels (mostly <55 dBA during daytime), rather than a range of exposure levels. For
methodological reasons identified in the meta-analysis, a cautious interpretation of the results is
warranted (Lercher et al. 1998).

47

Prospective studies that controlled for confounding factors suggest an increase in ischaemic heart
disease when the noise levels exceed 6570 dB for LAeq (622). (For road traffic noise, the
difference between LAeq (6-22h) and LAeq,24h usually is of the order of 1.5 dB). When
orientation of the bedroom, window opening habits and years of exposure are taken into account,
the risk of heart disease is slightly higher (Babisch et al. 1998; Babisch et al. 1999). However,
disposition, behavioural and environmental factors were not sufficiently accounted for in the
analyses carried out to date. In epidemiological studies the lowest level at which traffic noise
had an effect on ischaemic heart disease was 70 dB for LAeq,24h (HCN 1994).
The overall conclusion is that cardiovascular effects are associated with long-term exposure to
LAeq,24h values in the range of 6570 dB or more, for both air- and road-traffic noise.
However, the associations are weak and the effect is somewhat stronger for ischaemic heart
disease than for hypertension. Nevertheless, such small risks are potentially important because a
large number of persons are currently exposed to these noise levels, or are likely to be exposed in
the future. Furthermore, only the average risk is considered and sensitive subgroups of the
populations have not been sufficiently characterized. For example, a 10% increase in risk factors
(a relative risk of 1.1) may imply an increase of up to 200 cases per 100 000 people at risk per
year. Other observed psychophysiological effects, such as changes in stress hormones,
magnesium levels, immunological indicators, and gastrointestinal disturbances are too
inconsistent for conclusions to be drawn about the influence of noise pollution.

3.6. Mental Health Effects

Mental health is defined as the absence of identifiable psychiatric disorders according to current
norms (Freeman 1984). Environmental noise is not believed to be a direct cause of mental
illness, but it is assumed that it accelerates and intensifies the development of latent mental
disorder. Studies on the adverse effects of environmental noise on mental health cover a variety
of symptoms, including anxiety; emotional stress; nervous complaints; nausea; headaches;
instability; argumentativeness; sexual impotency; changes in mood; increase in social conflicts,
as well as general psychiatric disorders such as neurosis, psychosis and hysteria. Large-scale
population studies have suggested associations between noise exposure and a variety of mental
health indicators, such as single rating of well-being; standard psychological symptom profiles;
the intake of psychotropic drugs; and consumption of tranquilizers and sleeping pills. Early
studies showed a weak association between exposure to aircraft noise and psychiatric hospital
admissions in the general population surrounding an airport (see also Berglund & Lindvall
1995). However, the studies have been criticized because of problems in selecting variables and
in response bias (Halpern 1995).
Exposure to high levels of occupational noise has been associated with development of neurosis
and irritability; and exposure to high levels of environmental noise with deteriorated mental
health (Stansfeld 1992). However, the findings on environmental noise and mental health effects
are inconclusive (HCN 1994; Berglund & Lindvall 1995; IEH 1997). The only longitudinal
study in this field (Stansfeld et al. 1996) showed an association between the initial level of road
traffic noise and minor psychiatric disorders, although the association for increased anxiety was
weak and non-linear. It turned out that psychiatric disorders are associated with noise sensitivity,

48

rather than with noise exposure, and the association was found to disappear after adjustment for
baseline trait anxiety. These and other results show the importance of taking vulnerable groups
into account, because they may not be able to cope sufficiently with unwanted environmental
noise (e.g. Stansfeld 1992). This is particularly true of children, the elderly and people with
preexisting illnesses, especially depression (IEH 1997). Despite the weaknesses of the various
studies, the possibility that community noise has adverse effects on mental health is suggested by
studies on the use of medical drugs, such as tranquilizers and sleeping pills, on psychiatric
symptoms and on mental hospital admission rates.

3.7. The Effects of Noise on Performance

It has been documented in both laboratory subjects and in workers exposed to occupational
noise, that noise adversely affects cognitive task performance. In children, too, environmental
noise impairs a number of cognitive and motivational parameters (Cohen et al. 1980; Evans &
Lepore 1993; Evans 1998; Hygge et al. 1998; Haines et al. 1998). However, there are no
published studies on whether environmental noise at home also impairs cognitive performance in
adults. Accidents may also be an indicator of performance deficits. The few field studies on the
effects of noise on performance and safety showed that noise may produce some task impairment
and increase the number of errors in work, but the effects depend on the type of noise and the
task being performed (Smith 1990).
Laboratory and workplace studies showed that noise can act as a distracting stimulus. Also,
impulsive noise events (e.g. sonic booms) may produce disruptive effects as a result of startle
responses. In the short term, noise-induced arousal may produce better performance of simple
tasks, but cognitive performance deteriorates substantially for more complex tasks (i.e. tasks that
require sustained attention to details or to multiple cues; or tasks that demand a large capacity of
working memory, such as complex analytical processes). Some of the effects are related to loss
in auditory comprehension and language acquisition, but others are not (Evans & Maxwell
1997). Among the cognitive effects, reading, attention, problem solving and memory are most
strongly affected by noise. The observed effects on motivation, as measured by persistence with
a difficult cognitive task, may either be independent or secondary to the aforementioned
cognitive impairments.
Two types of memory deficits have been identified under experimental noise exposure:
incidental memory and memory for materials that the observer was not explicitly instructed to
focus on during a learning phase. For example, when presenting semantic information to
subjects in the presence of noise, recall of the information content was unaffected, but the
subjects were significantly less able to recall, for example, in which corner of the slide a word
had been located. There is also some evidence that the lack of helping behavior that was noted
under experimental noise exposure may be related to inattention to incidental cues (Berglund &
Lindvall 1995). Subjects appear to process information faster in working memory during noisy
performance conditions, but at a cost of available memory capacity. For example, in a running
memory task, in which subjects were required to recall in sequence letters that they had just
heard, subjects recalled recent items better under noisy conditions, but made more errors farther
back into the list.

49

Experimental noise exposure consistently produces negative after-effects on performance (Glass

& Singer 1972). Following exposure to aircraft noise, schoolchildren in the vicinity of Los
Angeles airport were found to be deficient in proofreading, and in persistence with challenging
puzzles (Cohen et al. 1980). The uncontrollability of noise, rather than the intensity of the noise,
appears to be the most critical variable. The only prospective study on noise-exposed
schoolchildren, designed around the move of the Munich airport (Hygge et al. 1996; Evans et al.
1998), confirmed the results of laboratory and workplace studies in adults, as well the results of
the Los Angeles airport study with children (Cohen et al. 1980). An important finding was that
some of the adaptation strategies for dealing with aircraft noise, such as tuning out or ignoring
the noise, and the effort necessary to maintain task performance, come at a price. There is
heightened sympathetic arousal, as indicated by increased levels of stress hormone, and elevation
of resting blood pressure (Evans et al. 1995; Evans et al. 1998). Notably, in the airport studies
reported above, the adverse effects were larger in children with lower school achievement.
For aircraft noise, it has been shown that chronic exposure during early childhood appears to
impair reading acquisition and reduces motivational capabilities. Of recent concern are
concomitant psychophysiological changes (blood pressure and stress hormone levels). Evidence
indicates that the longer the exposure, the greater the damage. It seems clear that daycare centers
and schools should not be located near major sources of noise, such as highways, airports and
industrial sites.

3.8. Effects of Noise on Residential Behaviour and Annoyance

Noise annoyance is a global phenomenon. A definition of annoyance is a feeling of displeasure
associated with any agent or condition, known or believed by an individual or group to adversely
affect them (Lindvall & Radford 1973; Koelega 1987). However, apart from annoyance,
people may feel a variety of negative emotions when exposed to community noise, and may
report anger, disappointment, dissatisfaction, withdrawal, helplessness, depression, anxiety,
distraction, agitation, or exhaustion (Job 1993; Fields et al. 1997 1998). Thus, although the term
annoyance does not cover all the negative reactions, it is used for convenience in this document.
Noise can produce a number of social and behavioural effects in residents, besides annoyance
(for review see Berglund & Lindvall 1995). The social and behavioural effects are often
complex, subtle and indirect. Many of the effects are assumed to be the result of interactions
with a number of non-auditory variables. Social and behavioural effects include changes in overt
everyday behaviour patterns (e.g. closing windows, not using balconies, turning TV and radio to
louder levels, writing petitions, complaining to authorities); adverse changes in social behaviour
(e.g. aggression, unfriendliness, disengagement, non-participation); adverse changes in social
indicators (e.g. residential mobility, hospital admissions, drug consumption, accident rates); and
changes in mood (e.g. less happy, more depressed).
Although changes in social behaviour, such as a reduction in helpfulness and increased
aggressiveness, are associated with noise exposure, noise exposure alone is not believed to be
sufficient to produce aggression. However, in combination with provocation or pre-existing
anger or hostility, it may trigger aggression. It has also been suspected that people are less
willing to help, both during exposure and for a period after exposure. Fairly consistent evidence

50

shows that noise above 80 dBA is associated with reduced helping behaviour and increased
aggressive behaviour. Particularly, there is concern that high-level continuous noise exposures
may contribute to the susceptibility of schoolchildren to feelings of helplessness (Evans &
Lepore 1993)
The effects of community noise can be evaluated by assessing the extent of annoyance (low,
moderate, high) among exposed individuals; or by assessing the disturbance of specific activities,
such as reading, watching television and communication. The relationship between annoyance
and activity disturbances is not necessarily direct and there are examples of situations where the
extent of annoyance is low, despite a high level of activity disturbance. For aircraft noise, the
most important effects are interference with rest, recreation and watching television. This is in
contrast to road traffic noise, where sleep disturbance is the predominant effect (Berglund &
Lindvall 1995).
A number of studies have shown that equal levels of traffic and industrial noises result in
different magnitudes of annoyance (Hall et al. 1981; Griffiths 1983; Miedema 1993; Bradley
1994a; Miedema & Vos 1998). This has led to criticism (e.g. Kryter 1994; Bradley 1994a) of
averaged dose-response curves determined by meta-analysis, which assumed that all traffic
noises are the same (Fidell et al. 1991; Fields 1994a; Finegold et al. 1994). Schultz (1978) and
Miedema & Vos (1998) have synthesized curves of annoyance associated with three types of
traffic noise (road, air, railway). In these curves, the percentage of people highly or moderately
annoyed was related to the day and night continuous equivalent sound level, Ldn . For each of the
three types of traffic noise, the percentage of highly annoyed persons in a population started to
increase at an Ldn value of 42 dBA, and the percentage of moderately annoyed persons at an Ldn
value of 37 dBA (Miedema & Vos 1998). Aircraft noise produced a stronger annoyance
response than road traffic, for the same Ldn exposure, consistent with earlier analyses (Kryter
1994; Bradley 1994a). However, caution should be exercised when interpreting synthesized data
from different studies, since five major parameters should be randomly distributed for the
analyses to be valid: personal, demographic, and lifestyle factors, as well as the duration of noise
exposure and the population experience with noise (Kryter 1994).
Annoyance in populations exposed to environmental noise varies not only with the acoustical
characteristics of the noise (source, exposure), but also with many non-acoustical factors of
social, psychological, or economic nature (Fields 1993). These factors include fear associated
with the noise source, conviction that the noise could be reduced by third parties, individual
noise sensitivity, the degree to which an individual feels able to control the noise (coping
strategies), and whether the noise originates from an important economic activity. Demographic
variables such as age, sex and socioeconomic status, are less strongly associated with annoyance.
The correlation between noise exposure and general annoyance is much higher at the group level
than at the individual level, as might be expected. Data from 42 surveys showed that at the
group level about 70% of the variance in annoyance is explained by noise exposure
characteristics, whereas at the individual level it is typically about 20% (Job 1988).
When the type and amount of noise exposure is kept constant in the meta-analyses, differences
between communities, regions and countries still exist (Fields 1990; Bradley 1996). This is well
demonstrated by a comparison of the dose-response curve determined for road-traffic noise

51

(Miedema & Vos 1998) and that obtained in a survey along the North-South transportation route
through the Austrian Alps (Lercher 1998b). The differences may be explained in terms of the
influence of topography and meteorological factors on acoustical measures, as well as the low
background noise level on the mountain slopes.
Stronger reactions have been observed when noise is accompanied by vibrations and contains
low frequency components (Paulsen & Kastka 1995; hrstrm 1997; for review see Berglund et
al. 1996), or when the noise contains impulses, such as shooting noise (Buchta 1996; Vos 1996;
Smoorenburg 1998). Stronger, but temporary, reactions also occur when noise exposure is
increased over time, in comparison to situations with constant noise exposure (e.g. HCN 1997;
Klboe et al. 1998). Conversely, for road traffic noise, the introduction of noise protection
barriers in residential areas resulted in smaller reductions in annoyance than expected for a
stationary situation (Kastka et al. 1995).
To obtain an indicator for annoyance, other methods of combining parameters of noise exposure
have been extensively tested, in addition to metrics such as LAeq,24h and Ldn . When used for a
set of community noises, these indicators correlate well both among themselves and with
LAeq,24h or Ldn values (e.g. HCN 1997). Although LAeq,24h and Ldn are in most cases
acceptable approximations, there is a growing concern that all the component parameters of the
noise should be individually assessed in noise exposure investigations, at least in the complex
cases (Berglund & Lindvall 1995).

3.9. The Effects of Combined Noise Sources

Many acoustical environments consist of sounds from more than one source. For these
environments, health effects are associated with the total noise exposure, rather than with the
noise from a single source (WHO 1980b). When considering hearing impairment, for example,
the total noise exposure can be expressed in terms of LAeq,24h for the combined sources. For
other adverse health effects, however, such a simple model most likely will not apply. It is
possible that some disturbances (e.g. speech interference, sleep disturbance) may more easily be
attributed to specific noises. In cases where one noise source clearly dominates, the magnitude
of an effect may be assessed by taking into account the dominant source only (HCN 1997).
Furthermore, at a policy level, there may be little need to identify the adverse effect of each
specific noise, unless the responsibility for these effects is to be shared among several polluters
(cf. The Polluter Pays Principle in Chapter 5, UNCED 1992).
There is no consensus on a model for assessing the total annoyance due to a combination of
environmental noise sources. This is partly due to a lack of research into the temporal patterns of
combined noises. The current approach for assessing the effects of mixed noise sources is
limited to data on total annoyance transformed to mathematical principles or rules of thumb
(Ronnebaum et al. 1996; Vos 1992; Miedema 1996; Berglund & Nilsson 1997). Models to
assess the total annoyance of combinations of environmental noises may not be applicable to
those health effects for which the mechanisms of noise interaction are unknown, and for which
different cumulative or synergistic effects cannot be ruled out. When noise is combined with
different types of environmental agents, such as vibrations, ototoxic chemicals, or chemical
odours, again there is insufficient knowledge to accurately assess the combined effects on health

52

(Berglund & Lindvall 1995; HCN 1994; Miedema 1996; Zeichart 1998; Passchier-Vermeer &
Zeichart 1998). Therefore, caution should be exercised when trying to predict the adverse health
effects of combined factors in residential populations.
The evidence on low-frequency noise is sufficiently strong to warrant immediate concern.
Various industrial sources emit continuous low-frequency noise (compressors, pumps, diesel
engines, fans, public works); and large aircraft, heavy-duty vehicles and railway traffic produce
intermittent low-frequency noise. Low-frequency noise may also produce vibrations and rattles
as secondary effects. Health effects due to low-frequency components in noise are estimated to
be more severe than for community noises in general (Berglund et al. 1996). Since A-weighting
underestimates the sound pressure level of noise with low-frequency components, a better
assessment of health effects would be to use C-weighting.
In residential populations heavy noise pollution will most certainly be associated with a
combination of health effects. For example, cardiovascular disease, annoyance, speech
interference at work and at home, and sleep disturbance. Therefore, it is important that the total
adverse health load over 24 hours be considered and that the precautionary principle for
sustainable development is applied in the management of health effects (see Chapter 5).

3.10.

Vulnerable Groups

Protective standards are essentially derived from observations on the health effects of noise on
normal or average populations. The participants of these investigations are selected from the
general population and are usually adults. Sometimes, samples of participants are selected
because of their easy availability. However, vulnerable groups of people are typically
underrepresented. This group includes people with decreased personal abilities (old, ill, or
depressed people); people with particular diseases or medical problems; people dealing with
complex cognitive tasks, such as reading acquisition; people who are blind or who have hearing
impairment; fetuses, babies and young children; and the elderly in general (Jansen 1987; AAP
1997). These people may be less able to cope with the impacts of noise exposure and be at
greater risk for harmful effects.
Persons with impaired hearing are the most adversely affected with respect to speech
intelligibility. Even slight hearing impairments in the high-frequency range may cause problems
with speech perception in a noisy environment. From about 40 years of age, people typically
demonstrate an impaired ability to understand difficult, spoken messages with low linguistic
redundancy. Therefore, based on interference with speech perception, a majority of the
population belongs to the vulnerable group.
Children have also been identified as vulnerable to noise exposure (see Agenda 21: UNCED
1992). The evidence on noise pollution and childrens health is strong enough to warrant
monitoring programmes at schools and preschools to protect children from the effects of noise.
Follow up programmes to study the main health effects of noise on children, including effects on
speech perception and reading acquisition, are also warranted in heavily noise polluted areas
(Cohen et al. 1986; Evans et al. 1998).

53

The issue of vulnerable subgroups in the general population should thus be considered when
developing regulations or recommendations for the management of community noise. This
consideration should take into account the types of effects (communication, recreation,
annoyance, etc.), specific environments (in utero, incubator, home, school, workplace, public
institutions, etc.) and specific lifestyles (listening to loud music through headphones, or at
discotheques and festivals; motor cycling, etc.).

54

4. Guideline Values
4.1. Introduction
The human ear and lower auditory system continuously receive stimuli from the world around
us. However, this does not mean that all the acoustical inputs are necessarily disturbing or have
harmful effects. This is because the auditory nerve provides activating impulses to the brain that
enable us to regulate the vigilance and wakefulness necessary for optimal performance. On the
other hand, there are scientific reports that a completely silent world can have harmful effects,
because of sensory deprivation. Thus, both too little sound and too much sound can be harmful.
For this reason, people should have the right to decide for themselves the quality of the
acoustical environment they live in.
Exposure to noise from various sources is most commonly expressed as the average sound
pressure level over a specific time period, such as 24 hours. This means that identical average
sound levels for a given time period could be derived from either a large number of sound events
with relatively low, almost inaudible levels, or from a few events with high sound levels. This
technical concept does not fully agree with common experience on how environmental noise is
experienced, or with the neurophysiological characteristics of the human receptor system.
Human perception of the environment through vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste is
characterized by a good discrimination of stimulus intensity differences, and by a decaying
response to a continuous stimulus (adaptation or habituation). Single sound events cannot be
discriminated if the interval between events drops below a threshold value; if this occurs, the
sound is interpreted as continuous. These characteristics are linked to survival, since new and
different stimuli with low probability and high information value indicate warnings. Thus, when
assessing the effects of environmental noise on people it is relevant to consider the importance of
the background noise level, the number of events, and the noise exposure level independently.
Community noise studies have traditionally considered noise annoyance from single specific
sources such as aircraft, road traffic or railways. In recent years, efforts have been made to
compare the results from road traffic, aircraft and railway surveys. Data from a number of
sources show that aircraft noise is more annoying than road traffic noise, which, in turn, is more
annoying than railway noise. However, there is not a clear understanding of the mechanisms that
create these differences. Some populations may also be at greater risk for the harmful effects of
noise. Young children (especially during language acquisition), the blind, and perhaps fetuses
are examples of such populations. There are no definite conclusions on this topic, but the reader
should be alerted that guidelines in this report are developed for the population at large;
guidelines for potentially more vulnerable groups are addressed only to a limited extent.
In the following, guideline values are summarized with regard to specific environments and
effects. For each environment and situation, the guideline values take into consideration the
identified health effects and are set, based on the lowest levels of noise that affect health (critical
health effect). Guideline values typically correspond to the lowest effect level for general
populations, such as those for indoor speech intelligibility. By contrast, guideline values for
annoyance have been set at 50 or 55 dBA, representing daytime levels below which a majority of
55

the adult population will be protected from becoming moderately or seriously annoyed,
respectively.
In these Guidelines for Community Noise only guideline values are presented. These are
essentially values for the onset of health effects from noise exposure. It would have been
preferred to establish guidelines for exposure-response relationships. Such relationships would
indicate the effects to be expected if standards were set above the WHO guideline values and
would facilitate the setting of standards for sound pressure levels (noise immission standards).
However, exposure-response relationships could not be established as the scientific literature is
very limited. The best-studied exposure-response relationship is that between Ldn and annoyance
(WHO 1995a; Berglund & Lindvall 1995; Miedema & Vos 1998). Even the most recent
relationships between integrated noise levels and the percentage of highly or moderately annoyed
people are still being scrutinized. The results of a forthcoming meta-analysis are expected to be
published in the near future (Miedema, personal communication).

4.2. Specific Effects

4.2.1. Interference with communication
Noise tends to interfere with auditory communication, in which speech is a most important
signal. However, it is also vital to be able to hear alarming and informative signals such as door
bells, telephone signals, alarm clocks, fire alarms etc., as well as sounds and signals involved in
occupational tasks. The effects of noise on speech discrimination have been studied extensively
and deal with this problem in lexical terms (mostly words but also sentences). For
communication distances beyond a few metres, speech interference starts at sound pressure
levels below 50 dB for octave bands centered on the main speech frequencies at 500, 1 000 and 2
000 Hz. It is usually possible to express the relationship between noise levels and speech
intelligibility in a single diagram, based on the following assumptions and empirical
observations, and for speaker-to-listener distance of about 1 m:
a.

Speech in relaxed conversation is 100% intelligible in background noise levels of

about 35 dBA, and can be understood fairly well in background levels of 45 dBA.

b.

Speech with more vocal effort can be understood when the background sound
pressure level is about 65 dBA.

A majority of the population belongs to groups sensitive to interference with speech perception.
Most sensitive are the elderly and persons with impaired hearing. Even slight hearing
impairments in the high-frequency range may cause problems with speech perception in a noisy
environment. From about 40 years of age, people demonstrate impaired ability to interpret
difficult, spoken messages with low linguistic redundancy, when compared to people aged 2030
years. It has also been shown that children, before language acquisition has been completed,
have more adverse effects than young adults to high noise levels and long reverberation times.
For speech outdoors and for moderate distances, the sound level drops by approximately 6 dB for
a doubling of the distance between speaker and listener. This relationship is also applicable to

56

indoor conditions, but only up to a distance of about 2 m. Speech communication is affected

also by the reverberation characteristics of the room, and reverberation times beyond 1 s can
produce a loss in speech discrimination. A longer reverberation time combined with background
noise makes speech perception still more difficult.
Speech signal perception is of paramount importance, for example, in classrooms or conference
rooms. To ensure any speech communication, the signal-to-noise relationship should exceed
zero dB. But when listening to complicated messages (at school, listening to foreign languages,
telephone conversation) the signal-to-noise ratio should be at least 15 dB. With a voice level of
50 dBA (at 1 m distance this corresponds on average to a casual voice level in both women and
men), the background level should not exceed 35 dBA. This means that in classrooms, for
example, one should strive for as low background levels as possible. This is particularly true
when listeners with impaired hearing are involved, for example, in homes for the elderly.
Reverberation times below 1 s are necessary for good speech intelligibility in smaller rooms; and
even in a quiet environment a reverberation time below 0.6 s is desirable for adequate speech
intelligibility for sensitive groups.

4.2.2. Noise-induced hearing impairment

The ISO Standard 1999 (ISO 1990) gives a method of calculating noise-induced hearing
impairment in populations exposed to all types of occupational noise (continuous, intermittent,
impulse). However, noise-induced hearing impairment is by no means restricted to occupational
situations alone. High noise levels can also occur in open-air concerts, discotheques, motor
sports, shooting ranges, and from loudspeakers or other leisure activities in dwellings. Other
loud noise sources, such as music played back in headphones and impulse noise from toys and
fireworks, are also important. Evidence strongly suggests that the calculation method from ISO
Standard 1999 for occupational noise (ISO 1990) should also be used for environmental and
leisure time noise exposures. This implies that long term exposure to LAeq,24h of up to 70 dBA
will not result in hearing impairment. However, given the limitations of the various underlying
studies, care should be taken with respect to the following:
a.

Data from animal experiments indicate that children may be more vulnerable in
acquiring noise-induced hearing impairment than adults.

b.

At very high instantaneous sound pressure levels mechanical damage to the ear
may occur (Hanner & Axelsson 1988). Occupational limits are set at peak sound
pressure levels of 140 dBA (EU 1986a). For adults, this same limit is assumed to
be in order for exposure to environmental and leisure time noise. In the case of
children, however, considering their habits while playing with noisy toys, peak
sound pressure levels should never exceed 120 dBA.

c.

For shooting noise with LAeq,24h over 80 dB, studies on temporary threshold
shift suggest there is the possibility of an increased risk for noise-induced hearing
impairment (Smoorenburg 1998).

57

d.

The risk for noise-induced hearing impairment increases when noise exposure is
combined with vibrations, ototoxic drugs or chemicals (Fechter 1999). In these
circumstances, long-term exposure to LAeq,24h of 70 dB may induce small
hearing impairments.

e.

It is uncertain whether the relationships in ISO Standard 1999 (ISO 1990) are
applicable to environmental sounds having a short rise time. For example, in the
case of military low-altitude flying areas (75300 m above ground) LAmax
values of 110130 dB occur within seconds after onset of the sound.

In conclusion, dose-response data are lacking for the general population. However, judging from
the limited data for study groups (teenagers, young adults and women), and on the assumption
that time of exposure can be equated with sound energy, the risk for hearing impairment would
be negligible for LAeq,24h values of 70 dB over a lifetime. To avoid hearing impairment,
impulse noise exposures should never exceed a peak sound pressure of 140 dB peak in adults,
and 120 dB in children.

4.2.3. Sleep disturbance effects

Electrophysiological and behavioral methods have demonstrated that both continuous and
intermittent noise indoors lead to sleep disturbance. The more intense the background noise, the
more disturbing is its effect on sleep. Measurable effects on sleep start at background noise
levels of about 30 dB LAeq. Physiological effects include changes in the pattern of sleep stages,
especially a reduction in the proportion of REM sleep. Subjective effects have also been
identified, such as difficulty in falling asleep, perceived sleep quality, and adverse after-effects
such as headache and tiredness. Sensitive groups mainly include elderly persons, shift workers
and persons with physical or mental disorders.
Where noise is continuous, the equivalent sound pressure level should not exceed 30 dBA
indoors, if negative effects on sleep are to be avoided. When the noise is composed of a large
proportion of low-frequency sounds a still lower guideline value is recommended, because lowfrequency noise (e.g. from ventilation systems) can disturb rest and sleep even at low sound
pressure levels. It should be noted that the adverse effect of noise partly depends on the nature
of the source. A special situation is for newborns in incubators, for which the noise can cause
sleep disturbance and other health effects.
If the noise is not continuous, LAmax or SEL are used to indicate the probability of noiseinduced awakenings. Effects have been observed at individual LAmax exposures of 45 dB or
less. Consequently, it is important to limit the number of noise events with a LAmax exceeding
45 dB. Therefore, the guidelines should be based on a combination of values of 30 dB LAeq,8h
and 45 dB LAmax. To protect sensitive persons, a still lower guideline value would be preferred
when the background level is low. Sleep disturbance from intermittent noise events increases
with the maximum noise level. Even if the total equivalent noise level is fairly low, a small
number of noise events with a high maximum sound pressure level will affect sleep.

58

Therefore, to avoid sleep disturbance, guidelines for community noise should be expressed in
terms of equivalent sound pressure levels, as well as LAmax/SEL and the number of noise
events. Measures reducing disturbance during the first part of the night are believed to be the
most effective for reducing problems in falling asleep.

4.2.4. Cardiovascular and psychophysiological effects

Epidemiologial studies show that cardiovascular effects occur after long-term exposure to noise
(aircraft and road traffic) with LAeq,24h values of 6570 dB. However, the associations are
weak. The association is somewhat stronger for ischaemic heart disease than for hypertension.
Such small risks are important, however, because a large number of persons are currently
exposed to these noise levels, or are likely to be exposed in the future. Other possible effects,
such as changes in stress hormone levels and blood magnesium levels, and changes in the
immune system and gastro-intestinal tract, are too inconsistent to draw conclusions. Thus, more
research is required to estimate the long-term cardiovascular and psychophysiological risks due
to noise. In view of the equivocal findings, no guideline values can be given.

4.2.5. Mental health effects

Studies that have examined the effects of noise on mental health are inconclusive and no
guideline values can be given. However, in noisy areas, it has been observed that there is an
increased use of prescription drugs such as tranquilizers and sleeping pills, and an increased
frequency of psychiatric symptoms and mental hospital admissions. This strongly suggests that
adverse mental health effects are associated with community noise.

4.2.6. Effects on performance

The effects of noise on task performance have mainly been studied in the laboratory and to some
extent in work situations. But there have been few, if any, detailed studies on the effects of noise
on human productivity in community situations. It is evident that when a task involves auditory
signals of any kind, noise at an intensity sufficient to mask or interfere with the perception of
these signals will also interfere with the performance of the task. A novel event, such as the start
of an unfamiliar noise, will also cause distraction and interfere with many kinds of tasks. For
example, impulsive noises such as sonic booms can produce disruptive effects as the result of
startle responses; and these types of responses are more resistant to habituation.
Mental activities involving high load in working memory, such as sustained attention to multiple
cues or complex analysis, are all directly sensitive to noise and performance suffers as a result.
Some accidents may also be indicators of noise-related effects on performance. In addition to
the direct effects on performance, noise also has consistent after-effects on cognitive
performance with tasks such as proof-reading, and on persistence with challenging puzzles. In
contrast, the performance of tasks involving either motor or monotonous activities is not always
degraded by noise.
Chronic exposure to aircraft noise during early childhood appears to damage reading acquisition.

59

Evidence indicates that the longer the exposure, the greater the damage. Although there is
insufficient information on these effects to set specific guideline values, it is clear that day-care
centres and schools should not be located near major noise sources, such as highways, airports
and industrial sites.

4.2.7. Annoyance responses

The capacity of a noise to induce annoyance depends upon many of its physical characteristics,
including its sound pressure level and spectral characteristics, as well as the variations of these
properties over time. However, annoyance reactions are sensitive to many non-acoustical factors
of social, psychological or economic nature, and there are also considerable differences in
individual reactions to the same noise. Dose-response relations for different types of traffic
noise (air, road and railway) clearly demonstrate that these noises can cause different annoyance
effects at equal LAeq,24h values. And the same type of noise, such as that found in residential
areas around airports, can also produce different annoyance responses in different countries.
The annoyance response to noise is affected by several factors, including the equivalent sound
pressure level and the highest sound pressure level of the noise, the number of such events, and
the time of day. Methods for combining these effects have been extensively studied. The results
are not inconsistent with the simple, physically based equivalent energy theory, which is
represented by the LAeq noise index.
Annoyance to community noise varies with the type of activity producing the noise. Speech
communication, relaxation, listening to radio and TV are all examples of noise-producing
activities. During the daytime, few people are seriously annoyed by activities with LAeq levels
below 55 dB; or moderately annoyed with LAeq levels below 50 dB. Sound pressure levels
during the evening and night should be 510 dB lower than during the day. Noise with lowfrequency components require even lower levels. It is emphasized that for intermittent noise it is
necessary to take into account the maximum sound pressure level as well as the number of noise
events. Guidelines or noise abatement measures should also take into account residential
outdoor activities.

4.2.8. Effects on social behaviour

The effects of environmental noise may be evaluated by assessing the extent to which it
interferes with different activities. For many community noises, interference with rest,
recreation and watching television seem to be the most important issues. However, there is
evidence that noise has other effects on social behaviour: helping behaviour is reduced by noise
in excess of 80 dBA; and loud noise increases aggressive behavior in individuals predisposed to
aggressiveness. There is concern that schoolchildren exposed to high levels of chronic noise
could be more susceptible to helplessness. Guidelines on these issues must await further
research.

60

4.3. Specific Environments

Noise measures based solely on LAeq values do not adequately characterize most noise
environments and do not adequately assess the health impacts of noise on human well-being. It
is also important to measure the maximum noise level and the number of noise events when
deriving guideline values. If the noise includes a large proportion of low-frequency components,
values even lower than the guideline values will be needed, because low-frequency components
in noise may increase the adverse effects considerably. When prominent low-frequency
components are present, measures based on A-weighting are inappropriate. However, the
difference between dBC (or dBlin) and dBA will give crude information about the presence of
low-frequency components in noise. If the difference is more than 10 dB, it is recommended that
a frequency analysis of the noise be performed.

4.3.1. Dwellings
In dwellings, the critical effects of noise are on sleep, annoyance and speech interference. To
avoid sleep disturbance, indoor guideline values for bedrooms are 30 dB LAeq for continuous
noise and 45 dB LAmax for single sound events. Lower levels may be annoying, depending on
the nature of the noise source. The maximum sound pressure level should be measured with the
instrument set at Fast.
To protect the majority of people from being seriously annoyed during the daytime, the sound
pressure level on balconies, terraces and outdoor living areas should not exceed 55 dB LAeq for
a steady, continuous noise. To protect the majority of people from being moderately annoyed
during the daytime, the outdoor sound pressure level should not exceed 50 dB LAeq. These
values are based on annoyance studies, but most countries in Europe have adopted 40 dB LAeq
as the maximum allowable level for new developments (Gottlob 1995). Indeed, the lower value
should be considered the maximum allowable sound pressure level for all new developments
whenever feasible.
At night, sound pressure levels at the outside faades of the living spaces should not exceed 45
dB LAeq and 60 dB LAmax, so that people may sleep with bedroom windows open. These
values have been obtained by assuming that the noise reduction from outside to inside with the
window partly open is 15 dB.

4.3.2. Schools and preschools

For schools, the critical effects of noise are on speech interference, disturbance of information
extraction (e.g. comprehension and reading acquisition), message communication and
annoyance. To be able to hear and understand spoken messages in classrooms, the background
sound pressure level should not exceed 35 dB LAeq during teaching sessions. For hearing
impaired children, an even lower sound pressure level may be needed. The reverberation time in
the classroom should be about 0.6 s, and preferably lower for hearing-impaired children. For
assembly halls and cafeterias in school buildings, the reverberation time should be less than 1 s.
For outdoor playgrounds, the sound pressure level of the noise from external sources should not
exceed 55 dB LAeq, the same value given for outdoor residential areas in daytime.

61

For preschools, the same critical effects and guideline values apply as for schools. In bedrooms
in preschools during sleeping hours, the guideline values for bedrooms in dwellings should be
used.

4.3.3. Hospitals
For most spaces in hospitals, the critical effects of noise are on sleep disturbance, annoyance and
communication interference, including interference with warning signals. The LAmax of sound
events during the night should not exceed 40 dB indoors. For wardrooms in hospitals, the
guideline values indoors are 30 dB LAeq, together with 40 dB LAmax during the night. During
the day and evening the guideline value indoors is 30 dB LAeq. The maximum level should be
measured with the instrument set at Fast .
Since patients have less ability to cope with stress, the equivalent sound pressure level should not
exceed 35 dB LAeq in most rooms in which patients are being treated or observed. Particular
attention should be given to the sound pressure levels in intensive care units and operating
theatres. Sound inside incubators may result in health problems, including sleep disturbance, and
may lead to hearing impairment in neonates. Guideline values for sound pressure levels in
incubators must await future research.

4.3.4. Ceremonies, festivals and entertainment events

In many countries, there are regular ceremonies, festivals and other entertainment to celebrate
life events. Such events typically produce loud sounds including music and impulsive sounds.
There is widespread concern about the effect of loud music and impulse sounds on young people
who frequently attend concerts, discotheques, video arcades, cinemas, amusement parks and
spectator events, etc. The sound pressure level is typically in excess of 100 dB LAeq. Such a
noise exposure could lead to significant hearing impairment after frequent attendance.
Noise exposure for employees of these venues should be controlled by established occupational
standards. As a minimum, the same standards should apply to the patrons of these premises.
Patrons should not be exposed to sound pressure levels greater than 100 dB LAeq during a 4-h
period, for at most four times per year. To avoid acute hearing impairment the LAmax should
always be below 110 dB.

4.3.5. Sounds through headphones

To avoid hearing impairment in both adults and children from music and other sounds played
back in headphones, the LAeq,24h should not exceed 70 dB. This implies that for a daily onehour exposure the LAeq should not exceed 85 dB. The exposures are expressed in free-field
equivalent sound pressure levels. To avoid acute hearing impairment, the LAmax should always
be below 110 dB.

4.3.6. Impulsive sounds from toys, fireworks and firearms

62

To avoid acute mechanical damage to the inner ear, adults should never be exposed to more than
140 dB peak sound pressure. To account for the vulnerability in children, the peak sound
pressure level produced by toys should not surpass 120 dB, measured close to the ears (100 mm).
To avoid acute hearing impairment, LAmax should always be below 110 dB.

4.3.7. Parkland and conservation areas

Existing large quiet outdoor areas should be preserved and the signal-to-noise ratio kept low.

4.4. WHO Guideline Values

The WHO guideline values in Table 4.1 are organized according to specific environments.
When multiple adverse health effects are identified for a given environment, the guideline values
are set at the level of the lowest adverse health effect (the critical health effect). An adverse
health effect of noise refers to any temporary or long-term deterioration in physical,
psychological or social functioning that is associated with noise exposure. The guideline values
represent the sound pressure levels that affect the most exposed receiver in the listed
environment.
The time base for LAeq for daytime and night-time is 16 h and 8 h, respectively. No
separate time base is given for evenings alone, but typically, guideline value should be 5 10 dB
lower than for a 12 h daytime period. Other time bases are recommended for schools, preschools
and playgrounds, depending on activity.
The available knowledge of the adverse effects of noise on health is sufficient to propose
guideline values for community noise for the following:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Annoyance.
Speech intelligibility and communication interference.
Disturbance of information extraction.
Sleep disturbance.
Hearing impairment.

The different critical health effects are relevant to specific environments, and guideline values
for community noise are proposed for each environment. These are:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.

Dwellings, including bedrooms and outdoor living areas.

Schools and preschools, including rooms for sleeping and outdoor playgrounds.
Hospitals, including ward and treatment rooms.
Industrial, commercial shopping and traffic areas, including public addresses, indoors
and outdoors.
Ceremonies, festivals and entertainment events, indoors and outdoors.
Music and other sounds through headphones.
Impulse sounds from toys, fireworks and firearms.
Outdoors in parkland and conservation areas.

63

It is not enough to characterize the noise environment in terms of noise measures or indices
based only on energy summation (e.g. LAeq), because different critical health effects require
different descriptions. Therefore, it is important to display the maximum values of the noise
fluctuations, preferably combined with a measure of the number of noise events. A separate
characterization of noise exposures during night-time would be required. For indoor
environments, reverberation time is also an important factor. If the noise includes a large
proportion of low frequency components, still lower guideline values should be applied.
Supplementary to the guideline values given in Table 4.1, precautionary recommendations are
given in Section 4.2 and 4.3 for vulnerable groups, and for noise of a certain character (e.g. lowfrequency components, low background noise), respectively. In Section 3.10, information is
given regarding which critical effects and specific environments are considered relevant for
vulnerable groups, and what precautionary noise protection would be needed in comparison to
the general population.

64

Table 4.1: Guideline values for community noise in specific environments.

Specific
environment

Critical health effect(s)

LAeq
[dB]

Outdoor living area

Serious annoyance, daytime and evening

Moderate annoyance, daytime and evening
Speech intelligibility and moderate
annoyance, daytime and evening
Sleep disturbance, night-time
Sleep disturbance, window open (outdoor
values)
Speech intelligibility, disturbance of
information extraction, message
communication
Sleep disturbance
Annoyance (external source)

55

Sleep disturbance, night-time

Sleep disturbance, daytime and evenings

30
30

Interference with rest and recovery

#1

Hearing impairment

Dwelling, indoors
Inside bedrooms
Outside bedrooms
School class rooms
and pre-schools,
indoors
Pre-school
Bedrooms, indoors
School, playground
outdoor
Hospital, ward
rooms, indoors
Hospitals, treatment
rooms, indoors
Industrial,
commercial,
shopping and traffic
areas, indoors and
Outdoors
Ceremonies, festivals
and entertainment
events
Public addresses,
indoors and outdoors
Music through
headphones/
Earphones
Impulse sounds from
toys, fireworks and
firearms
Outdoors in parkland
and conservation
areas

55
50
35

Time
base
[hours]
16
16
16

LAmax ,
fast
[dB]
-

30
45

8
8

45
60

35

during
class

30

sleeping
-time
during
play
8
16

45

70

24

110

Hearing impairment (patrons:<5 times/year)

100

110

Hearing impairment

85

110

Hearing impairment (free-field value)

85 #4

110

Hearing impairment (adults)

140 #2

Hearing impairment (children)

Disruption of tranquillity

#3

120 #2

40
-

#1: as low as possible;

#2: peak sound pressure (not LAmax, fast), measured 100 mm from the ear;
#3: existing quiet outdoor areas should be preserved and the ratio of intruding noise to natural background sound
should be kept low;
#4: under headphones, adapted to free-field values

65

5. Noise Management
The goal of noise management is to maintain low noise exposures, such that human health and
well-being are protected. The specific objectives of noise management are to develop criteria for
the maximum safe noise exposure levels, and to promote noise assessment and control as part of
environmental health programmes. This is not always achieved (Jansen 1998). The United
Nations Agenda 21 (UNCED 1992), as well as the European Charter on Transport, Environment
and Health (London Charter 1999), both support a number of environmental management
principles on which government policies, including noise management policies, can be based.
These include:
a. The precautionary principle. In all cases, noise should be reduced to the lowest
level achievable in a particular situation. Where there is a reasonable possibility that
public health will be damaged, action should be taken to protect public health without
awaiting full scientific proof.
b. The polluter pays principle. The full costs associated with noise pollution
(including monitoring, management, lowering levels and supervision) should be met
by those responsible for the source of noise.
c. The prevention principle. Action should be taken where possible to reduce noise at
the source. Land-use planning should be guided by an environmental health impact
assessment that considers noise as well as other pollutants.
The government policy framework is the basis of noise management. Without an adequate
policy framework and adequate legislation it is difficult to maintain an active or successful noise
management programme.
A policy framework refers to transport, energy, planning,
development and environmental policies. The goals are more readily achieved if the
interconnected government policies are compatible, and if issues which cross different areas of
government policy are co-ordinated.

5.1. Stages in Noise Management

A legal framework is needed to provide a context for noise management (Finegold 1998; Hede
1998a). While there are many possible models, an example of one is given in Figure 5.1. This
model depicts the six stages in the process for developing and implementing policies for
community noise management. For each policy stage, there are groups of policy players who
ideally would participate in the process.

66

n n
Revisio
Revisio
Policy
Policy

POLICY STAGES
POLICY STAGES
1. Agenda Setting
. A g e n d aIdentification)
Setting
(Noise 1Problem
(Noise Problem Identification)
2. Problem Analysis
o bp laecm
s i es n t)
(N o2i s. ePIrm
t AAsns easl ys m
(N o i s e I m p a c t A s s e s s m e n t)
3. Policy Formulation
3.oPolicy
(N
i s e C o nFormulation
trol Options)
(N o i s e C o n t r o l O p t i o n s )
4. Policy Adoption
p et igounl a t i o n )
(D e c i s 4i o. nP o lni cNyoA
i sdeoR
(D e c i s i o n o n N o i s e R e g u l a t i o n )

POLICY PLAYER GROUPS

POLICY PLAYER GROUPS
*Politicians*Political Advisers*Technology officials
* Policy Analysts * Community
* Researchers
*Politicians*Political
Advisers*Technology
officials
*
Groups ** Community
Acoustics Professionals
* Interest
Policy Analysts
* Researchers
* Interest Groups * Acoustics Professionals
* Technology officials * Acoustics Professionals
Researchersofficials
* Community
* Interest
Groups
* Technology
* Acoustics
Professionals
* Researchers
* Community * Interest Groups
*Politicians*Political Advisers*Technology officials
* Policy Analysts * Community
* Researchers
*Politicians*Political
Advisers*Technology
officials
Groups * Community
Acoustics Professionals
* Interest
Policy Analysts
* Researchers
* Interest Groups * Acoustics Professionals
* Politicians
* Politicians

5. Implementation
em
a teigounl a t i o n )
(O p e r a 5t i.oInmopfl N
o iesnet R
(O p e r a t i o n o f N o i s e R e g u l a t i o n )
6. Policy Evaluation
(E v a l u6a.t iPoonl iocfyNEovias el uRa et igounl a t i o n )
(E v a l u a t i o n o f N o i s e R e g u l a t i o n )

* Political Advisers
* Political Advisers

* Technology officials
* Acoustics Professionals
Community officials
* Interest *Groups
* Technology
Acoustics Professionals
* Community * Interest Groups
*
*
*
*
*

Technology officials * Policy Analysts

Researchers officials
* Acoustics
Professionals
Technology
* Policy
Analysts
Community ** Interest
Groups
Researchers
Acoustics
Professionals
Community * Interest Groups

Figure 5.1. A model of the policy process for community noise management (Hede 1998a)
When goals and policies have been developed, the next stage is the development of the strategy
or plan. Figure 5.2 summarizes the stages involved in the development of a noise management
strategy. Specific abatement measures 19 are listed in Table 5.1.

67

Noise Source

Transmission

Noise Exposure

Noise Mitigation

Infrastructure
& Behavioural
Changes

Costs &
Benefits

Noise Management
Strategy
(See Table 5.1)

Health Effects

Costs

Figure 5.2. Stages involved in the development of a noise abatement strategy.

68

Table 5.1. Recommended Noise Management Measures (following EEA 1995)

Legal measures

Examples

Control of noise emissions

Emission standards for road and off-road

vehicles; emission standards for construction
equipment; emission standards for plants;
national regulations, EU Directives
Control of noise transmission
Regulations on sound-obstructive measures
Noise mapping and zoning around roads, Initiation of monitoring and modeling
airports, industries
programmes
Control of noise immissions
Limits for exposure levels such as national
immission standards; noise monitoring and
modeling; regulations for complex noise
situations; regulations for recreational noise
Speed limits
Residential areas; hospitals
Enforcement of regulations
Low Noise Implementation Plan
Minimum requirements for acoustical Construction codes for sound insulation of
properties of buildings
building parts

Engineering Measures
Emission reduction by source modification
New engine technology
Transmission reduction
Orientation of buildings
Traffic management
Passive protection
Implementation of land-use planning

Tyre profiles; low-noise road surfaces; changes

in engine properties
Road vehicles; aircraft; construction machines
Enclosures around machinery; noise screens
Design and structuring of tranquille uses; using
buildings for screening purposes
Speed limits; guidance of traffic flow by
electronic means
Ear plugs; ear muffs; insulation of dwellings;
faade design
Minimum distance between industrial, busy
roads and residential areas; location of
tranquillity areas; by-pass roads for heavy
traffic; separating out incompatible functons

Education and information

Raising public awareness

Monitoring and modeling of soundscapes

Sufficient number of noise experts
Initiation of research and development
Initiation of behaviour changes

Informing the public on the health impacts of

noise, enforcement action taken, noise levels,
complaints
Publication of results
University or highschool curricula
Funding of information generation according
to scientific research needs
Speed reduction when driving; use of horns;
use of loudspeakers for advertisements

69

The process outlined in Figure 5.2 can start with the development of noise standards or
guidelines. Ideally, it should also involve the identification and mapping of noise sources and
exposed communities. Meteorological conditions and noise levels would also normally be
monitored. These data can be used to validate the output of models that estimate noise levels.
Noise standards and model outputs may be considered in devising noise control tactics aimed at
achieving the noise standards. Before being enforced, current control tactics need to be revised,
and if the standards are achieved they need continued enforcement. If the standards are not
achieved after a reasonable period of time, the noise control tactics may need to be revised.
National noise standards can usually be based on a consideration of international guidelines, such
as these Guidelines for Community Noise, as well as national criteria documents, which consider
dose-response relations for the effects of noise on human health. National standards take into
account the technological, social, economic, political and other factors specific for the country.
In many cases monitoring may show that noise levels are considerably higher than established
guidelines. This may be particularly true in developing countries, and the question has to be
raised as to whether national standards should reflect the optimum levels needed to protect
human health, when this objective is unlikely to be achieved in the short- or medium-term with
available resources. In some countries noise standards are set at levels that are realistically
attainable under prevailing technological, social, economic and political conditions, even though
they may not be fully consistent with the levels needed to protect human health. In such cases, a
staged programme of noise abatement should be implemented to achieve the optimum health
protection levels over the long term. Noise standards periodically change after reviews, as
conditions in a country change over time, and with improved scientific understanding of the
relationship between noise pollution and the health of the population. Noise level monitoring
(Chapter 2) is used to assess whether noise levels at particular locations are in compliance with
the standards selected.

5.2. Noise Exposure Mapping

A crucial component of a low-noise implementation plan is a reasonably quantitative knowledge
of exposure (see Figure 5.2). Exposure should be mapped for all noise sources impacting a
community; for example, road traffic, aircraft, railway, industry, construction, festivals and
human activity in general. For some components of a noise exposure map or noise exposure
inventory, accurate data may be available. In other cases, exposure can be calculated from the
characteristics of the mechanical processes. While estimates of noise emissions are needed to
develop exposure maps, measurements should be undertaken to confirm the veracity of the
assumptions used in the estimates. Sample surveys may be used to provide an overall picture of
the noise exposure. Such surveys would take account of all the relevant characteristics of the
noise source. For example motor vehicle emissions may be estimated by calculations involving
the types of vehicles, their number, their age and the characteristic properties of the road surface.
In developing countries, there is usually a lack of appropriate statistical information to produce
noise exposure estimates. However, where action is needed to lower noise levels, the absence of
comprehensive information should not prevent the development of provisional noise exposure
estimates. Basic information about the exposed population, transport systems, industry and other

70

relevant factors can be used to calculate provisional noise exposures. These can then be used to
develop and implement interim noise management plans. The preliminary exposure estimates
can be revised as more accurate information becomes available.

5.3. Noise Exposure Modeling

As indicated in Chapter 2 modeling is a powerful tool for the interpolation, prediction and
optimization of control strategies. However, models need to be validated by monitoring data. A
strength of models is that they enable examination and comparison of the consequences for noise
exposure of the implementation of the various options for improving noise. However, the
accuracy of the various models available depends on many factors, including the accuracy of the
source emissions data and details of the topography (for which a geographical information
system may be used). For transportation noise parameters such as the number, type and speed of
vehicles, aircraft or trains, and the noise characteristics of each individual event must be known.
An example of a model is the annoyance prediction model of the Government of the Netherlands
(van den Berg 1996).

5.4. Noise Control Approaches

An integrated noise policy should include several control procedures: measures to limit the noise
at the source, noise control within the sound transmission path, protection at the receivers site,
land-use planning, education and raising of public awareness. Ideally, countries should give
priority to precautionary measures that prevent noise, but they must also implement measures to
mitigate existing noise problems.

5.4.1. Mitigation measures

The most effective mitigation measure is to reduce noise emissions at the source. Therefore,
regulations with noise level limits for the main noise sources should be introduced.
Road traffic noise. Limits on the noise emission of vehicles have been introduced in many
countries (Sandberg 1995). Such limits, together with the relevant measuring methods, should
also be introduced in other regions of the world. Besides these limits a special class of lownoise trucks has been introduced in Europe. These trucks follow state-of-the-art noise control
and are widely used in Austria and Germany (Lang 1995). Their use is encouraged by economic
incentives; for example, low-noise trucks are excepted from a night-time ban on certain routes,
and their associated taxes are lower than for other trucks. In Europe, the maximum permissible
noise levels range from 69 dBA for motor vehicles to 77 dBA for cars, and 83 dBA for heavy
two-wheeled vehicles to 84 dBA for trucks. A number of European Directives give permissible
sound levels for motor vehicles and motorcycles (EU 1970; EU 1978; EU 1996a; EU 1997). In
addition to noise level limits for new vehicles (type test), noise emissions of vehicles already in
use should be controlled regularly. Limits on the sound pressure levels for vehicles reduce the
noise emission from the engines.
However, the main noise from traffic on highways is rolling noise. This may be reduced by
quiet road surfaces (porous asphalt, drain asphalt) or by selection of quiet tires. Road traffic

71

noise may also be reduced by speed limits, provided the limits are enforced. For example,
reducing the speed of trucks from 90 to 60 km/h on concrete roads would reduce the maximum
sound pressure level by 5 dB, and the equivalent sound pressure level by 4 dB. Decreasing the
speed of cars from 140 to 100 km/h would result in the same noise reduction (WHO 1995a). In
the central parts of cities a speed limit of 30 km/h may be introduced. At 30 km/h cars produce
maximum sound pressure levels that are 7 dB lower, and equivalent sound pressure levels that
are 5 dB lower, than cars driving at 50 km/h.
Noise emission from road traffic may be further reduced by a night-time ban for all vehicles, or
especially for heavy vehicles. Traffic management designed to ensure uniform traffic flow in
towns also serves to reduce noise. Low-noise behaviour of drivers should be encouraged as
well, by advocating defensive driving manners. In some countries, car drivers use their horns
frequently, which results in noise with high peak levels. The unnecessary use of horns within
cities should be forbidden, especially during night-time, and this rule should be enforced.
Railway noise and noise from trams. The main noise sources are the engine and the wheel-rail
contact. Noise at the source can be reduced by well-maintained rails and wheels, and by the use
of disc brakes. Sound pressure levels may vary by more than 10 dB, depending on the type of
railway material. Replacement of steel wheels by rubber wheels could also reduce noise from
railways and trams substantially. Other measures include innovations in engine and track
technology (Moehler 1988; hrstrm & Sknberg 1996).
Aircraft noise. The noise emission of aircraft is limited by ICAO Annex 16, Chapter 2 and
Chapter 3, which estimates maximum potential sound emissions under certification procedures
(ICAO 1993). Aircraft following the norms of Chapter 3 represent the state-of-the-art of noise
control of the 1970s. In many countries, non-certified aircraft (i.e. aircraft not fulfilling the
ICAO requirements) are not permitted and Chapter 2 aircraft may not be registered again. After
the year 2002 only Chapter 3 aircraft will be allowed to operate in many countries.
Similar legislation should be adopted in other countries. The use of low-noise aircraft may also
be encouraged by setting noise-related charges (that is, landing charges that are related not only
to aircraft weight and capacity, but also to noise emission). Examples of systems for noiserelated financial charges are given in OECD 1991 (see also OECD-ECMT 1995). Night-time
aircraft movements should be discouraged where they impact residential communities.
Particular categories of aircraft (such as helicopters, rotorcraft and supersonic aircraft) pose
additional problems that require appropriate controls. For subsonic airplanes two EU Directive
give the permissible sound levels (EU 1980; EU 1989).
Machines and Equipment. Noise emission has to be considered a main property of all types of
machines and equipment.
Control measures include design, insulation, enclosure and
maintenance.
Consumers should be encouraged to take noise emission into account when buying a product.
Declaring the A-weighted sound power level of a product would assist the consumer in making
this decision. The introduction of sound labeling is a major tool for reducing the noise emission
of products on the market. For example, within the European Community, permissible sound

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levels and sound power levels have to be stated for several groups of machines; for example,
lawn mowers, construction machines and household equipment (EU 1984a-f; EU 1986b,c). For
other groups of machines sound level data have been compiled and are state-of-the-art with
respect to noise control.
A second step would be the introduction of limits on the sound power levels for certain groups of
machines, heating and ventilation systems (e.g. construction machines, household appliances).
These limits may be set by law, in recommendations and by consumers, using state-of-the-art
measurements. There have also been promising developments in the use of active noise control
(involving noise cancellation techniques). These are to be encouraged.
Noise control within the sound transmission path. The installation of noise barriers can protect
dwellings close to the traffic source. In several European countries noise barrier regulations
have been established (WHO 1995b), but in practice they are often not adequately implemented.
These regulations must define:
a. Measuring and calculation methods for deriving the equivalent sound pressure level of
road or railway traffic, and schemes for determining the effectiveness of the barrier.
b. The sound pressure limits that are to be achieved by installing barriers.
c. The budgetary provisions.
d. The responsible authority.

Noise protection at the receivers site. This approach is mainly used for existing situations.
However, this approach must also be considered for new and, eventually, for old buildings in
noisy areas. Residential buildings near main roads with heavy traffic, or near railway lines, may
be provided with sound-proofed windows.

5.4.2. Precautionary measures

With careful planning, noise exposure can be avoided or reduced. A sufficient distance between
residential areas and an airport will make noise exposure minimal, although the realization of
such a situation is not always possible. Additional insulation of houses can help to reduce noise
exposure from railroad and road traffic. For new buildings, standards or building codes should
describe the positions of houses, as well as the ground plans of houses with respect to noise
sources. The required sound insulation of the faades should also be described. Various
countries have set standards for the maximum sound pressure levels in front of buildings and for
the minimum sound insulation values required for faades.

Land use planning. Land use planning is one of the main tools for noise control and includes:
a. Calculation methods for predicting the noise impact caused by road traffic, railways,

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airports, industries and others.

b. Noise level limits for various zones and building types. The limits should be based
on annoyance responses to noise.
c. Noise maps or noise inventories that show the existing noise situation. The
construction of noise-sensitive buildings in noisy areas, or the construction of noisy
buildings in quiet areas may thus be avoided.
Suggestions on how to use land use planning tools are given in several dedicated books (e.g.
Miller & de Roo 1997). Different zones, such as quiet areas, hospitals, residential areas,
commercial and industrial districts, can be characterized by the maximum equivalent sound
pressure levels permissible in the zones. Examples of this approach can be found in OECD 1991
(also see OECD-ECMT 1995). More emphasis needs to be given to the design or retrofit of
urban centres, with noise management as a priority (e.g. soundscapes).
It is recommended that countries adopt the precautionary principle in their national noise
policies. This principle should be applied to all noise situations where adverse noise effects are
either expected or possible, even when the noise is below standard values.
Education and public awareness. Noise abatement policies can only be established if basic
knowledge and background material is available, and the people and authorities are aware that
noise is an environmental hazard that needs to be controlled. It is, therefore, necessary to include
noise in school curricula and to establish scientific institutes to study acoustics and noise control.
People working in such institutes should have the option of studying in other countries and
exchanging information at international conferences. Dissemination of noise control information
to the public is an issue for education and public awareness. Ideally, national and local advisory
groups should be formed to promote the dissemination of information, to establish uniform
methods of noise measurement and impact assessment, and to participate in the development and
implementation of educational and public awareness programmes.

5.5. Evaluation of Control Options

Unless legal constraints in a country prescribe a particular option, the evaluation of control
options must take into account technical, financial, social, health and environmental factors. The
speed with which control options can be implemented, and their enforceability, must also be
considered. Although considerable improvements in noise levels have been achieved in some
developed countries, the financial costs have been high, and the resource demands of some of
these approaches make them unsuitable for the poorer developing countries.
Technical factors. There needs to be confidence that the selected options are technically
practical given the resources of the region. It must be possible to bring a selected option into
operation, and maintain the expected level of performance in the long term, given the resources
available. This may require regular staff training and other programmes, especially in
developing countries.

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Financial factors. The selected options must be financially viable in the long term. This may
require a comparative cost-benefit assessment of different options. These assessments must
include not only the capital costs of bringing an option into operation, but also the costs of
maintaining the expected level of performance in the long term.
Social factors. The costs and benefits of each option should be assessed for social equity, and
the potential impact of an option on peoples way of life, community structures and cultural
traditions must be considered. Impacts may include disruption or displacement of residents,
changes of land-use, and impacts on community, culture and recreation. Some impacts can be
managed; in other cases, the impacts of an option can be mitigated by substitution of resources or
uses.
Health and environmental factors. The costs and benefits of each option should be assessed for
health and environmental factors. This may involve use of dose-response relations, or risk
assessment techniques.
Effect-oriented and source-oriented principles. Noise control requirements in European
countries are typically determined from the effects of noise on health and the environment (effect
oriented) (e.g. Gottlob 1995; ten Wolde 1998). Increased noise emissions may be permitted if
there would be no adverse health impacts, or if noise standards would not be exceeded. Action
may be taken to reduce noise levels when it is shown that adverse health impacts will occur, or
when noise levels exceed limits. Other countries base their noise management policies on the
requirement for best available technology, or for best available techniques that do not entail
excessive cost (source-oriented) (e.g. for aircraft noise, ICAO 1993; for road traffic noise,
Sandberg 1995). Most developed countries apply a combination of both source-oriented and
effect-oriented principles (EU 1996b; Jansen 1998; ten Wolde 1998).

5.6. Management of Indoor Noise

In modern societies, human beings spend most of their time in indoor environments. Pollution
and degradation of the indoor environment cause illness, increased mortality, loss of
productivity, and have major economic and social implications. Indoor noise problems are
related to inadequate urban planning, design, operation and maintenance of buildings, and to the
materials and equipment in buildings. Problems with indoor noise affect all types of buildings,
including homes, schools, offices, health care facilities and other public and commercial
buildings. The health effects of indoor noise include an increase in the rates of diseases and
disturbances described in chapter 2. World-wide, the medical and social cost associated with
these illnesses, and the related reduction in human productivity, can result in substantial
economic losses.
Protection against noise generated within a building, or originating from outside the building, is a
very complex problem. Soundproofing of ceilings, walls, doors and windows against airborne
noise is important. Soundproofing of ceilings has to be sufficient to absorb sounds due to
treading. Finally, noise emissions from the technological devices in the house must be
sufficiently low. Governments should provide measurement protocols and data for use in
reducing noise exposures in buildings. Governments should also be encouraged to support

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research on the relationship between noise levels inside buildings and health effects.

5.6.1. Government policy on indoor noise

Many of the problems associated with high noise levels can be prevented at low cost if
governments develop and implement an integrated strategy for the indoor environment, in
concert with all social and economic partners. Governments should establish a "National Plan
for a Sustainable Indoor Noise Environment", that would apply to new construction as well as to
existing buildings. Governments should set up a specific structure at an appropriate
governmental level to achieve acceptable sound exposure levels within buildings. An example
of existing documents that provide guidance and regulations, including strategies and
management for the design of buildings, is given by Jansen & Gottlob (1996).
Guidance/education. Because our understanding of indoor noise is still developing, government
activity should be focused on raising the awareness of various audiences. This education can
take the form of providing general information, as well as providing technical guidance and
training on how to minimize indoor noise levels. General information presented in the form of
documents, videos, and other media can bring indoor noise issues to the attention of the general
public and building professionals, including architects
Research support. Research is needed to develop technology for indoor noise diagnosis,
mitigation and control. Efforts are also required to provide economical and practical alternatives
for mitigation and control. Better means of measuring the effectiveness of absorption devices
are needed; and diagnostic tools that are inexpensive and easy to use also need to be developed
to help facility personnel. There is a particular need, too, for improving soundproofing methods,
their implementation and for predicting the health effects of soundproofing techniques.
To provide accurate information for use in setting priorities for public health problems,
governments should support problem assessment and surveys of indoor noise conditions.
Building surveys are also necessary to provide baseline information about building
characteristics and noise levels. When combined with occupant health surveys, these studies will
help to establish the correlations between noise levels and adverse health effects. Surveys should
be conducted to identify building types or vintages in which problems occur more frequently.
The results of these studies will support effective risk reduction programmes. Epidemiological
studies are also needed to aid in differentiating between noise-related symptoms and those due to
other causes. Moreover, epidemiological studies are needed to assist in quantifying the extent of
risk for indoor noise levels.
Economic research is needed to measure the costs of indoor noise control strategies to
individuals, businesses and society. This includes developing methods for quantifying
productivity loss and increased health costs due to noise, and for measuring the costs of various
control strategies, including increased soundproofing and source control.
Development of standards and protocols. Efforts should be made to protect public health by
setting reasonable noise exposure limits (immission standards) from known dose-response
relationships. In cases where dose-response relationships have yet to be determined, but where

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health effects are generally recognized, exposure limits should be set conservatively and take
into account risk, economic impact and feasibility. Efforts should also be made to incorporate
noise-related specifications into building codes. Areas to target with building codes include
ventilation design, building envelope design, site preparation, materials selection and
commissioning. Standards and other regulations governing the use of sound proofing materials
should also be developed.
Individuals involved in the diagnosis and mitigation of indoor noise problems should be trained
in the multidisciplinary nature of the noise field. By instituting a series of credentials that
recognize and highlight areas of expertise, consumers would be provided with the information to
make informed choices when procuring indoor noise services. Companies which provide such
services should be officially accredited. Guidelines or standards for sound emissions of airconditioners, power generators and other building devices, would also provide useful
information for manufacturers, architects, design engineers, building managers and others who
play a role in selecting products used indoors.

5.6.2. Design considerations

Site investigation. Potential sites should be evaluated to determine whether they are prone to
indoor noise problems. This evaluation should be consistent with national and local land use
planning guidelines. Sites should be investigated to determine past uses and whether any sources
of sound remain as a result. The potential for outdoor noise being carried to the site from
adjacent areas, such as busy streets, should also be evaluated.
Building design. Buildings should be designed to be soundproof, to improve control over indoor
noise. Soundproofing requires that outside noise be prevented from entering the building, and
this should be estimated as part of the architectural and engineering design process. When
soundproofing for outdoor noise, the total indoor noise load and the desired quality of the indoor
space should be considered. Adequate soundproofing against outdoor noise is important in
residential as well as commercial properties, and should be re-evaluated when interior spaces are
rebuilt or renovated.
Indoor Spaces. The architectural layout should aim to reduce noise and provide a good sound
quality to the space. This would include designing indoor spaces to have sufficiently short
reverberation times. Designers and contractors should be encouraged to use sound-absorbing
materials that lead to lower indoor noise levels, and materials with the best sound-absorbing
properties should be specified. However, use of these materials should not be the only solution
(Harris 1991). Possible conflicts with other environmental demands should also be identified;
for example, the special demands by allergic people.

5.6.3. Indoor noise level control

Building maintenance personnel should be trained to understand the indoor noise aspects of their
work, and be aware of how their work can directly impact the health and comfort of occupants.
Many maintenance activities directly affect indoor noise levels, and some may indicate potential
problems. Preventive maintenance is essential for the building systems to operate correctly and

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to provide suitable comfort conditions and low indoor noise levels. Detailed maintenance logs
should be kept for all equipment. A schedule should be developed for routine equipment checks
and calibration of control system components. Selection of low-noise domestic products should
encouraged as far as is possible.

5.6.4. Resolving indoor noise problems

Addressing occupant complaints and symptoms. When complaints are received from occupants
of a building, the cognizant authority should be responsive. The initial investigation into the
cause of the complaint may be conducted by the in-house management staff, and they should
continue an investigation as far as possible. If necessary, they should be responsible for hiring
an outside consultant
Building diagnostic procedures. After receiving complaints related to indoor noise levels,
facility personnel or consultants should attempt to identify the cause of the problem through an
iterative process of information collection and hypothesis testing. To begin, a walkthrough
inspection of the building, including the affected areas and the mechanical systems serving these
spaces is required. A walkthrough can provide information on the soundproofing system of the
building, the sound pathways and sound sources. Visual indicators of sound sources and
soundproofing malfunctions should be evaluated first. Symptom logs and schedules of building
activities may provide enough additional information to resolve the problem.
If a walkthrough alone does not provide a solution, measurements of sound pressure levels at
various locations should be taken, and indoor and ambient levels of noise pollution should be
compared. As part of the investigation, the absorption characteristics of walls and ceilings
should be evaluated. Sophisticated sampling methods may be necessary to provide proof of a
problem to the building owner or other responsible party. The results may be used to confirm a
hypothesis or ascertain the source of the indoor noise problem. Whenever a problem is
discovered during the investigation, a remedy to the situation should be attempted and a
determination made of whether the complaint has been resolved.
In some cases, it should be recognized that difficulties in interpreting the sampling results may
exist. The costs of certain types of testing should also be taken into account. Simple, costeffective screening methods should be developed to make sampling a more attractive option for
both investigators and clients. Finally, it must be remembered that several factors cause
symptoms similar to those induced by noise pollution. Examples include air pollutants,
ergonomics, lighting, vibration and psychosocial factors. Consequently, any investigation of
noise complaints should also evaluate non-noise factors.

5.7. Priority Setting in Noise Management

Priorities in noise management will differ between countries, according to policy objectives,
needs and capabilities. Priority setting in noise management refers to prioritizing health risks
and concentrating on the most important sources of noise. For effective noise management, the
goals, policies and noise control schemes have to be defined. Goals for noise management
include eliminating noise, or reducing noise to acceptable levels, and avoiding the adverse health

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effects of noise on human health. Policies for noise management encompass laws and
regulations for setting noise standards and for ensuring compliance. The amount of information
to be included in low-noise implementation plans and the use of cost-benefit comparisons also
fall within the purview of noise management policies. Techniques for noise control include
source control, barriers in noise pathways and receiver protection. Adequate calculation models
for noise propagation, as well as programmes for noise monitoring, are part of an overall noise
control scheme.
As emphasized above, a framework for a political, regulatory and administrative approach is
required to guarantee the consistent and transparent promulgation of noise standards. This
ensures a sound and practical framework for risk-reducing measures and for the selection of
abatement strategies.

5.7.1. Noise policy and legislation

Noise is both a local and a global problem. Governments in every country have a responsibility
to set up policies and legislation for controlling community noise. There is a direct relationship
between the level of development in a country and the degree of noise pollution impacting its
people. As a society develops, it increases its level of urbanization and industrialization, and the
extent of its transportation system. Each of these developments brings an increase in noise load.
Without appropriate intervention the noise impact on communities will escalate (see Figure 5.3).
If governments implement only weak noise policies and regulations, they will not be able to
prevent a continuous increase in noise pollution and associated adverse health effects. Failure to
enforce strong regulations is ineffective in combating noise as well.

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Community
Impact on Community
Noise
Noise Impact

No Noise
Regulation

Weak Noise
Regulation
Regulation

Strong Noise
Regulation

Industrial Development of Society

Figure 5.3. Relationship between noise regulation and impact with development (from
Hede 1998b)
Policies for noise regulatory standards at the municipal, regional, national and supranational
levels are usually determined by the legislatures. The regulatory standards adopted strongly
depend on the risk management strategies of the legislatures, and can be influenced by
sociopolitical considerations and/or international agreements. Although regulatory standards
may be country specific, in general the following issues are taken into consideration:
a. Identification of the adverse public health effects that are to be avoided.
b. Identification of the population to be protected.
c. The type of parameters describing noise and the limit applicable to the parameters.
d. Applicable monitoring methodology and its quality assurance.
e. Enforcement procedures to achieve compliance with noise regulatory standards
within a defined time frame.
f. Emission control measures and emission regulatory standards.
g. Immission standards (limits for sound pressure levels).
h. Identification of authorities responsible for enforcement.
i.

Resource commitment.

Regulatory standards may be based solely on scientific and technical data showing the adverse
effects of noise on public health. But other aspects are usually considered, either when setting
standards or when designing appropriate noise abatement measures. These other aspects include
the technological feasibility, costs of compliance, prevailing exposure levels, and the social,

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economic and cultural conditions. Several standards may be set. For example, effect-oriented
regulatory standards may be set as a long-term goal, while less-stringent standards are adopted
for the short term. As a consequence, noise regulatory standards differ widely from country to
country (WHO 1995a; Gottlob 1995).
Noise regulatory standards can set the reference point for emission control and abatement
policies at the national, regional or municipal levels, and can thus strongly influence the
implementation of noise control policies. In many countries, exceeding regulatory standards is
linked to an obligation to develop abatement action plans at the municipal, regional or national
levels (low-noise implementation plans). Such plans have to address all relevant sources of
noise pollution.

5.7.2. Examples of noise policies

Different countries have adopted a range of policies and regulations for noise control. A number
of these are outlined in this section as examples.
Argentina. In Argentina, a national law recently limited the daily 8-h exposure to industrial
noise to 80 dB, and it has had beneficial effects on hearing impairment and other hearing
disorders among workers. In general, industry has responded by introducing constant controls
on noise sources, combined with hearing tests and medical follow-ups for workers. Factory
owners have recruited permanent health and safety engineers who control noise, supply advice
on how to make further improvements, and routinely assess excessive noise levels. The
engineers also provide education in personal protection and in the correct use of ear plugs,
mufflers etc.
At the municipal level two types of noise have been considered. Unnecessary noise, which is
forbidden; and excessive noise, which is defined for neighbourhood activities (zones), and for
which both day and night-time maximum limits have been introduced. The results have been
relatively successful in mitigating unwanted noise effects. At the provincial level, similar results
have been accomplished for many cities in Argentina and Latin America.
Australia. In Australia, the responsibility for noise control is shared primarily by state and local
governments. There are nationally-agreed regulatory standards for airport planning and new
vehicle noise emissions. The Australian Noise Exposure Forecast (ANEF) index is used to
describe how much aircraft noise is received at locations around an airport (DoTRS 1999).
Around all airports, planning controls restrict the construction of dwellings within the 25 ANEF
exposure contour and require sound insulation for those within 20 ANEF. Road traffic noise
limits are set by state governments, but vary considerably in both the exposure metric and in
maximum allowable levels. New vehicles are required to comply with stringent design rules for
noise and air emissions. For example, new regulation in New South Wales adopts LAeq as the
metric and sets noise limits of 60 dBA for daytime, and 55 dBA for night-time, along new roads.
Local governments set regulations restricting noise emissions for household equipment, such as
air conditioners, and the hours of use for noisy machines such as lawn mowers.
Europe. In Europe, noise legislation is not generally enforced. As a result, environmental noise

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levels are often higher than the legislated noise limits. Moreover, there is a gap between longterm political goals and what represents a good acoustical environment. One reason for this
gap is that noise pollution is most commonly regulated only for new land use or for the
development of transportation systems, whereas enlargements at existing localities may be
approved even though noise limits or guideline values are already surpassed (Gottlob 1995). A
comprehensive overview of the noise situation in Europe is given in the Green Paper (EU
1996b), which was established to give noise abatement a higher priority in policy making. The
Green Paper outlines a new framework for noise policy in Europe with the following options for
future action:
a. Harmonizing the methods for assessing noise exposure, and encouraging the
exchange of information among member states.
b. Establishing plans to reduce road traffic noise by applying newer technologies and
fiscal instruments.
c. Paying more attention to railway noise in view of the future extension of rail
networks.
d. Introducing more stringent regulation on air transport and using economic
instruments to encourage compliance.
e. Simplifying the existing seven regulations on outdoor equipment by proposing a
Framework Directive that covers a wider range of equipment, including construction
machines and others.
Pakistan. In Pakistan, the Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for the control of air
pollution nationwide. However, only recently have controls been enforced in Sindh in an
attempt to raise public awareness and carry out administrative control on road vehicles producing
noise (Zaidi, personal communication).
South Africa. In South Africa, noise control is three decades old. It began with codes of
practice issued by the South African Bureau of Standards to address noise pollution in various
sectors of the country (e.g. see SABS 1994 1996; and the contribution of Grond in Appendix 2).
In 1989, the Environment Conservation Act made provision for the Minister of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism to make regulations for noise, vibration and shock (DEAT 1989). These
regulations were published in 1990 and local authorities could apply to the Minister to make
them applicable in their areas. Later, the act was changed to make it obligatory for all authorities
to apply the regulations. However, according to the new Constitution of South Africa of 1996,
legislative responsibility for noise control rests exclusively with provincial and local authorities.
The noise control regulations will apply to local authorities in South Africa as soon as they are
published in the provinces. This will not only give local authorities the power to enforce the
regulations, but also place an obligation on them to see that the regulations are enforced.
Thailand. In 1996, noise pollution regulations in Thailand stipulated that not more than 70 dBA
LAeq,24h should be allowed in residential areas, and the maximum level of noise in industry

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should be no more than 85 dBA Leq 8h (Prasansuk 1997).

United States of America. Environmental noise was not addressed as a national policy issue in
the USA until the implementation of the Noise Control Act of 1972. This congressional act
directed the US Environmental Protection Agency to publish scientific information about noise
exposure and its effects, and to identify acceptable levels of noise exposure under various
conditions. The Noise Control Act was supposed to protect the public health and well-being
with an adequate margin of safety. This was accomplished in 1974 with the publication of the
US EPA "Levels Document" (US EPA 1974). It addressed issues such as the use of sound
descriptions to describe sound exposure, the identification of the most important human effects
resulting from noise exposure, and the specification of noise exposure criteria for various effects.
Subsequent to the publication of the US EPA "Levels Document", guidelines for conducting
environmental impact analysis were developed (Finegold et al. 1998). The day-night average
sound level was thus established as the predominant sound descriptor for most environmental
noise exposure.
It is evident from these examples that noise policies and regulations vary considerably across
countries and regions. Moves towards global noise policies need to be encouraged to ensure that
the world population gains the maximum health benefits from new developments in noise
control.

5.7.3. Noise emission standards have proven to be inadequate

Much of the progress towards solving the noise pollution problem has come from advanced
technology, which in turn has come about mainly as a result of governmental regulations (e.g.
OECD-ECMT 1995). So far, however, the introduction of noise emission standards for vehicles
has had limited impact on exposure to transportation noise, especially from aircraft and road
traffic noise (Sandberg 1995). In part, this is because changes in human behaviour (of polluters,
planners and citizens) have tended to offset some of the gains made. For example, mitigation
efforts such as developing quieter vehicles, moving people to less noise-exposed areas,
improving traffic systems and direct noise abatement and control (sound insulation, barriers etc.),
have been counteracted by increases in the number of roads and highways built, by the number
of traffic movements, and by higher driving speeds and the number of kilometers driven (OECD
1991; OECD-ECMT 1995).
Traffic planning and correction policies may diminish the number of people exposed to the very
high community noise levels (>70 dB LAeq), but the number exposed to moderately high levels
(55-65 dB LAeq) continues to increase in industrialized countries (Stanners & Bordeau 1995).
In developing countries, exposure to excessive sound pressure levels (>85 dB LAeq), not only
from occupational noise but also from urban, environmental noise, is the major avoidable cause
of permanent hearing impairment (Smith 1998). Such sound pressure levels can also be reached
by leisure activities at concerts, discotheques, motor sports and shooting ranges; by music played
back in headphones; and by impulse noises from toys and fireworks.
A substantial growth in air transport is also expected in the future. Over the next 10 years large
international airports may have to accommodate a doubling in passenger movements. General

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aviation noise at regional airports is also expected to increase (Large & House 1989). Although
jet aircraft are expected to become less noisy due to regulation of noise emissions (ICAO 1993),
the number of passengers is expected to increase. Increased air traffic movement between 1980
and 1990 is considered to be the main reason for the average 22% increase in the number of
people exposed to noise above 67 dB LAeq at German airports (OECD 1993).

5.7.4. Unsustainable trends in noise pollution future policy planning

A number of trends are expected to increase environmental noise pollution, and are considered to
be unsustainable in the long term. The OECD (1991) identified the following factors to be of
increasing importance in the future:
a. The expanding use of increasingly powerful sources of noise.
b. The wider geographical dispersion of noise sources, together with greater individual
mobility and spread of leisure activities.
c. The increasing invasion of noise, particularly into the early morning, evenings and
weekends.
d. The increasing public expectations that are closely linked to increases in incomes and
in education levels.
Apart from these, increased noise pollution is also linked to systemic changes in business
practices (OECD-ECMT 1995). By accepting a just-in-time concept in transportation, products
and components are stored in heavy-duty vehicles on roads, instead of in warehouses; and
workers are recruited as temporary consultants just in time for the work, instead of as long-term
employees.
In addition, the OECD (1991) report forecasts:
a. A strengthening of present noise abatement policies and their applications.
b. A further sharpening of emission standards.
c. A co-ordination of noise abatement measures and transport planning, to specifically
reduce mobility.
d. A co-ordination of noise abatement measures with urban planning.
Planners need to know the likely effects of introducing a new noise source, or of increasing the
level of an existing source, on the noise pollution in a community. Policy makers, when
considering applications for new developmental projects, must take into account maximum
levels, continuous equivalent sound pressure levels of both the background and the new noise
source, the frequency of noise occurrence and the operating times of major noise sources.

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5.7.5. Analysis of the impact of environmental noise

The concept of an environmental noise impact analysis (ENIA) is central to the philosophy of
managing environmental noise. An ENIA should be required before implementing any project
that would significantly increase the level of environmental noise in a community (typically,
greater than a 5dB increase). The first step in performing an ENIA is to develop a baseline
description of the existing noise environment. Next, the expected level of noise from a new
source is added to the baseline exposure level to produce the new overall noise level. If the new
total noise level is expected to cause an unacceptable impact on human health, trade-off analyses
should then be performed to assess the cost, technical feasibility and community acceptance of
noise mitigation measures. It is strongly recommended that countries develop standardized
procedures for performing ENIAs (Finegold et al. 1998; SABS 1998).
Assessment of adverse health effects. In setting noise standards (for example on the basis of
these guidelines), the adverse health effects from which the population is to be protected need to
be defined. Health effects range from hearing impairment to sleep disturbance, speech
interference to annoyance. The distinction between adverse and non-adverse effects sometimes
poses considerable difficulties. Even the elaborate definition of an adverse health effect given in
Chapter 3 incorporates significant subjectivity and uncertainty. More serious noise effects, such
as hearing impairment or permanent threshold shift, are generally accepted as adverse.
Consideration of health effects that are both temporary and reversible, or that involve functional
changes with uncertain clinical significance, requires a judgement on whether these less-serious
effects should be considered when deriving guideline values. Judgements as to the adversity of
health effects may differ between countries, because of factors such as cultural backgrounds and
different levels of health status.
Estimation of the population at risk. The population at risk is that part of the population in a
given country or community that is exposed to enhanced levels of noise. Each population has
sensitive groups or subpopulations that are at higher risk of developing health effects due to
noise exposure. Sensitive groups include individuals impaired by concurrent diseases or other
physiological limitations and those with specific characteristics that makes them more vulnerable
to noise (e.g. premature babies; see the contribution of Zaidi in Appendix 2). The sensitive
groups in a population may vary across countries due to differences in medical care, nutritional
status, lifestyle and demographic factors, prevailing genetic factors, and whether endemic or
debilitating diseases are prevalent.
Calculation of exposure-response relationships. In developing standards, regulators should
consider the degree of uncertainty in the exposure-response relationships provided in the noise
guidelines. Differences in the population structure (age, health status), climate (temperature,
humidity) and geography (altitude, environment) can influence the prevalence and severity of
noise-related health effects. In consequence, modified exposure-response relationships may need
to be applied when setting noise standards.
Assessment of risks and their acceptability. In the absence of distinct thresholds for the onset of
health effects, regulators must determine what constitutes an acceptable health risk for the
population and select an appropriate noise standard to protect public health. This is also true in

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cases where thresholds are present, but where it would not be feasible to adopt noise guidelines
as standards because of economical and/or technical constraints. The acceptability of the risks
involved, and hence the standards selected, will depend on several factors. These include the
expected incidence and severity of the potential effects, the size of the population at risk, the
perception of related risks, and the degree of scientific uncertainty that the effects will occur at
any given noise level. For example, if it is suspected that a health effect is severe and the size of
the population at risk is large, a more cautious approach would be appropriate than if the effect
were less troubling, or if the population were smaller.
Again, the acceptability of risk may vary among countries because of differences in social
norms, and the degree of adversity and risk perception by the general population and
stakeholders. Risk acceptability is also influenced by how the risks associated with noise
compare with risks from other pollution sources or human activities.

5.7.6. Cost-benefit analysis

In the derivation of noise standards from noise guidelines two different approaches for decision
making can be applied. Decisions can be based purely on health, cultural and environmental
consequences, with little weight to economic efficiency. This approach has the objective of
reducing the risk of adverse noise effects to a socially acceptable level. The second approach is
based on a formal cost-effectiveness, or cost-benefit analysis (CBA). The objective is to identify
control actions that achieve the greatest net economic benefit, or are the most economically
efficient. The development of noise standards should account for both extremes, and involve
stakeholders and assure social equity to all the parties involved. It should also provide sufficient
information to guarantee that stakeholders understand the scientific and economic consequences.
To determine the costs of control action, the abatement measures used to reduce emissions must
be known. This is usually the case for direct measures at the source and these measures can be
monetarized. Costs of action should include all costs of investment, operation and maintenance.
It may not be possible to monetarize indirect measures, such as alternative traffic plans or change
in behaviour of individuals.
The steps in a cost-benefit analysis include:
a. The identification and cost analysis of control action (such as emission abatement
strategies and tactics).
b. An assessment of noise and population exposure, with and without the control action.
c. The identification of benefit categories, such as improved health and reduced property
loss.
d. A comparison of the health effects, with and without control action.
e. A comparison of the estimated costs of control action with the benefits that accrue
from such action.

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f. A sensitivity and uncertainty analysis.

Action taken to reduce one pollutant may increase or decrease the concentration of other
pollutants. These additional effects should be considered, as well as pollutant interactions that
may lead to double counting of costs or benefits, or to disregarding some costly but necessary
action. Due to different levels of knowledge about the costs of control action and health effects,
there is a tendency to overestimate the cost of control action and underestimate the benefits.
CBA is a highly interdisciplinary task. Appropriately applied, it is a legitimate and useful way of
providing information for managers who must make decisions that impact health. CBA is also
an appropriate tool for drawing the attention of politicians to the benefits of noise control. In any
case, however, a CBA should be peer-reviewed and never be used as the sole and overriding
determinant of decisions.

5.7.7. Review of standard setting

The setting of standards should involve stakeholders at all levels (industry, local authorities, nongovernmental organizations and the general public), and should strive for social equity or
fairness to all parties involved. It should also provide sufficient information to guarantee that the
scientific and economic consequences of the proposed standards are clearly understood by the
stakeholders. The earlier that stakeholders are involved, the more likely is their co-operation.
Transparency in moving from noise guidelines to noise standards helps to increase public
acceptance of necessary measures. Raising public awareness of noise-induced health effects
(changing of risk perception) also leads to a better understanding of the issues involved (risk
communication) and serves to obtain public support for necessary control action, such as
reducing vehicle emissions. Noise standards should be regularly reviewed, and revised as new
scientific evidence emerges.

5.7.8. Enforcement of noise standards: Low-noise implementation plans

The main objective of enforcing noise standards is to achieve compliance with the standards.
The instrument used to achieve this goal is a Low-Noise Implementation Plan (LNIP). The
outline of such a plan should be defined in the regulatory policies and should use the tactical
instruments discussed above. A typical low-noise implementation plan includes:
a. A description of the area to be regulated.
b. An emissions inventory.
c. A monitored or simulated inventory of noise levels.
d. A comparison of the plan with emissions and noise standards or guidelines.
e. An inventory of the health effects.

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f. A causal analysis of the health effects and their attribution to individual sources.
g. An analysis of control measures and their costs.
h. An analysis of transportation and land-use planning.
i.

Enforcement procedures.

j. An analysis of the effectiveness of the noise management procedures.

k. An analysis of resource commitment.
l.

Projections for the future.

As the LNIP also addresses the effectiveness of noise control technologies and policies, it is very
much in line with the Noise Control Assessment Programme (NCAP) proposed recently
(Finegold et al. 1999).

5.8. Conclusions on Noise Management

Successful noise management should be based on the fundamental principles of precaution, the
polluter pays and prevention. The noise abatement strategy typically starts with the development
of noise standards or guidelines, and the identification, mapping and monitoring of noise sources
and exposed communities. A powerful tool in developing and applying the control strategy is to
make use of modeling. These models need to be validated by monitoring data. Noise parameters
relevant to the important sources of noise must be known. Indoor noise exposures present
specific and complex problems, but the general principles for noise management hold. The main
means for noise control in buildings include careful site investigations, adequate building designs
and building codes, effective means for addressing occupant complaints and symptoms, and
building diagnostic procedures.
Noise control should include measures to limit the noise at the source, to control the sound
transmission path, to protect the receivers site, to plan land use, and to raise public awareness.
With careful planning, exposure to noise can be avoided or reduced. Control options should take
into account the technical, financial, social, health and environmental factors of concern. Costbenefit relationships, as well as the cost-effectiveness of the control measures, must be
considered in the context of the social and financial situation of each country. A framework for a
political, regulatory and administrative approach is required for the consistent and transparent
promulgation of noise standards. Examples are given for some countries, which may guide
others in their development of noise policies.
Noise management should:
a. Start monitoring human exposures to noise.
b. Have health control require mitigation of noise emissions. The mitigation procedures

88

should take into consideration specific environments such as schools, playgrounds,

homes and hospitals; environments with multiple noise sources, or which may
amplify the effects of noise; sensitive time periods, such as evenings, nights and
holidays; and groups at high risk, such as children and the hearing impaired.
c. Consider noise consequences when making decisions on transport-system and landuse planning.
d. Introduce surveillance systems for noise-related adverse health effects.
e. Assess the effectiveness of noise policies in reducing noise exposure and related
adverse health effects, and in improving supportive "soundscapes."
a. Adopt these Guidelines for Community Noise as long-term targets for improving
human health.
g. Adopt precautionary actions for sustainable development of acoustical environments.

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6. Conclusions And Recommendations

6.1. Implementation of the Guidelines
The potential health effects of community noise include hearing impairment; startle and defense
reactions; aural pain; ear discomfort speech interference; sleep disturbance; cardiovascular
effects; performance reduction; and annoyance responses. These health effects, in turn, can lead
to social handicap; reduced productivity; decreased performance in learning; absenteeism in the
workplace and school; increased drug use; and accidents. In addition to health effects of
community noise, other impacts are important such as loss of property value. In these guidelines
the international literature on the health effects of community noise was reviewed and used to
derive guideline values for community noise. Besides the health effects of noise, the issues of
noise assessment and noise management were also addressed. Other issues considered were
priority setting in noise management; quality assurance plans; and the cost-efficiency of control
actions. The aim of the guidelines is to protect populations from the adverse health impacts of
noise.
The following recommendations were considered appropriate:
a. Governments should consider the protection of populations from community noise as
an integral part of their policy for environmental protection.
b. Governments should consider implementing action plans with short-term, mediumterm and long-term objectives for reducing noise levels.
c. Governments should adopt the health guidelines for community noise as targets to be
achieved in the long-term.
a. Governments should include noise as an important issue when assessing public health
matters and support more research related to the health effects of noise exposure.
a. Legislation should be enacted to reduce sound pressure levels, and existing legislation
should be enforced.
b. Municipalities should develop low-noise implementation plans.
c. Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses should be considered as potential
instruments when making management decisions.
d. Governments should support more policy-relevant research into noise pollution (see
section 6.3).

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6.2. Further WHO Work on Noise

The WHO Expert Task Force proposed several issues for future work in the field of community
noise. These are:
a. The WHO should consider updating the guidelines on a regular basis.
b. The WHO should provide leadership and technical direction in defining future
research priorities into noise.
c. The WHO should organize workshops on the application of the guidelines.
d. The WHO should provide leadership and co-ordinate international efforts to develop
techniques for the design of supportive sound environments (e.g. soundscapes).
e. The WHO should provide leadership for programmes to assess the effectiveness of
health-related noise policies and regulations.
f. The WHO should provide leadership and technical direction for the development of
sound methodologies for EIAP and EHIAP.
g. The WHO should encourage further investigation into using noise exposure as an
indicator of environmental deterioration, such as found in black spots in cities.
a. The WHO should provide leadership, technical support and advice to developing
countries, to facilitate the development of noise policies and noise management.

6.3. Research Needs

In the publication entitled Community Noise, examples of essential research and development
needs were given (Berglund & Lindvall 1995). In part, the scientific community has already
addressed these issues.
A major step forward in raising public awareness and that of decision makers is the
recommendation of the present Expert Task Force to concentrate more on variables which have
monetary consequences. This means that research should consider the dose-response
relationships between sound pressure levels and politically relevant variables, such as
noise-induced social handicap, reduced productivity, decreased performance in learning,
workplace and school absenteeism, increased drug use and accidents.
There is also a need for continued efforts to understand community noise and its effects on the
health of the world population. Below is a list of essential research needs in non-prioritized
order. Research priorities may vary over time and by place and capabilities. The main goal in
suggesting these research activities is to improve the scientific basis for policy-making and noise
management. This will protect and improve the public health with regard to the effects of
community noise pollution.

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Research related to measurement and monitoring systems for health effects

Development of a global noise impact monitoring study. The study should be designed to
obtain longitudinal data across countries on the health effects on communities of various
types of environmental noise. A baseline survey could be undertaken in both developed and
developing countries and monitoring surveys conducted every 3-5 years. Since a national
map of noise exposure from all sources would be prohibitively expensive, periodic surveys of
a representative sample of about 1000 people (using standard probability techniques) could
be reliably generalized to the whole population of a country with an accuracy of plus-orminus 3%. A small number of standard questions could be used across countries to obtain
comparative data on the impact of all the main types of noise pollution.

Development of continuous monitoring systems for direct health effects in critical locations.

Development of standardized methods for low-cost assessment of local sound levels by

measurement or model calculations.

Development of instruments appropriate for local/regional surveys of peoples perceptions of

their noise/sound environments.

Protocols for reliable measurements of high-frequency hearing (8000 Hz and above) and for
evaluation of such measures as early biomarkers for hearing impairment/deficits.

Research related to combined noise sources and combined health effects

Research into the combined health effects of traffic noise, with emphasis on the distribution
of sound levels over time and over population sub-environments (time-activity pattern).

Comprehensive studies on combined noise sources and their combinations of health effects in
the 3 large areas of transport (road, rail and aircraft).

Procedures for evaluating the various health effects of complex combined noise exposures
over 24 hours on vulnerable groups and on the general population.

Methods for assessing the total health effect from noise immission (and also other pollution)
in sensitive areas (for example, airports, city centers and heavily-trafficked highways)

Research related to direct and/or long-term health effects (sensitive risk groups,
sensitive areas and combined exposures)

Identification of potential risk groups, including identification of sensitive individuals (such

as people with particular health problems; people dealing with complex cognitive tasks; the
blind; the hearing impaired; young children and the elderly), differences between sexes,
discrimination of risk among age groups, and influence of transportation noise on pregnancy
course and on fetal development.

92

Studies of dose-response relationships for various effects, and for continuous transportation
noise at relatively low levels of exposure and low number of noise events per unit time
(including traffic flow composition).

Studies on the perception of control of noise exposure, genetic traits, coping strategies and
noise annoyance as modifiers of the effects of noise on the cardiovascular system, and as
causes of variability in individual responses to noise.

Prospective longitudinal studies of transportation noise that examine physiological measures

of health, including standardized health status inventory, blood pressure, neuro-endocrine
and immune function.

Knowledge on the health effects of low-frequency components in noise and vibration.

Research related to indirect or after-effects of noise exposure

Field studies on the effects of exposure to specific sounds such as aircraft noise and loud
music, including effects such as noise-induced temporary and permanent threshold shifts,
speech perception and misperception, tinnitus and information retrieval.

Studies on the influence of noise-induced sleep disturbance on health, work performance,

accident risk and social life.

Assessment of dose-response relationships between sound levels and politically relevant

variables such as noise-induced social handicap, reduced productivity, decreased
performance in learning, workplace and school absenteeism, increased drug use and
accidents.

Determination of the causal connection between noise and mental health effects, annoyance
and (spontaneous) complaints in areas such as around large airports, heavy-trafficked
highways, high-speed rail tracks and heavy vehicles transit routes. The connections could be
examined by longitudinal studies, for example.

Studies on the impact of traffic noise on recovery from noise-related stress, or from nervous
system hyperactivity due to work and other noise exposures.

Research on the efficiency of noise abatement policies which are health based

Determination of the accuracy and effectiveness of modern sound insulation (active noise
absorption), especially in residential buildings, in reducing the long-term effects of noise on
annoyance/sleep disturbance/speech intelligibility. This can be accomplished by studying
sites that provide data on remedial activities and changes in behavioral patterns among
occupants.

Evaluation of environmental (area layout, architecture) and traffic planning (e.g. rerouting)
interventions on annoyance, speech interference and sleep disturbance.

Comparative studies to determine whether children and the hearing impaired have equitable
access to healthier lives when compared with normal adults in noise-exposed areas.

93

Development of a methodology for the environmental health impact assessment of noise that
is applicable in developing as well as developed countries.

Research into positive acoustical needs of the general population and vulnerable
groups

Development of techniques/protocols for the design of supportive acoustical environments

for the general population and for vulnerable groups. The protocols should take into account
time periods that are sensitive from physiological, psychological and socio-cultural
perspectives.

Studies to characterize good restoration areas which provide the possibility for rest without
adverse noise load.

Studies to assess the effectiveness of noise policies in maintaining and improving

soundscapes and reducing human exposures.

94

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Appendix 2 : Examples Of Regional Noise Situations

REGION OF THE AMERICAS

Latin America (Guillermo Fuchs, Argentina).

As more and more cities in Latin America surpass the 20 million inhabitants mark, the noise
pollution situation will continue to deteriorate. Most noise pollution in Latin American cities
comes from traffic, industry, domestic situations and from the community. Traffic is the main
source of outdoor noise in most big cities. The increase in automobile engine power and lack of
adequate silencing results in LAeq street levels >70 dB, above acceptable limits. Vehicle noise
has strong low-frequency peaks at ~13 Hz, and at driving speeds of 100 Km/h noise levels can
exceed 100 dB. The low-frequency (LF) noise is aerodynamic in origin produced, for example,
by driving with the car windows open. Little can be done to mitigate these low-frequency
noises, except to drive with all the windows closed. Noise exposure due to leisure activities such
as carting, motor racing and Walkman use is also growing at a fast rate. Walkman use in the
street not only contributes to temporary threshold shifts (TTS) in hearing, but also endangers the
user because they may not hear warning signals Construction sites, pavement repairs and
advertisements also contribute to street noise, and noise levels of 85100 dB are common.
The Centro de Investigaciones Acsticas y Luminotcnicas (CIAL) in Crdoba, Argentina has
investigated noise pollution in both the field and in the laboratory. The most noticeable effect of
excessive urban noise is hearing impairment, but other psychophysiological effects also result.
For example, tinnitus resulting from sudden or continuous noise bursts, can produce a TTS of
2030 dB, and prolonged exposures can result in permanent threshold shifts (PTS). By
analyzing sound spectra down to a few Hertz, and at levels of up to 120 dB, discrete frequencies
and bands of infrasound were found which damage hearing. With LF sounds at levels of 120 dB,
TTS resulted after brief exposure, and PTS after only 30 min of exposure. The effects of noise
on hearing can be especially detrimental to children in schools located downtown. Field studies
in Crdoba city schools located near streets with high traffic density showed that speech
intelligibility was dramatically degraded in classrooms that did not meet international acoustical
standards. This is a particularly worrying problem for the younger students, who are in the
process of language acquisition, and interferes with their learning process.
In general, community noise in Latin America remains above accepted limits. Particularly at
night, sleep and rest are affected by transient noise signals from electronically amplified sounds,
music and propaganda. Field research was carried out in four zones of Buenos Aires, to
determine the effects of urban noise on the well-being, health and activities of the inhabitants.
The effects of confounding variables were taken into consideration. It was concluded that nighttime noise levels in downtown Buenos Aires were barely lower than daytime levels. The results
showed that sleep, concentration, communication and well-being were affected in most people
when noise levels exceeded those permitted by international laws. The reactions of the
inhabitants to protect themselves from the effects of noise varied, and included changing rooms,
closing windows and complaining to authorities.

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Individual responses to noise also vary, and depend on factors such as social, educational and
economic levels, individual sensibility, attitudes towards noise, satisfaction with home or
neighborhood, and cognitive and affective parameters. For example, at CIAL, two pilot studies
were carried out with a group of adolescents to determine the influence of environmental
conditions on the perception of noise. When music was played at very high sound levels (with
sound peaks of 119 dBA) in a discotheque, judged to be a pleasant environment, the subjects
showed less TTS than when exposed to the same music in the laboratory, which was considered
to be an unpleasant environment.
At the municipal level Argentinean Ordinances consider two types of noises: unnecessary and
excessive. Unnecessary noises are forbidden. Excessive noises are classified according to
neighboring activities and are limited by maximum levels allowed for daytime (7 am to 10 pm)
and night-time (10 pm to 7 am). This regulation has been relatively successful, but control has to
be continuous. Similar actions have been prescribed at the provincial level in many cities of
Argentina and Latin America. Control efforts aimed at reducing noise levels from individual
vehicles are showing reasonably good improvements. However, many efforts of municipal
authorities to mitigate noise pollution have failed because of economic, political and other
pressures. For example, although noise control for automobiles has shown some improvement,
efforts have been counteracted by the growth in the number and power of automobiles.
CIAL has designed both static and dynamic tests that can be used to set annual noise control
limits. For roads and freeways where permitted speeds are above 80 Km/h, CIAL has also
designed barriers which protect buildings lining the freeways. Considerable improvements have
been obtained using these barriers with noise reductions of over 20 dB at buildings fronts. The
most common types of barrier are concrete slabs or wooden structures, made translucent or
covered with vegetation. Planted vegetation does not act as an efficient noise shield for freeway
noise, except in cases of thick forest strips. In several cities, CIAL also designed ring roads to
avoid heavy traffic along sensitive areas such as hospitals, schools and laboratories.
Efforts have not been successful in reducing the noise pollution from popular sports such as
carting, motorboating and motocross, where noise levels can exceed 100 dB. In part, this is
because individuals do not believe these activities can result in hearing impairment or have other
detrimental effects, in spite of the scientific evidence. Argentinean and other Latin American
authorities also have not been successful in reducing the sound levels from music centres, such
as discotheques, where sound levels can exceed 100 dB between 11 pm and 6 am. However,
public protest is increasing and municipal authorities have been applying some control. For
instance, in big cities, discotheque owners and others are beginning to seek advice on how to
isolate their businesses from apartment buildings and residential areas. Some improvements
have been observed, but accepted limits have not yet been generally attained.

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United States of America (Larry Finegold)

Noise Exposure .
In the United States, there have only been a few major attempts to describe broad environmental
noise exposures. Early estimates for the average daily exposure of various population groups
were reported in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Levels Document (US EPA 1974),
but these were only partially verified by subsequent large-scale measurements. Another EPA
publication the same year provided estimates of the national population distribution as a function
of outdoor noise level, and established population density as the primary predictor of a
communitys noise exposure (Galloway et al. 1974). Methodological issues that need be
considered when measuring community noise, including both temporal and geographic sampling
techniques, have been addressed by Eldred (1975). This paper also provided early quantitative
estimates of noise exposure at a variety of sites, from an isolated spot on the North rim of the
Grand Canyon to a spot in downtown Harlem in New York City. Another nationwide survey
focused on exposure to everyday urban noises, rather than the more traditional approach of
measuring exposure to high-level transportation noise from aircraft, traffic and rail (Fidell 1978).
This study included noise exposure and human response data from over 2 000 participants at 24
sites.
A comprehensive report, Noise In America: The Extent of the Problem, included estimates of
occupational noise exposure in the US in standard industrial classification categories (Bolt,
Beranek & Newman, Inc. 1981). A more recent paper reviewed the long-term trends of noise
exposure in the US and its impact over a 30-year time span, starting in the early 1970s. The
focus was primarily on motor vehicle and aircraft noise, and the prediction was for steadily
decreasing population-weighted day-night sound exposure (Eldred 1988). However, it remains
to be seen whether the technological improvements in noise emission, such as changing from
Chapter 2 to Chapter 3 aircraft, will be offset in the long run by the larger carriers and increased
operations levels that are forecast for all transportation modes. Although never implemented in
its entirety, a comprehensive plan for measuring community environmental noise and associated
human responses was proposed over 25 years ago in the US (Sutherland et al. 1973).
Environmental Noise Policy in the United States
One of the first major breakthroughs in developing an environmental noise policy in the United
States occurred in 1969 with the adoption of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
This Congressional Act mandated that the environmental effects of any major development
project be assessed if federal funds were involved in the project. Through the Noise Control Act
(NCA) of 1972, the U.S. Congress directed the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to
publish scientific information about the kind and extent of all identifiable effects of different
qualities and quantities of noise. The US EPA was also requested to define acceptable noise
levels under various conditions that would protect the public health and welfare with an adequate
margin of safety. To accomplish this objective, the 1974 US EPA Levels Document formally
introduced prescribed noise descriptors and prescribed levels of environmental noise exposure.
Along with its companion document, Guidelines for Preparing Environmental Impact
Statements on Noise, which was published by the U.S. National Research Council in 1977, the

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Levels Document has been the mainstay of U.S. environmental noise policy for nearly a quarter
of a century. These documents were supplemented by additional Public Laws, Presidential
Executive Orders, and many-tiered noise exposure guidelines, regulations, and Standards.
Important examples include Guidelines for Considering Noise in Land Use Planning and
Control, published in 1980 by the US Federal Interagency Committee on Urban Noise; and
Guidelines for Noise Impact Analysis, published in 1982 by the US EPA.
One of the distinctive features of the US EPA Levels Document is that it does not establish
regulatory goals. This is because the noise exposure levels identified in this document were
determined by a negotiated scientific consensus and were chosen without concern for their
economic and technological feasibility; they also included an additional margin of safety. For
these reasons, an A-weighted Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL) of 55 dB was selected in
the Levels Document as that required to totally protect against outdoor activity interference and
annoyance. Land use planning guidelines developed since its publication allow for an outdoor
DNL exposure in non-sensitive areas of up to 65 dB before sound insulation or other noise
mitigation measures must be implemented. Thus, separation of short-, medium- and long-term
goals allow noise-exposure goals to be established that are based on human effects research data,
yet still allow for the financial and technological constraints within which all countries must
work.
The US EPAs Office of Noise Abatement and Control (ONAC) provided a considerable amount
of impetus to the development of environmental noise policies for about a decade in the US.
During this time, several major US federal agencies, including the US EPA, the Department of
Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban
Development, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Defense,
and the Federal Interagency Committee on Noise have all published important documents
addressing environmental noise and its effects on people. Lack of funding, however, has made
the EPA ONAC largely ineffective in the past decade. A new bill, the Quiet Communities Act
has recently been introduced in the U.S. Congress to re-enact and fund this office (House of
Representatives Bill, H.R. 536). However, the passage of this bill is uncertain, because noise in
the US, as in Europe, has not received the attention that other environmental issues have, such as
air and water quality.
In the USA there is growing debate over whether to continue to rely on the use of DNL (and the
A-Weighted Equivalent Continuous Sound Pressure Level upon which DNL is based) as the
primary environmental noise exposure metric, or whether to supplement it with other noise
descriptors. Because a growing number of researchers believe that Sound Exposure is more
understandable to the public, the American National Standards Institute has prepared a new
Standard, which allows the equivalent use of either DNL or Sound Exposure (ANSI 1996). The
primary purpose of this new standard, however, is to provide a methodology for modeling the
Combined or Total Noise Environment, by making numerical adjustments to the exposure levels
from various noise sources before assessing their predicted impacts on people. A companion
standard (ANSI 1998) links DNL and Sound Exposure with the current USA land use planning
table. The latter is currently being updated by a team of people from various federal government
agencies and when completed should improve the capabilities of environmental and community
land-use planners. These documents will complement the newly revised ANSI standard on

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acoustical terminology (ANSI 1994).

To summarize progress in noise control made in the USA in the nearly 25 years since the initial
national environmental noise policy documents were written, the Acoustical Society of America
held a special session in Washington, D.C. in 1995. The papers presented in this special session
were then published as a collaborative effort between the Acoustical Society of America and the
Institute of Noise Control Engineering (von Gierke & Johnson 1996). This document is
available from the Acoustical Society of America, as are a wide range of standards related to
various environmental noise and bioacoustics topics from the ANSI.
A document from the European Union is now also available, which includes guidelines for
addressing noise in environmental assessments (EU 1996). Policy documents from organizations
such as ISO, CEN, and ICAO have shown that international cooperation is quite possible in the
environmental noise arena. The ISO document, entitled Acoustics - Description and
Measurement of Environmental Noise (ISO 1996), and other international standards have already
proven themselves to be invaluable in moving towards the development of a harmonized
environmental noise policy. The best way to move forward in developing a harmonized
environmental noise policy is to take a look at the various national policies that have already
been adopted in many countries, including those both from the European member states and
from the USA, and to decide what improvements need to be made to the existing policy
documents. A solid understanding of the progress that has already been achieved around the
world would obviously provide the foundation for the development of future noise policies.
Implementation Concepts and Tools
Development of appropriate policies, regulations, and standards, particularly in the noise
measurement and impact assessment areas, is a necessary foundation for implementing effective
noise abatement policies and noise control programs. A well-trained cadre of environmental
planners will be needed in the future to perform land-use planning and environmental impact
analysis. These professionals will require both a new generation of standardized noise
propagation models to deal with the Total Noise Environment, as well as sophisticated computerbased impact analysis and land-use planning tools.
A more thorough description of the current noise environment in major cities, suburbs, and rural
areas is needed to support the noise policy development process. A new generation of noise
measurement and monitoring systems, along with standards related to their use, are already
providing considerable improvement in our ability to accurately describe complex noise
environments. Finally, both active and passive noise control technologies, and other noise
mitigation techniques, are rapidly becoming available for addressing local noise problems.
Combined with a strong public awareness and education program, land-use planning and noise
abatement efforts certainly have the potential to provide us with an environment with acceptable
levels of noise exposure.
References
ANSI 1994 American National Samerican Standard Acoustical Terminology. American National
Standard S1. American National Standards Institute, New York, NY, USA.

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ANSI 1996)Quantities and Procedures for Description and Measurement of Environmental

Sound - Part 4: Assessment and Prediction of Long-Term Community Response. American
National Standard S12.9-Part 4, American National Standard Institute, New York, NY, USA.
ANSI 1998 Quantities and Procedures for Description and Measurement of Environmental
Sound - Part 5: Sound Level Descriptors for Determination of Compatible Land Use. American
National Standard S12.9-Part 5, American National Standard Institute, New York, NY, USA.
Bolt, Beranek, Newman, Inc. (BBN) 1981 Noise in America: The extent of the problem.
Cambridge, MA, USA.
Eldred km 1975 Assessment of community noise. Noise Control Engineering Journal 3: 88-95.
Eldred km 1988 Noise at the year 2000. In Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress on
Noise as a Public Health Problem (B. Berglund et al., eds.). Stockholm: Swedish Council for
Building Research.
Fidell S (1978) Nationwide urban noise survey. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
64: 198-206.
Galloway W, Eldred K, and Simpson M 1974 Population distribution of the United States as a
function of outdoor noise. US Environmental Protection Agency Report No. 550/9-74-009.
Washington, D.C., USA.
Schori JR, McGatha EA (1973) A real-world assessment of noise exposure. Sound and
Vibration 12: 24-30.
Sutherland LC, Braden, MH, and Colman R 1973 A programme for the measurement of
environmental noise in the community and its associated human response. Vols. I and II. Report
No. DOT-TST-74-5, Washington, D.C.: Department of Transportation, Office of Noise
Abatement.
US EPA 1974 Information on levels of environmental noise requisite to protect public health
and welfare with an adequate margin of safety. EPA/ONAC Report 550/9-74-004, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., USA.
von Gierke HE, Johnson LC 1996 Noise Control - Where Do We Stand Today? Noise Control
Engineering Journal.

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AFRICAN REGION

South Africa (Etienne Grond, South Africa)

Introduction
Cultural and developmental levels diverge greatly in South Africa, and the country can be
divided into a first world sector, a developing sector and a third world sector. This contributes to
huge variations in both the awareness of noise pollution and in population exposure to noise
pollution. Noise-related health problems will in all probability show the same large variations.
Legal requirements
Noise control in South Africa has a history dating back about three decades. Noise control began
with codes of practice issued by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) to address noise
pollution in different sectors. Since then, Section 25 of the Environment Conservation Act (Act
73 of 1989) made provision for the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism to regulate
noise, vibration and shock at the national level. These regulations were published in 1990 and
local authorities could apply to the Minister to make them applicable in their areas of
jurisdiction. However, a number of the bigger local authorities did not apply for the regulations
since they already had by-laws in place, which they felt were sufficient. By the middle of 1992
only 29 local authorities had applied the regulations and so the act was changed to make it
obligatory for all authorities to apply the regulations. However, by the time the regulations were
ready to be published, the new Constitution of South Africa came into effect and this listed noise
control as an exclusive legislative competence of provincial and local authorities. This meant
that the national government could not publish the regulations.
However, provincial
governments have agreed to publish the regulations in their respective areas. The regulations
will apply to all local authorities as soon as they are published in the provinces, and will give
local authorities both the power and the obligation to enforce the regulations.
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism also published regulations during 1997
to make Environmental Impact Assessments mandatory for most new developments, as well as
for changes in existing developments. This means that any impact that a development might
have on its surrounding environment must be evaluated and, where necessary, the impact must
be mitigated to acceptable levels. The noise control regulations also state that a local authority
may declare a controlled area, which is an area where the average noise level exceeds 65 dBA
over a period of 24 h period. This means that educational and residential buildings, hospitals and
churches may not be situated within such areas.
Occupational noise exposure is regulated by the Department of Manpower, under the
Occupational Health and Safety Act (Act 85 of 1993). These regulations states that workers may
not be exposed to noise levels of higher than 85 dBA and that those exposed to such levels must
make use of equipment to protect their hearing. The problem, however, is that most workers
tend not to make use of the provided equipment, either because the equipment is not
comfortable, or because they are not aware of the risks high noise levels pose to their hearing. A
further problem is that small industries often do not supply the workers with the necessary

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equipment, or supply inferior equipment that is less costly.

Codes of practice
The codes of practice issued by the SABS were for the most part replaced by IEC (International
Electrotechnical Commission) standards and adopted as SABS ISO codes of practice. They are
still being used in South Africa and are regularly updated. A relevant list can be found in the
references. The SABS has also published a number of recommended practices (ARP). These
include the ARP 020: Sound impact investigations for integrated environmental management
that is currently being upgraded to a code of practice. Such codes of practice can be referred to
as requirements in legislation and will be known as SABS 0328: Methods for environmental
noise impact assessments. The codes of practice published in South Africa cover hearing
protection; measurement of noise; occupational noise; environmental noise; airplane noise; and
building acoustics, etc.
Courses
Local authorities responsible for applying regulations published by the Department of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism must employ a noise control officer who has at least three
years tertiary education in engineering, physical sciences or health sciences, and who is
registered with a professional council. Alternatively, a consultant with similar training may be
employed. Most of the universities in South Africa provide the relevant training, with at least
part of the training in acoustics. Universities and technical colleges also provide a number of
special acoustics courses. Over the last couple of years awareness of environmental conservation
has expanded dramatically within the academic community, and most universities and colleges
now have degree courses in environmental management. At the very least, these courses include
a six-month module in acoustics, and usually also include training in basic mathematics; the
physics of sound; sound measuring methodologies; and noise pollution.
Community awareness and exposure to noise pollution
This topic should be discussed with respect to three separate population sectors: the first-world
sector (developed), the developing sector and the third-world sector (rural).
Developed sector
This sector of the population is more-or-less as developed as their European and American
counterparts. They have been exposed to noise pollution for a considerable time and, for the
most part, are aware of the health consequences of high noise levels. People in this group are
also aware of the existence of legal measures by which noise pollution can be addressed. Not
surprisingly, most of the complaints and legal action regarding noise pollution are received from
this group. Information about noise-related health problems is very limited, but because this
group is highly aware of the risks posed by high noise levels, future studies will probably show
that people in this category have the fewest health problems. The majority of people in this
group are less exposed to high noise levels at work, and they live in more affluent neighborhoods
with large plots and separating walls. Their houses tend to be built with materials that are noise

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reducing. They also live further away from major noise-producing activities, such as highways,
airports and large industries.
Developing sector
This sector of the population has the greatest exposure to high noise levels, both at home and in
the workplace. Overall, they are relatively poor and cannot afford to live in quiet areas, or afford
large plots or solid building materials. A large component of this sector resides in squatter
communities where building are made of any material available, from plastic to corrugated
sheets and wood. The buildings are right next to each other and there is almost no noise
attenuation between residencies.
People in this category usually live close to major access routes into the cities, because they
make use of public transportation and taxis to get to their places of work. Often, too, they live
close to their places of work, which are usually big industries with relatively high levels of noise
pollution. These people usually work in high noise areas, and because of their lack of awareness
of the effects of high noise levels, often do not make use of available hearing protection
equipment. Because of a lack of funds, these people also cannot get out of high noise areas and
go to recreational areas for relaxation and lower noise levels. Not much information is available
on the adverse health problems in this sector. However, workers in this sector should undergo
regular medical examinations and the results can be obtained from the industries involved.
Rural sector
As the name suggests, people in this sector live in rural surroundings and for the most part are
not subjected to noise levels that could be detrimental to their health. However, they are almost
totally unaware of the risks posed by high noise levels. Some of these people work on farms and
work with machinery that emits relatively high noise levels, but because of their lack of
awareness they do not make use of hearing protection equipment. One advantage they do have is
that they return to homes in quiet surroundings and their hearing has a chance to recover. To
date, no studies have been carried out to determine the state of their hearing and it would be
impossible to state that they have no health problems related to high noise levels.
References
Environment Conservation Act (Act No. 73 of 1989) Noise Control Regulations, Ministry of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Pretoria, South Africa.
Relevant SABS codes of practice:
SABS 083-1996. The measurement and assessment of occupational noise for hearing
conservation purposes.
SABS 0103-1994. The measurement and rating of environmental noise with respect to
annoyance and speech communication (third revision).

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SABS 0115-1974. The measurement of noise and the determination of disturbance from
aeroplanes for certification purposes.
SABS 0117-1974. The determination and limitation of disturbance around an aerodrome due to
noise from aeroplanes (Amendment no 1 - 1984).
SABS 0205-1986. The measurement of noise emitted by motor vehicles in motion.
SABS 0210-1996. Calculating and predicting road traffic noise (Amendment no 1 - 1997).
SABS 0211-1987. The measurement of noise inside motor vehicles.
SABS 0218/1-1988. Acoustical properties of buildings Part 1: The grading of buildings
according to their airborne-sound insulation properties (under revision).
SABS 0218/2-1988. Acoustical properties of buildings Part 2: The assessment of building plans
and buildings with respect to their acoustical properties (under revision).
SABS 0234-1991. Determination of sound power levels of multi-source industrial plants for the
evaluation of the sound pressure levels in the environment - Engineering method (Incorporating
ISO 8297:1994).
ARP 020-1992. Sound impact investigations for integrated environmental management. (To be
superseded and replaced by SABS 0328: Methods for environmental noise impact assessments).

122

EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN REGION (Shabih H. Zaidi)

Scope
In the Eastern Mediterranean region some countries have highly developed industries, while
others have none. In other cases, the agricultural economy is inseparably mixed with hightechnology industries, such as the oil industry, which can be seen in nearly the whole of the
Arabian Peninsula. Other examples of where agriculture and industry are intertwined can be
seen in Pakistan, Jordan and Egypt. The main focus of this paper is community noise, but
because industry is so widely distributed, some discussion of industrial noise is inevitable. The
scope of this paper is to document the available scientific data on community noise in the WHO
Regional Office of the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) region, including preventive strategies,
legislation, compensation and future trends.
Sources of Noise Pollution
Sources of noise pollution in the Eastern Mediterranean region include noise from
transportation, social and religious activities, building and civil works, roadside workshops,
mechanical floor shops and others. During civil works and building booms, noise levels in all
countries of the Eastern Mediterranean region could easily reach 85dBA during the daytime over
an 8 h work period. In Pakistan, unprotected construction work goes on at all times of the day
and night and uses outdated machinery; and the noise is compounded by workers shouting. On a
typical building site noise levels reach 90100 dBA.
In Karachi, the main artery for daily commuters is a long road that terminates at the harbor. In
the densest area of this road there are a hundred small and large mechanical workshops, garages,
metal sheet workers, dent removers, painters, welders and repair shops, all of which create a
variety of noises. In the middle of this area at the Tibet Centre the LAeq,8h is 90dBA (Zaidi
1989). A similar picture is seen elsewhere in cities like Lahore, Peshawar, etc. Fortunately, the
same is not true for other newly built cities in the EMRO region, such as Dubai, or Tripoli,
where strict rules separate industrial zones from residential areas.
A special noise problem is Karachi harbour. This port serves the whole of Pakistan as well as
Afghanistan and several Asian states, such as Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The
noise level at the main wharf of Karachi Port ranges between 90110 dBA on any given day.
Other special sources of noise are the Eastern Mediterranean airports, and indeed most of the
airports in the Middle East. Most northbound air traffic originates in Pakistan, Dubai, Sharjah
etc. and flights usually depart after midnight so as to arrive in Europe during the daytime. A
study is currently underway in Karachi to identify the damage caused by these nocturnal flights
to those living under the flight path (SH Zaidi, GH Shaikh & AN Zaidi, personal
communication).
Sadly, violence has become part of Eastern culture and is a significant source of noise pollution.
Wars generate a lot of noise, and although noise-induced hearing loss is a secondary issue
compared with the killing, after the wars many people are hearing impaired. This has been seen
following conflicts in Balochistan, Peshawar and Afghanistan, where perforated ear drums,

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profound hearing loss and stress-related psychosomatic illnesses are common in the refugee
camps. The noise levels during a recent mass demonstration in Karachi, which included the
firing of automatic weapons, reached 120 dBA at a distance of 50 m from the scene.
The Effects of Noise on Health
There is good evidence that environmental noise causes a range of health effects, including
hearing loss, annoyance, cardiovascular changes, sleep disturbance and psychological effects.
Although the health effects of noise pollution have not been documented for the entire EMRO
region, data are available for Pakistan and can be used to illustrate the general problem. In this
report, noise exposure is mainly expressed as LAeq,24h values.
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).
It is believed that exposure to environmental noise in the EMRO countries is directly related to
the living habits, economic prosperity and outdoor habits of people. It has been estimated that no
more than 5% of the people are exposed to environmental sound levels in excess of 65dBA over
a 24-h period. Similarly, for indoor noise, it is believed that the average family is not exposed to
sound levels in excess of 70 dBA over a 24-h period. However, it is difficult to generalize for all
countries in the EMRO region, because of ancient living styles and different cultural practices,
such as taking siestas between 13:0016:00 and stopping work at 20:00.
Exposure to noise while travelling to schools, offices or workplaces may vary tremendously
between cities in the region. In Karachi, for example, traffic flow is undisciplined, erratic and
irrational, with LAeq,8h values of 8085 dBA. In Riyadh, by contrast, traffic flow is orderly
with LAeq levels of 70 dBA during a normal working day. In Karachi, noise levels show
significant diurnal variation, reaching levels in excess of 140 dB during the peak rush hour at
around 5.00 p.m. (Zaidi 1989). At the Tibet Centre, located at a busy downtown junction, noise
levels were 6070 dB at 9 am, but reached levels in excess of 140 dB between 5-7 p.m. A study
conducted on a day that transportation workers went on strike established that road traffic is the
most significant source of noise pollution in this city: in the absence of buses, rickshaws, trucks
and other public vehicles the LAeq level declined from 90dB to 75dB (Zaidi 1990). Motor
engines, horns, loud music on public buses and rickshaws generate at least 65% of the noise in
Karachi (Zaidi 1997; Shams 1997). Rickshaws can produce noise levels of 100110 dBA and do
not have silencers. On festive occasions, such as national holidays or political rallies,
motorbikes running at high speeds along the Clifton beach in Karachi easily make noise
exceeding 120 dBA. (Zaidi 1996).
Another study conducted at 14 different sites in Karachi showed that, in 11 of the sites, the
average noise level ranged between 7980 dB (Bosan & Zaidi 1995). The maximum noise levels
at all these sites exceeded 100 dB. Speech interference, measured by the Preferred Speech
Interference Level and the Articulation Index, was significant (Shaikh & Rizvi 1990). The study
results indicated that two people facing each other at a distance of 1.2 m would have to shout to
be intelligible; and the Articulation Indexes demonstrated that communication was
unsatisfactory. Of perhaps greater concern are the results of a survey of 587 males between the
ages of 17 and 45 years old, who worked as shopkeepers, vehicle drivers, builders and office

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assistants. Audiograms showed that 14.6% of the subjects had significant hearing impairment at
3 0004 000 Hertz (Hasan et al., 2000).
Noise pollution from leisure activities can vary from country to country in the EMRO region.
The Panthans in northern Pakistan, for example, like to shoot in the air on festive occasions, such
as weddings, without using any noise protection devices. A minimum of 1 000 shots are fired on
such occasions; and at a traditional tribal dance called the Khattak the noise level recorded
during a particularly enthralling performance in a sports arena was 120dBA. The hunting of wild
boar is a common sport in the hinterlands of Sindh. With the rifle shots and the noise made by
the beaters, noise levels can easily reach 110 120 dBA. In some EMRO countries, the younger
crowd has taken up the Western habit of listening to Pop music for many hours. Discos and
floorshows are confined to a few countries, such as Egypt. Open-air concerts are usually held in
stadiums. The noise level recorded at a particularly popular concert was 130 dBA at a distance
of 20 m from the stage and 35 m from the amplifiers.
In a study of road traffic at 25 different sites in Peshawar, the third most populous city in
Pakistan, 90 traffic constables were taken as cohorts to investigate the extent of NIHL. Of these,
50 did not have any previous history of noise exposure and were taken as controls. Detailed
evaluation and audiological investigations established that constables exposed to a noise level of
90 dBA for 8 hours every day suffered from NIHL. Compared to the control subjects, the
constables had significant hearing impairment at 3 000 Hz, measured by Pure Tone Audiometry
(Akhter 1996).
A similar study of traffic constables in Karachi showed that 82.8% of the constables suffered
from NIHL (Itrat & Zaidi 1999). The study also showed that 33.3% of rickshaw drivers, and
56.9% of shopkeepers who worked in noisy bazaars, had hearing impairment. If these findings
can be extrapolated to the total populations, there are 1 566 traffic constables (out of a total of 1
890 constables), and 4 067 rickshaw drivers (out of a total of 12 202 drivers) who suffer from
NIHL. As has been reported by other researchers, the study also found evidence of
acclimatization in the subjects: following an initial, rapid decline, hearing loss stabilized after
prolonged noise exposure.
Annoyance.
The citizens of Karachi commonly complain that noise causes irritability and stress. The main
sources have been identified as traffic noise, industrial noise and noise generated by human
activity. Unfortunately no data are available for the level of annoyance caused by noise exposure
in the EMRO region. From limited research around the world, it can be estimated that 3540%
of employees in office buildings are seriously annoyed by noise at sound levels in excess of 55
60 dBA. In countries such as Pakistan, Iran, Jordan and Egypt that level is often seen in most
offices. Annoyance is a non-tangible entity and cannot be quantified scientifically. It is a human
reaction and perhaps its parameters could include irritability, apprehension, fear, anger,
frustration, uneasiness, apathy, chaos and confusion. If such are the parameters, then on a scale
of 010, with 10 being the greatest annoyance, many EMRO countries could easily score 6 or
higher.

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Effects of noise on sleep and the cardiovascular system.

In the Eastern Mediterranean region no specific data are available on the effects of noise on sleep
or the cardiovascular system. However, factory workers, traffic constables, rickshaw drivers and
shopkeepers frequently complain about fatigue, irritability and headaches; and one of the most
common causes of poor performance in offices is sleep disturbance. The rising incidence of
tinnitus in cities like Karachi is also related to noise exposure, and tinnitus itself can lead to sleep
deprivation. Although the effects of noise on the cardiovascular system have been well
documented for other countries (Berglund & Lindvall 1995), data are lacking for the EMRO
region. However, the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases are on the rise in the EMRO
countries, particularly hypertension. While most of the increase in these diseases is due to a rich
diet and lack of exercise, the relationship between noise and cardiovascular changes is worth
investigating.
The risk to unborn babies and newborns.
Although evidence from other countries indicates that noise may damage the hearing of a fetus,
there are no data from the EMRO countries to confirm this. With newborn babies, however,
noise from incubators is a major cause of hearing loss in the EMRO region, particularly as 20
27% of them are born underweight (Razi et al. 1995). Once exposed to noise in an incubator, the
chances of hearing impairment rapidly rises compared with cohorts in developed countries.
Several other factors have also been identified as causing deafness and hearing impairment in
newborns in the Eastern Mediterranean region (Zaidi 1998; Zakzouk et al. 1994). They are:
a. Discharge from the ears.
b. Communicable infections.
c. Ototoxicity.
d. Noise.
e. Consanguinity.
f. Iodine deficiency.
Noise Control
Although noise control legislation exists in several EMRO countries, it is seldom enforced,
particularly in Pakistan and some neighboring countries. Noise control begins with education,
public awareness and the appropriate use of media in highlighting the effects of noise. In
Calcutta, for instance, public orientation and mass media mobilization have produced tangible
results, and this can easily be done in other countries. Three strategies have been devised for
noise control, all of which are practicable in EMRO region countries. They are control at the
source, control along the path and control at the receiving end.

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There are many ways noise can be controlled at the source. For example, most of the equipment
and machinery used in EMRO countries is imported from the West. Noise control could begin
by importing quieter machinery, built with newer materials like ceramics or frictionless parts.
And at the local level, the timely replacement of parts and proper maintenance of the machines
should be carried out. Vehicles like the rickshaw should be banned, or at least be compelled to
maintain their silencers, and all vehicles must be put to a road worthiness test periodically. This
already occurs in some EMRO countries, but not all. Horns, hooters, music players and other
noise making factors must also be controlled. The use of amplifiers and public address systems
should also be banned, and social, leisure and religious activities should be restricted to specific
places and times.
Along the sound path, barriers can be used to control noise. There are three kinds of barriers
available, namely, space absorbers made out of porous material, resonant absorbers and panel
absorbers. Architects, for example, use hollow blocks of porous material. The air gaps between
building walls not only keep the buildings cool in hot weather, but also reduce the effects of
noise. Ceilings and roofs are often treated with absorbent material. In large factories, architects
use corrugated sheets and prefabricated material, which are helpful in reducing noise levels. In
Pakistan, some people use clay pots in closely ranked positions on rooftops to reduce the effect
of heat as well as noise. For civic works and buildings, special enclosures, barriers and vibration
controlling devices should be used. Public halls, such as cinemas, mosques and meeting places
should have their walls and floors carpeted, and covered with hangings, mats etc. An effective
material is jute, which is grown in many countries, mainly Bangladesh, and it is quite
economical. Some of the old highways and most of the busy expressways need natural noise
barriers, such as earth banks, trees and plants.
References.
Akhter NH 1996 Noise induced hearing loss in traffic police constables of Peshawar. Journal of
College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan 6: 265-268.
Berglund B and Lindvall T 1995 Community Noise. Archives of the Centre for Sensory
Research, volume 2, issue 1, pp. 56,57. Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute,
Stockholm.
Bosan Altaf, Zaidi SH Nobel Tracy 1995 The problem of noise, Pakistan Journal of
Otolaryngology 11, 128-131.
Hasan S, Zaidi AN, Tahira S, Zaidi SH 2000 Audiological profile of NIHLin IMPACT Ear
Camps. Pakistan Journal of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, in print.
Itrat J, Zaidi SH 1999 Deafness in Pakistan, Pakistan Journal of Otolaryngology 15: 78-83.
Razi MS, Jaffer S, Hillier V, Zaidi SH, Newton V 1995 Causes of bilateral hearing loss in school
children. Pakistan Journal of Otolaryngology 11: 68-86.
Shams ZI 1997 The hazards of noise pollution. Daily Dawn, 30th September 1997.
Shaikh GH, Rizvi SSH 1987 Road transport in Karachi city. Pakistan Journal of Science and
research, 30: 197.
The environmental protection agency Sindh. The study of noise pollution in Karachi. Executive
Report. Karachi Pakistan. ACE (pvt.) Ltd. Karachi.
Zaidi SH 1989 Noise level and the sources of noise pollution in Karachi. Journal of Pakistan
Medical Association, 39: 62-65.

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Zaidi SH 1990 Noise level in Karachi on a transporters strike day. Journal of Pakistan Medical
Association, 40: 299-300.
Zaidi SH 1996 Noise Ototoxicity. Pakistan Journal of Otolaryngology, 12: 194.
Zaidi SH 1997 Noise induced hearing loss in Pakistan. Hearing International, 6: 12-13.
Zaidi SH 1998 The causes of deafness and Hearing Impairment in the Tropics: Keynote speech
delivered at the Centennial Congress of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in Sept 1998.
Pakistan Journal of Otolaryngology 14: 102-107.
Zakzouk SM, Bafaqeh SA, Al-Mahmmod H, Essa A 1994 Demographic factors and hearing
impairment in Saudi Arabian Children., Journal of Laryngology and Otology 108: 294-298.

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SOUTH-EAST ASIAN REGION. (Sudhakar B. Ogale)

Introduction
The ability to hear sound is a sensory function vital for human survival and communication.
However, not all sounds are wanted. Unwanted sounds, for which the term noise is normally
used, often originate from human activities such as road traffic, rail traffic, aircraft, discos,
electric power generators, festivals, firecrackers and toys. In general, however, data on noise
pollution in South east Asian countries are not available. For example, there are no
comprehensive statistical data regarding the incidence and etiology of hearing impairment.
Consequently, it is difficult to estimate the exact percentage of the population affected by
community noise.
Excessive noise is the major contributor to many stress conditions. It reduces resistance to
illness by decreasing the efficiency of the immune system, and is the direct cause of some
gastrointestinal problems. Noise also increases the use of drugs, disturbs sleep and increases
proneness to accidents. An increased incidence of mental illness and hospital admissions,
increases in absenteeism from work and lethargy from sleep disturbance all result from noise
pollution and cause considerable loss of industrial production.
Noise Exposure in India
India is rapidly becoming industrialized and more mechanized, which directly affects noise
levels. However, no general population study regarding the magnitude of the noise problem in
India has been performed.

Road Traffic Noise

Exposure. A study by the Indian Institute of Road Traffic (IRT) reported that Delhi was the
noisiest city in India, followed by Calcutta and Bombay (IRT 1996; Santra & Chakrabarty 1996).
The survey examined whether road-traffic noise affected people with respect to annoyance, sleep
disturbance, interference with communication and hearing impairment. It showed that 35% of
the population in four major cities have bilateral sensory neural hearing loss at noise emission
levels above 82 dBA. This is of particular concern in light of a second study, showing that
LAeq,24h levels at 24 kerbside locations in Calcutta were 8092 dBA (Chakrabarty et al. 1997)
The mean noise emission levels of four different vehicle categories are presented in Table A2.1.

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Table A2.1: Mean noise emission levels of vehicles

Type of vehicle
2 wheelers (motor cycle)
3 wheelers (auto rickshaw)
Motor car (taxi, private cars)
Heavy vehicles (trucks)

Mean sound pressure level

82 dBA
87 dBA
85 dBA
92 dBA

Control Measures. Only recently has noise pollution been considered an offence in India, under
the Environmental (Protection) Act 1986. Several measures are being taken to reduce trafficnoise exposure. These include:
a. Planting trees, shrubs and hedges along roadsides.
b. Mandatory, periodic vehicle inspections by road traffic control.
c. Reintroduction of silent zones, such as around schools, nursing homes and hospitals
that face main roads.
d. Regulation of traffic discipline, and a ban on the use of pressure horns.
e. Enforcement of exhaust noise standards.
f. Mandating that silencers be effective in three-wheeled vehicles.
g. The use and construction of bypass roads for heavy vehicles.
h. Limiting night-time access of heavy vehicles to roads in residential neighbourhoods
i.

Installation of sound-proof windows.

j. Proper planning of new towns and buildings.

Air Traffic Noise

Many airports were originally built at some distance from the towns they served. But due to
growing populations and the lack of space, buildings are now commonly constructed alongside
airports in India.
Exposure. A survey revealed that aircraft produced a high level of noise during take-off, with
sound pressure levels of 97109 dBA for the Airbus, and 109 dBA for Boeing aircraft (SB
Ogale, unpublished observations). During landing, the aircraft produced a sound pressure level
of 108 dBA. Although exposure to aircraft noise is considered to be less of a problem than
exposure to traffic noise, the effects of air-traffic noise are similar to those of road traffic, and
include palpitations and frequent awakenings at night.

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Control measures. The use of ear muffs must be made obligatory at the airport. This can reduce
noise exposure to a safe level. An air-traffic control act should also enforce the use and
introduction of low-noise aircraft, and mandate fewer night-time flights.

Rail Traffic Noise

Very little attention has been paid to the problems of railway noise.
Exposure. In Bombay, where the majority of residential buildings are situated on either side of
railway tracks, residents are more prone to suffer from acoustic trauma. More than 14% of the
population in Bombay suffer from sleep disturbances during night, due to high-speed trains and
their whistling. A study on surface railways (SB Ogale, unpublished observations) revealed that
platform noise was 7173 dBA in the morning and 7883 dBA in the evening. The noise from
loudspeakers mounted in the platform was 8790 dBA. At a distance of 1 m from the engine, the
whistle noise was 105108 dBA for a train with an electric engine, up to 110 dBA for a train
with diesel engine and 118 dBA for steam engine trains. Vacuum brakes produced noise levels
as high as 95 dBA. This suggests that unprotected railway staff on platforms are at risk of
permanent noise induced hearing loss.
Festival noise
Festival noise in India was first surveyed in Bombay in late 1970, during the Ganpati festival
period. A similar study (Santra et al. 1996) was conducted soon after in Calcutta at the Durga
Pooja festival during evening hours (18:0022:00). The music from loudspeakers produces
sound pressure levels of more than 112 dBA. During the festival period the residents
experienced a noisy environment for 810 h at a stretch, with noise level of 8595 dBA. This
level is above the 80 dBA limit set by WHO for industrial workers exposed to noise for a
maximum period of 8 hours.
Control measures. In a religious country, it is politically difficult to restrict religious music,
even in the interests of public health. A ban on all music from loudspeakers after 22:00 would
decrease the sound pressure levels to below the permissible legal limit. A preventive programme
is advocated to measure noise levels with sound level metres.
Fire crackers and toy weapons noise
Exposure. A study conducted by Gupta & Vishvakarma (1989) at the time of Deepawali, an
Indian festival of fireworks, determined the auditory status of 600 volunteers from various age
groups, before and after exposure to firecrackers. The study also measured the acoustical output
of representative samples of toy weapons and firecrackers, and the noise intensity level at critical
spectator points. The average sound level at a distance of 3 m from the noise source was 150
dBA, exceeding the 130 dBA level at which adults are at risk for hearing damage. On average,
2.5% of the people surveyed during Deepawali had persistent sensory neural hearing loss of 30
dBA, with those in the 915 year old age group being most affected.

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Control Measures. A judicious approach in the manufacture and use of toy weapons and
firecrackers is encouraged, in addition to legal restraints. Fireworks should be more a display of
light, rather than sound.

Generator Noise
Diesel generators are often used in India to produce electric power. Big generators produce
sound pressure levels exceeding 96 dBA (SB Ogale, unpublished observations).

Conclusions
No comprehensive statistical data are available for community noise in India, however, the main
sources of environmental noise are road traffic, air traffic, rail traffic, festivals, firecrackers and
diesel generators. The adverse effects of noise are difficult to quantify, since tolerance to noise
levels and to different types of noise varies considerably between people. Noise intensity also
varies significantly from place to place. It should also be noted that noise data from different
countries are often not obtained by the same method, and in general models have been used
which are based on data from a limited number of locations. Noise control measures could be
taken at several levels, including building design, legal measures, and educating the people on
the health dangers of community noise. In India, what is needed now is noise control legislation
and its strict enforcement, if a friendly, low-noise environment is to be maintained.

Noise Exposure in Indonesia

According to a report by the WHO, the noise exposure and control situation in Indonesia is as
follows (Dickinson 1993).
Exposure. No nationwide data are available for Indonesia. However, during the last three
decades there has been rapid growth in transportation, industry and tourism in Indonesia.
Control Measures. With the large majority of people having little income, protection of the
physical environment has not been a first-order priority. The following recommendations have
been made with respect to community noise (Dickinson 1993):
a.

The cities of Indonesia have relatively large populations and each provincial
government will need the staff and equipment to monitor and manage the
environment.

b.

Sound level meters with noise analysis computer programmes should be

purchased.

c.

Training courses and adequate equipment should be provided.

132

d.

Noise management planning for airports should be promoted.

e.

Reduction measures should be taken for road-traffic noise.

Noise Exposure in Bangladesh

Exposure. In Bangladesh no authentic statistical data on the effects of community noise on
deafness or hearing impairment are available (Amin 1995).
Control Measures. Governments have meager resources, a vast population to contend with and
high illiteracy rates; consequently, priorities are with fighting hunger, malnutrition, diseases and
various man-made and natural calamities. The governments are unable to give the necessary
attention towards the prevention, early detection and management of noise disabilities in the
country. Close cooperation is needed between the national and international organizations, to
exchange ideas, skills and knowledge (Amin 1995).

Noise Exposure in Thailand

Exposure. Noise from traffic, construction, and from factories and industry has become a big
problem in the Bangkok area. The National Environmental Board of Thailand was set up two
decades ago and has been active in studying the pollution problems in Thailand. Indeed, a
committee on noise pollution control was set up to study the noise pollution in Bangkok area and
its surroundings. Although regulations and recommendations were made for controlling various
sources of noise, the problem was not solved due to a lack of public awareness, the difficulty of
proving that noise had adverse effects on health and hearing, and the difficulty of getting access
to control noise. A general survey revealed that 21.4% of the Bangkok population is suffering
from sensory neural hearing loss (Prasanchuk 1997). Noise sources included street noise, traffic
noise, industrial noise and leisure noise.
Control Measures. In 1996, regulations for noise pollution control set LAeq,24h levels at 70
dBA for residential areas, and less than 50 dBA to avoid annoyance. The National Committee
on Noise Pollution Control has been asked to study the health effects of noise in the Bangkok
area and its surroundings, and determine whether these regulations are realistic and feasible.

References.
Amin 1995 Community Noise. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Deafness and
Hearing Impairment in Developing Countries, Manchester, 6-8 July 1995.
Chakrabarty D, Santra SC, Mukherjee A, Roy B, Das P 1997 Status of road traffic noise in
Calcutta metropolis, India. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 101: 943-949
Dickinson P (1993) Noise assessment and management in Indonesia. Report SEA/EH 461,
Regional Office for South-East Asia, World Health Organization, New Delhi, India.
Gupta D, Vishvakarma SK. 1989 Toy weapons and fire crackers. Laryngoscope 99: 330-334.

133

IRT 1996 Indian Council of Medical Research Bulletin Vol. 26, No. 8, August 1996, New Delhi.
Prasanchuk S (1997) Noise pollution. Its effect on health and hearing Thailand as a case study.
Presentation at the PDH Informal Consultation on the Prevention of Noise-induced Hearing
Loss, 28-30 October 1997, WHO/PDH/98.5. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Santra SC, Chakrabarty D 1996 Need for rationalization of noise standards in Indian
perspectives. Presented at the First National Workshop on Development and Use of
Environmental Reference Materials, 14-16 February 1996, Central Pollution Control Board, New
Delhi.
Santra SC, Chakrabarty D, Mukherjee A, Roy B 1996 Noise status of Calcutta metropolis. A
resume. Man and Environment, Annual Report, pp. 19-22.

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WESTERN PACIFIC REGION.

In this section, information on noise pollution and control will be given for three countries in the
Western Pacific Region, namely Australia, the Peoples Republic of China and Japan. From a
noise pollution point of view China may be viewed as a developing country, whereas Japan and
Australia, with their high level of industrialization, represent developed countries.

Australia (Andrew Hede & Michinori Kabuto)

Exposure. Australia has a population of 18 million with the majority living in cities that have
experienced increasing noise pollution from a number of sources. The single most serious
source of noise is road traffic, although in major cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Perth,
large communities are exposed to aircraft noise as well. Other important sources of noise
pollution are railway noise and neighbourhood noise (including barking dogs, lawn mowers and
garbage collection). A particular problem in Australia is that the climate encourages most
residents to live with open windows, and few houses have effective noise insulation.
A study of road-traffic noise was conducted at 264 sites in 11 urban centres with populations in
excess of 100 000 people (Brown et al. 1994). Noise was measured one metre from the faade of
the most exposed windows and at window height. From the results, it was estimated that over
9% of the Australian population is exposed to LA10,18h levels of 68 dB or greater, and 19% of
the population is exposed to noise levels of 63 dB or greater. In terms of LAeq values for
daytimes, noise exposure in Australia is worse than in the Netherlands, but better than in
Germany, France, Switzerland or Japan.
Control. In the mid-1990s, when a third runway was built at Sydney Airport, the government
funded noise insulation of high-exposed dwellings. Increasingly, too, major cities are using
noise barriers along freeways adjacent to residential communities. In most states barriers are
mandatory for new freeways and for new residential developments along existing freeways and
major motorways. There has been considerable testing of noise barriers by state agencies, to
develop designs and materials that are cost effective.
Brown AL et al. (1994) Exposure of the Australian Population in Road Traffic Noise. Applied
Acoustics 43: 169-176.
OECD (1991) Fighting Noise in the 1990s. Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development, Paris, France.

China (Chen Ming)

Introduction
Urban noise pollution has become a contemporary world problem. Urban noise influences
peoples living, learning and working. People exposed to noise feel disagreeable and cannot
concentrate on work. Rest and sleep are also disturbed. People exposed to high-intensity noise

135

do not hear alarm signals and cannot communicate with each other. This can result in injury and,
indeed, with the modernization of China, construction accidents related to noise are increasing.
According to statistics for several cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tientsin and
Fuzhou, the proportion of total accidents that were noise related was 29.7% in 1979, 34.6% in
1980, 44.8% in 1981 and 50% in 1990. It is therefore very important to control noise pollution
in China.
Long-term exposure to urban environmental noise can lead to temporary hearing loss (assessed
by temporary threshold shift), permanent hearing loss (assessed by permanent threshold shift) or
deafness. Microscopy studies have shown that in people exposed to noise for long periods, hair
cells, nerve fibers and ganglion cells were absent in the cochleae, especially in the basal turns.
The primary lesion is in the 810 mm region of the cochlea, which is responsible for detecting
sound at a frequency of 4 000 Hz. People chronically exposed to noise may first complain about
tinnitus and, later on, about hearing loss. This is especially true for patients who have bilateral
hearing loss at 4 000 Hz, but who have relatively good hearing other frequencies. Non-auditory
symptoms of noise include effects on the nervous system, cardiovascular system and blood
system. These symptoms were rarely observed in China in the past, but today more and more
people complain about hearing damage and non-auditory physiological effects.
Urban environmental noise has thus become a common concern of all members of society. A
key to resolving the complex noise issue lies in the effective control of urban noise sources.
Control measures include reducing noise at its source, changing noise transmission pathways,
building design, community planning and the use of personal hearing protection.
Urban environmental noise sources can be divided into industrial noise, traffic noise, building
architecture noise and community district noise sources. Only the last three types are of concern
here.
Traffic Noise
There are four sources of traffic noise: road traffic, railway transport, civil aviation and water
transport; of these, road traffic is the main source of urban noise. The sound emission levels of
heavy-duty trucks are 8292 dBA and 90100 dBA for electric horns; air horns are even worse,
with sound emission levels of 105110 dBA. Most urban noise from automobiles is in the 7075
dB range, and it has been estimated that 27% of all complaints are about traffic noise. When a
commercial jet takes off, speech communication is interrupted for up to 1 km on both sides of the
runway, but people as far away as 4 km are disturbed in their sleep and rest. If a supersonic
passenger plane flies at an altitude of 1 500 m, its sound pressure waves can be heard on the
ground in a 3050 km radius.
Building Noise
As a result of urban development in China, construction noise has become an increasingly
serious problem. It is estimated that 80% of the houses in Fuzhou were built in the past 20 years.
According to statistics, the noise from ramming in posts and supports is about 88 dB and the
noise from bulldozers and excavators is about 91 dB, 10 m from the equipment. About 98% of

136

industrial noise is in the 80105 dB range, and it is estimated that 20% of all noise complaints is
about industrial noise.
Community Noise
The main sources of community noise include street noise, noise from electronic equipment (air
conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, televisions), music, clocks, gongs and drums.
Trumpets, gongs, drums and firecrackers, in particular, seriously disturb normal life and lead to
annoyance complaints.
In conclusion, urban noise pollution in China is serious and is getting worse. To control noise
pollution, China has promulgated standard sound values for environmental noise. These are
summarized in table A2.2.

Table A2.2:

LAeq standard values in dB for environmental noise in urban areas.

Applied area

day

night

Special residential quarters1

Residential and cultural education area2
Type 1 mixed area3
Type 2 mixed area4 or commercial area
Industrial area
Arterial roads5

45
50
55
60
65
70

35
40
45
50
55
55

1
2
3
4
5

Special residential quarters: quiet residential area

Residential and cultural education area: residential quarters, cultural, educational offices
Type 1 mixed area: mixture of commercial area and residential quarters
Type 2 mixed area: mixture of industrial area, commercial area, residential quarters and others
Roads with traffic volume of more than 100 cars per hour

The peak sound levels for frequent noises emitted during the night-time are not allowed to
exceed standard values by more than 10 dBA. Single, sudden noises during the night-time are
not allowed to exceed standard values by more than 15dBA.
References
Liu Tian Gi et al.: Noise pollution and control. Environmental protection. Chemical industrial
publishing company 1996, 6. First publication P137-154.
National environmental protection leader group. GB 3096-82. Urban environmental noise

137

standard. The national standard of the Peoples Republic of China. 1982, 8, 1.

Feng Gen Quan: The main result of field investigation for industrial continuous noise. Foreign
Medicine. Otorhinolaryngology. 1978, 2:12.
Beijing Medical Quarantine Station: The investigation analysis of the noise hazard condition in
nine provinces and cities. The noise work investigation cooperation group in nine provinces and
cities (internal material). 1982.
Cheng Ming: The diagnostic criteria of occupational deafness and experience of hearing
conservation in China. Noise as public health problem. New advance in noise research, part 1.
Swedish Council for building research. Stockholm, Sweden 1990, pp. 137-44.

Japan (Michinori Kabuto)

Environmental Quality Standards
Noise standards for both general and roadside areas were set in Japan in 1967, through the
Basic Law for Environmental Pollution. This law was updated in September 1999. Each
standard is classified according to the type of land use and the time of day. In ordinary
residential areas, the night-time standard is 45 dB LAeq, but in areas that require even lower
noise exposure, such as hospitals, this is lowered to 40 dB LAeq. In contrast, the daytime levels
for commercial and industrial areas is as high as 60 dBA. Standards for roadside areas are 70 dB
LAeq for daytime and 65 dB LAeq for nighttime. Between 19731997 noise standards for
aircraft noise, super-express train noise and conventional railway train noise were also
implemented. Standards for aircraft noise were set in terms of the weighted equivalent
continuous perceived noise level (WECPNL). For residential areas, the WECPNL standard is 70
dBA, and is 75 dBA for areas where it is necessary to maintain a normal daily life.
For super-express trains, the Environmental Agency required noise levels to be below 75 dBA in
densely populated residential areas, such as along the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines, as
well as in increasingly populated areas, such as along the Tohoku and Joetsu Shinkansen lines.
The standards were to be met by 1990, but by 1991 this level had been achieved at only 76% of
the measuring sites on average. Noise countermeasures included the installation of new types of
sound-proof walls, and laying ballast mats along densely populated stretches of the four
Shinkansen lines. Noise and vibration problems can also result from conventional trains, such as
occurred with the opening of the Tsugaru Strait and Seto Ohashi railway lines in 1988. Various
measures have since been taken to address the problems.
Complaints About Community Noise.
In Japan, complaints to local governments about environmental problems have been summarized
annually and reported by Japan Environmental Agency. Thirty-seven percent of all complaints
was due to factory (machinery) noise; 22% to construction noise; 3% to road traffic noise; 4% to
air traffic noise; 0.8% to rail traffic noise; 9% to night-time business; 6% to other commercial
activities; 2.5% to loudspeaker announcements; 9% to domestic noise; and 8% was due to
miscellaneous complaints.

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Sources of Noise Exposure and their Effects

Road-traffic noise. The number of automobiles in Japan has increased from 20 million in 1971
to 70 million in 1994, a 3.5-fold increase. One-third of this increase was due to heavy-duty
vehicles. Since 1994, out of a total of 1 150 000 km of roads in Japan, only 29 930 km have
been designed according to noise regulations.
According to 1998 estimates by the
Environmental Agency, 58% of all roads passed through residential areas. Daytime noise limits
were exceeded in 92% of all cases, and night-time limits were exceeded in 87% of all cases. The
study also estimated that 0.5 million houses within 10 m of the roads were exposed to excessive
traffic noise. In a recent lawsuit, the Japanese Supreme Court ruled that people should be
compensated when exposed to night-time noise levels exceeding 65 dB Laeq. This would apply
to people living alongside 2 000 km of roads in Japan.
A recent epidemiological study examined insomnia in 3 600 women living in eight different
roadside areas exposed to night-time traffic. Insomnia was defined as one or more of the
following symptoms: difficulty in falling asleep; waking up during sleep; waking up too early;
and feelings of sleeplessness one or more days a week over a period of at least a month. The
data were adjusted for confounding variables, such as age, medical care, whether the subjects
had young children to care for, and sleep apnea symptoms. The results showed that the odds
ratio for insomnia was significantly correlated with the average night-time traffic volume for
each of the eight areas and suggested that insomnia could be attributed solely to night-time road
traffic.
From the most noisy areas in the above study 19 insomnia cases were selected for a further indepth examination. The insomnia cases were matched in age and work with 19 control subjects.
Indoor and outdoor sound levels during sleep were measured simultaneously at 0.6 s intervals.
For residences facing roads with average night-time traffic volume of 6 000 vehicles per hour,
the highest sound levels observed were 7893 dBA. The odds ratios for insomnia in each of the
quartiles for LAmax,1min; L50,1min; L10,1min and LAeq,1min generally showed a linear trend
and ranged between 1 (lowest quartile) and 67 (highest quartile). It was concluded that
insomnia was likely to result when night-time indoor LAeq, 1min sound levels exceeded 30
dBA.
Air-traffic noise At the larger Japanese airports (Osaka, Tokyo, Fukuoka), jet airplanes have
rapidly increased in number and have caused serious complaints and lawsuits from those living
nearby. Complaints about jet-fighter noise are also common from residents living in the vicinity
of several U.S. airbases located in Japan. In the case of Kadena and Futemma airbases on
Okinawa, a recent study by the Okinawa Prefecture Government suggested that hearing loss,
child misbehaviour and low birth-weight babies were possible health effects of the noise
associated with these bases (RSCANIH 1997). Using measurements taken in 1968 during the
Vietnam War, it was estimated that the WECPNL was 99108 dBA at the Kadena village fire
station. Similar WECPNL estimates of 105 dBA were also obtained for Yara (Kadena-cho) and
Sunabe (Chatan-cho) bases. These levels correspond to a LAeq,24h value of 83 dB, and are of
serious concern in light of recommendations by the Japan Association of Industrial Health that
occupational noise exposure levels should not exceed 85 dB for an 8-h work day if hearing loss
is to be avoided.

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Audiogrammes of subjects living in areas surrounding Kadena airport indicated that they had
progressive hearing loss at higher frequencies. Eight subjects had hearing impairment in the 36
kHz range, which strongly suggested that the hearing loss was due to excessive noise exposure.
Since the examiners confirmed the subjects had not been exposed to repeated intense noise at
their residences or workplaces, the most likely cause of their hearing loss was the intense aircraft
noise during take-offs, landings and tune-ups at Kadena airport.
The effects of noise were examined in children from nursery schools and kindergartens in towns
surrounding Kadena airport. The children were scored with respect to seven variables: cold
symptoms, emotional instability, discontentment-anxiety, headache-stomachache, passivity,
eating problems and urination problems. Confounding factors, such as sex, age, birth order, the
number of parents living together, the mothers age when the child was born, reaction to noise
and the extent of noise exposure, were taken into account. The results showed that children
exposed to noise had significantly more problems with respect to their behaviour, physical
condition, character and reaction to noise, when compared to a control group of children that had
not been exposed to airport noise. This was especially true of for children exposed to a
WECPNL of 75 or more. Thus, small children acquire both physical and mental disorders from
chronic exposure to aircraft noise.
Chronic exposure to aircraft noise also affects the birth-weight of children. The birth-weights of
infants were analyzed using records from 1974 to 1993 in the Okinawa Prefecture. Confounding
factors such as the mother's age, whether there were single or multiple embryos, the childs sex,
and the legitimacy of the child were considered. The results showed that 9.1 % of all infants
born in Kadena-cho, located closest to Kadena airport, had low birth-weights. This was
significantly higher than the 7.6 % rate seen in other municipalities around Kadena and Futemma
airfields, and much higher than the 7 % rate in cities, towns and villages on other parts of
Okinawa Island.
Rail-traffic noise. Commuter trains and subway cars expose Tokyo office workers to much
higher noise levels than do other daily activities (Kabuto & Suzuki 1976). Exposure to indoor
noise may vary according to railway line or season (there are more open windows in good
weather), but the levels range from 6585 dBA. In general, these values exceeded the LAeq,24h
level of 70 dBA for auditory protection (US EPA 1974).
Neighbourhood noise. Neighbourhood noise, including noise from late-night business
operations, noise caused by loudspeaker announcements, and noise from everyday activities,
have accounted for approximately 39% of all complaints about noise in recent years. At present,
noise controls for late-night business operations have been enforced by ordinances in 39 cities
and prefectures, and in 42 cities for loudspeaker announcements.
References
Japan Environmental Agency Government of Japan (1994): Quality of the Environment in Japan
1994, Global Environment Department, Environment Agency, Tokyo.

140

Kabuto M and Suzuki S (1976) A trial measurement of individual noise exposure by time zone in
a day. Japanese Journal of Industrial Health, 18:17-22.
Kabuto M, Ohtsuka R, Suzuki S (1978) Measurement and evaluation of individual noise
exposure level of Tokyo metropolitan commuters and railroad cars above ground and in
subways. Japanese Journal of Public Health 2: 59-63.
Kageyama, T., Kabuto, M. Nitta H, Kurokawa Y, Taira K, Suzuki S, Takemoto T (1974): A
population study on risk factors for insomnia among adult Japanese women: A possible effects of
road traffic volume. Sleep 20: 963-971.
RSCAINH (1997) Summary of the Interim Report of the Field Study on Public Health around
U.S. Bases in Okinawa, Research Study Committee of Aircraft Noise Influences to Health,
Okinawa Prefecture Government, Okinawa Public Health Association.
US EPA (1974) information on levels of environmental noise requisite to protect public health
and welfare with an adequate margin of safety. Rep. No. 550/9-74.004.

141

Appendix 3 : Glossary

Acoustic

Pertaning to sound or to the sense of hearing (CMD 1997)

Acoustic dispersion

Change of speed of sound with frequency (ANSI 1994)

Acoustic trauma

Injury to hearing by noise, especially loud noise (CMD

1997)

Adverse effect

(of noise:) A change in morphology and physiology of an

organism which results in impairment of functional
capacity or impairment of capacity to compensate for
additional stress or increase in susceptibility to the harmful
effects of other environmental influences. This definition
includes any temporary or long term lowering of physical,
psychological or social functioning of humans or human
organs (WHO 1994)

Annoyance

A feeling of displeasure associated with any agent or

condition known or believed by an individual or a group to
be adversely affecting them (Lindvall and Radford 1973;
Koelega 1987). Any sound that is perceived as irritating or
a nuisance (ANSI 1995)

Anxiety

A feeling of apprehension, uncertainty, and fear without

apparent stimulus, and associated with physiological
changes (tachycardia, sweating, tremor, etc.) (DIMD 1985).
A vaguer feeling of apprehension, worry, uneasiness, or
dread, the source of which is often nonspecific or unknown
to the individual (CMD 1997).

Audiometry

Testing of the hearing sense (CMD 1997). Measurement of

hearing, including aspects other than hearing sensitivity
(ANSI 1995)

Auditory

Pertaining to the sense of hearing (CMD 1997)

Auditory threshold

Minimum audible sound perceived (CMD 1997)

A-weighting

A frequency dependent correction that is applied to a

measured or calculated sound of moderate intensity to
mimick the varying sensitivity of the ear to sound for
different frequencies

142

Ambient noise

All-encompassing sound at a given place, usually a

composite of sounds from many sources near and far
(ANSI 1994)

Articulation index

Numerical value indicating the proportion of an average

speech signal that is understandable to an individual (ANSI
1995)

Bel

Unit of level when the base of the logarithm is ten, and the
quantities concerned are proportional to power; unit symbol
B (ANSI 1994)

Cardiovascular

Pertaining to the heart and blood vessels (DIMD 1985)

Cochlea

A winding cone-shaped tube forming a portion of the inner

ear. It contains the receptor for hearing (CMD 1997)

Cognitive

Being aware with perception, reasoning, judgement,

intuition, and memory (CMD 1997)

Community noise

Noise emitted from all noise sources except noise at the

industrial workplace (WHO 1995a)

Cortisol

A glucocortical hormone of the outer layer of the adrenal

gland (CMD 1997)

Critical health effect

Health effect with lowest effect level

C-weighting

A frequency dependent correction that is applied to a

measured or calculated sound of high intensity to mimick
the varying sensitivity of the ear to sound for different
frequencies

dB

Decibel, one-tenth of a bel

dBA

A-weighted frequency spectrum in dB, see A-weighting

dBC

C-weighted frequency spectrum in dB, see C-weighting

dBlin

Unweighted frequency spectrum in dB

Decibel

Unit of level when the base of the logarithm is the tenth

root of ten, and the quantities concerned are proportional to
power; unit symbol dB (ANSI 1994)

143

Ear plug

Hearing protector that is inserted into the ear canal (ANSI

1994)

Ear muff

Hearing protector worn over the pinna (external part) of an

ear (ANSI 1994)

Effective perceived noise level

Level of the time integral of the antilogarithm of one tenth

of tone-corrected perceived noise level over the duration of
an aircraft fly-over, the reference duration being 10 s
(ANSI 1994)

Emission

(of sounds). Sounds generated from all types of sources

Epinephrine

A hormone secreted by the adrenal medulla (inner or

central portion of an organ) in response to stimulation of
the sympathetic nervous system (CMD 1997)

Equal energy principle

Hypothesis that states that the total effect of sound is

proportional to the total amount of sound energy received
by the ear, irrespective of the distribution of that energy in
time

Equivalent sound pressure level

Ten times the logarithm to the base ten of the ratio of the
time-mean-square instantaneous sound pressure, during a
stated time interval T, to the square of the standard
reference sound pressure (ANSI 1994)

Exposure-response curve

Graphical representation of exposure-response relationship

Exposure-response relationship

(With respect to noise:) Relationship between specified

sound levels and health impacts

Frequency

For a function periodic in time, the reciprocal of the period

(ANSI 1994)

Frequency-weighting

A frequency dependent correction that is applied to a

measured or calculated sound (ANSI 1994)

Gastro-intestinal

Pertaining to the stomach and intestines (CMD 1997)

Hearing impairment, hearing loss

A decreased ability to perceive sounds as compared which

what the individual or examiner would regard as normal
(CMD 1997)

Hearing threshold

For a given listener and specified signal, the minimum (a)

sound pressure level or (b) force level that is capable of

144

evoking an auditory sensation in a specified function of

trials (ANSI 1994)
Hertz

Unit of frequency, the number of times a phenomenon

repeats itself in a unit of time; abbreviated to Hz

Hysteria

A mental disorder, usually temporary, presenting somatic

(pertaining to the body) symptoms, stimulating almost any
type of physical disease. Symptoms include emotional
instability, various sensory disturbations, and a marked
craving for sympathy (CMD 1997)

Immission

Sounds impacting on the human ear.

Impulsive sound

Sound consisting of one or more very brief and rapid

increases in sound pressure

Incubator

An enclosed crib, in which the temperature and humidity

may be regulated, for care of premature babies (CMD
1997)

Isolation, insulation

(With respect to sound:) Between two rooms in a specified

frequency band, difference between the space-time average
sound presssure levels in the two enclosed spaces when one
or more sound sources operates in one of the rooms (ANSI
1994).
(With respect to vibrations:) Reduction in the capacity of a
system to respond to excitation, attained by use of resilient
support (ANSI 1994).

Ischaemic Heart Disease

Heart disease due to a local and temporary deficiency of

blood supply due to obstruction of the circulation to a part
(CMD 1997)

Loudness level

Of a sound, the median sound pressure level in a specified

number of trials of a free progressive wave having a
frequency of 1000 Hz that is judged equally loud as the
unknown sound when presented to listeners with normal
hearing who are facing the source; unit phon (ANSI 1994)

Level

Logarithm of the ratio of a quantity to a reference quantity

of the same kind; unit Bel (ANSI 1994)

Maximum sound level

Greatest fast (125 milliseconds) A-weighted sound level,

within a stated time interval (ANSI 1994)

145

Mental Health

The absence of identifiable psychiatric disorder according

to current norms (Freeman 1984). In noise research, mental
health covers a variety of symptoms, ranging from anxiety,
emotional stress, nervous complaints, nausea, headaches,
instability, argumentativeness, sexual impotency, changes
in general mood and anxiety, and social conflicts, to more
general psychiatric categories like neurosis, phychosis and
hysteria (Berglund and Lindvall 1995).

Morphological

Pertaining to the science of structure and form of organisms

without regard to function (CMD 1997)

Nausea

An unpleasant sensation usually preceding vomiting (CMD

1997)

Neurosis

An emotional disorder due to unresolved conflicts, anxiety

being its chief characteristic (DIMD 1985)

Noise

Undesired sound. By extension, noise is any unwarranted

disturbance within a useful frequency band, such as
undesired electric waves in a transmission channel or
device (ANSI 1994).

Noise induced
temporary threshold shift

Noise induced
permanent threshold shift

Temporary hearing impairment occurring as a result of

noise exposure, often phrased temporary threshold shift
(adapted from ANSI 1994)
Permanent hearing impairment occurring as a result of
noise exposure, often phrased permanent threshold shift
(adapted from ANSI 1994)

Noise level

Level of undesired sound

Norepinephrine

A hormone produced by the adrenal medulla (inner or

central portion of an organ), similar in chemical and
pharmacological properties to epinephrine, but chiefly a
vasoconstrictor with little effect on cardiac output (CMD
1997)

Oscillation

Variation, usually with time, of the magnitude of a quantity

with respect to a specified reference when the magnitude is
alternately greater and smaller than the reference (ANSI
1994)

146

Ototoxic

Having a detrimental effect on the organs of hearing (CMD

1997)

Paracusis

Any abnormality or disorder of the sense of hearing (CMD

1997)

Pascal

Unit of pressure, equal to one newton per square meter,

abbreviated to Pa

Peak sound pressure

Greatest absolute instantaneous sound pressure within a

specified time interval (ANSI 1994)

Peak sound pressure level

Level of peak sound pressure with stated frequency

weighting, within a specified time interval (ANSI 1994)

Perceived noise level

Frequency-weighted sound pressure level obtained by a

stated procedure that combines the sound pressure levels in
the 24 one-third octave bands with midband frequencies
from 50 Hz to 10 kHz (ANSI 1994)

Permanent threshold shift,

permanent hearing loss

Permanent increase in the auditory threshold for an ear

(adapted from ANSI 1995) (see also: noise induced
permanent threshold shift)

Presbyacusia, presbycusis

The progressive loss of hearing ability due to the normal

aging process (CMD 1997)

Psychiatric disorders

Mental disorders

Psychosis

Mental disturbance of a magnitude that there is a

personality disintegration and loss of contact with reality
(CMD 1997)

Psychotropic drug

A drug that affects psychic function, behaviour or

experience (CMD 1997)

Reverberation time

Of an enclosure, for a stated frequency or frequency band,

time that would be required for the level of time-meansquare sound pressure in the enclosure to decrease by 60
dB, after the source has been stopped (ANSI 1994)

Sensorineural

Of or pertaining to a sensory nerve; pertaining to or

affecting a sensory mechanism and/or a sensory nerve
(DIMD 1985)

147

Signal

Information to be conveyed over a communication system

(ANSI 1994)

Signal-to-noise ratio

Ratio of a measure of a signal to the same measure of the

noise (ANSI 1995) (see also: noise in its extended
meaning)

Silencer

Duct designed to reduce the level of sound; the soundreducing mechanisms may be either absorptive or reactive,
or a combination (ANSI 1994)

Sound absorption

Change in sound energy into some other form, usually heat,

in passing through a medium or on striking a surface (ANSI
1994)

Sound energy

Total energy in a given part of a medium minus the energy

that would exist at that same part with no sound waves
present (ANSI 1994)

Sound exposure

Time integral of squared, instantaneous frequencyweighted sound pressure over a stated time interval or
event (ANSI 1994)

Sound exposure level

Ten times the logarithm to the base ten of the ratio of a

given time integral of squared, instantaneous A-weighted
sound pressure, over a stated time interval or event, to the
product of the squared reference sound pressure of 20
micropascals and reference duration of one second (ANSI
1994)

Sound intensity

Average rate of sound energy transmitted in a specified

direction at a point through a unit area normal to this
direction at the point considered (ANSI 1994)

Sound level meter

Device to be used to measure sound pressure level with a

standardized frequency weighting and indicated
exponential time weighting for measurements of sound
level, or without time weighting for measurement of timeaverage sound pressure level or sound exposure level
(ANSI 1994)

Sound pressure

Root-mean-square instantaneous sound pressure at a point,

during a given time interval (ANSI 1994), where the
instantaneous sound pressure is the total instantaneous
pressure in that point minus the static pressure (ANSI
1994)

148

Sound pressure level

Ten times the logarithm to the base ten of the ratio of the
time-mean-square pressure of a sound, in a stated
frequency band, to the square of the reference sound
pressure in gases of 20 :Pa (ANSI 1994)

Sound reduction index

Single-number rating of airborne sound insulation of a

partition (ANSI 1994)

Sound transmission class

Single-number rating of airborne sound insulation of a

building partition (ANSI 1994)

Speech interference level

One-fourth of the the sum of the band sound pressure levels

for octave-bands with nominal midband frequencies of 500,
100, 2000 and 4000 Hz (ANSI 1994)

Speech intelligibility

That property which allows units of speech to be identified

(ANSI 1995)

Speech perception

Psychological process that relates a sensation caused by a

spoken message to a listeners knowledge of speech and
language (ANSI 1995)

Speech comprehension

(a) Highest level of speech perception. (b) Knowledge or

understanding of a verbal statement (ANSI 1995)

Speech transmission index

Physical methgod for measuring the quality of speechtransmission channels accounting for nonlinear distortions
as well as distortions of time (ANSI 1995)

Stereocilia

Nonmotile protoplasmic projections from free surfaces on

the hair cells of the receptors of the inner ear (CMD 1997)

Stress

The sum of the biological reactions to any adverse

stimulus, physical, mental or emotional, internal or
external, that tends to disturb the organisms homeostasis
(DIMD 1985)

Temporary threshold shift,

temporary hearing loss

Tinnitus

Temporary increase in the auditory threshold for an ear

caused by exposure to high-intensity acoustic stimuli
(adapted from ANSI 1995) (see also: noise induced
temporary threshold shift).
A subjective ringing or tinkling sound in the ear (CMD
1997). Otological condition in which sound is perceived by

149

a person without an external auditory stimulation. The

sound may be a whistling, ringing, buzzing, or cricket type
sounds, but auditory hallucinations of voices are excluded
(ANSI 1995).
Vibration

Oscillation of a parameter that defines the motion of a

mechanical system (ANSI 1994)

For references see Appendix A.

150

Appendix 4 : Acronyms
AAP
AI
AMIS
ANEF
ANSI
ASCII
ASHA
ASTM
CEN
CFR
CIAL
CMD
CNRC
COPD
CSD
CSIRO
CVS
DNL
EC DG
ECE
ECMT
EHIAP
EIAP
EMRO
ENIA
EPNL
EU
FAA
FFT
GIS
Hz
ICAO
ICBEN
IEC
ILO
INCE
INRETS
ISO
I-INCE
L10

American Academy of Pediatrics

Articulation Index
Air Management Information System (WHO, Healthy Cities)
Australian Noise Exposure Forecast
American National Standard Institute, Washington DC, USA
American Standard Code for Information Interchange
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Rockville, MD, USA
American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, PA, USA
Comit Europen de Normalisation, Brussels, Belgium (European Committee
for Standardization )
Code of Federal Regulations (United States)
Centro de Investigaciones Acsticas y Luminotcnicas, Crdoba, Argentina
(Centre of acoustical and light- technical investigations)
Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary
Conseil National de Recherches du Canada (National Research Council)
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Commission for Sustainable Development
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization
Cardiovascular System
Day-Night Average Sound Level (United States)
European Commission Directorate General
Economic Commission for Europe
European Conference of Ministers of Transport
Environmental Health Impact Assessment Plan
Environmental Impact Assessment Plan
WHO Regional Office of the Eastern Mediterranean
Environmental Noise Impact Analysis
Effective Perceived Noise Level measure
European Union
Federal Aviation Administration (United States)
Fast Fourier Transform technique
Geographic Information System
Hertz, the unit of frequency
International Civil Aviation Organization
International Commission on the Biological Effects of Noise
International Electrotechnical Commission
International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland
Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the United States of America
Institut National de REcherche sur les Transports et leur Scurit, Arcueil, France
(National Research Institute for Transport and their Safety)
International Standards Organization
International Institute of Noise Control Engineering
10 percentile of sound pressure level
151

L50
Median sound pressure level
L90
90-percentile of sound pressure level
LA
Latin America
LAeq,T
A-weighted equivalent sound pressure level for period T
LAmax
Maximum A-weighted sound pressure level in a stated interval
Ldn
Day and night continuous equivalent sound pressure level
Leq,T
Equivalent sound pressure level for period T
LEQ(FLG)
Descriptor used for aircraft noise (Germany)
LNIP
Low Noise Implementation Plan
Lp
Sound pressure level
MTF
Modulation Transfer Function
NASA
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (United States)
NC
Noise Criterion
NCA
Noise Control Act (United States)
NCB
Balanced Noise Criterion procedure system
NEF
Noise Exposure Forecast
NEPA
National Environmental Policy Act (United States)
NGO
Non Governmental Organization
NIHL
Noise Induced Hearing Loss
NIPTS
Noise Induced Permanent Threshold Shift
NITTS
Noise Induced Temporary Threshold Shift
NNI
Noise and Number Index
NR
Noise Rating
NRC
National Research Council (United States, Canada)
OECD
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, France.
ONAC
Office of Noise Abatement and Control of the US EPA
OSHA
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Pa
Pascal, the unit of pressure
PAHO
Pan American Health Organization
PHE
Department for Protection of the Human Environment, WHO, Geneva
PNL
Perceived Noise Level
PSIL
Preferred Speech Interference Level
PTS
Permanent Threshold Shift
RASTI
Rapid Speech Transmission Index
RC
Room Criterion
SABS
South African Bureau of Standards
SEL
Sound Exposure Level
STC
Sound Transmission Class
STI
Speech Transmission Index
TTS
Temporary Threshold Shift
UK
United Kingdom
UN
United Nations
UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, June
1992)
UNDP
United Nations Development Programme
UNECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

152

UNEP
UNESCO
US EPA
USA
WCED
WECPNL
WHO
WWF

United Nations Environment Programme

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States of America
World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission)
Weighted Equivalent Continuous Perceived Noise Level
World Health Organization
World Wildlife Fund

153

Appendix 5 : Equations and other technical information

Basic acoustical measures
Sound Pressure Level
The time-varying sound pressure will completely define a sound in a given location. The sound
-5
2
2
pressure range is wide within which human listeners can receive (10 - 10 N/m ). Therefore, it
is practical to measure sound pressure level on a logarithmic scale. Sound intensity level is
defined as 10 times the logarithm (to the base 10) of the ratio of the sound intensity of a target
sound to the sound intensity of another (reference) sound. Sound intensity is proportional to the
squared sound pressure because the static mass density of the sound medium as well as the speed
of sound in this medium are invariant. The sound pressure level (Lp) of a sound may be
expressed as a function of sound pressure (p) and is, thus, possible to measure:
2

Lp = 10 log10 (p/pref)

For the purpose of measuring sound pressure level in a comparative way, the reference pressure,
-5
2
pref, has an internationally agreed value of 2.10 N/m (earlier 20 Pa). Sound pressure level is
then expressed in decibel (dB) relative to this reference sound.

Sound Pressure Level of Combined Sounds

Whereas sound intensities or energies or pressures are additive, non-correlated time-varying
sound pressure levels have first to be expressed as mean square pressure, then added, and then
transferred to a sound pressure value again. For example, if two sound sources are combined,
each of a sound pressure level of 80 dB, then the sound pressure level of the resulting combined
sound will become 83 dB:
8

Lp = 10 * log10 (10 + 10 ) = 10 * log10 (2 * 10 ) = 10 * (log10 2 + log10 10 ) =

10 * (0.3 + 8) = 83
It is only sounds with similar sound pressure levels that when combined will result in a
significant increase in sound pressure level relative to the louder sound. In the example given
above, a doubling of the sound energy from two sources will only result in a 3-dB increase in
sound pressure level. For two sound sources that emit non-correlated time-varying sound
pressures, this represents the maximum increase possible. The sound pressure level outcome,
resulting from combining two sound pressure levels in dB, is displayed in Figure A.5.1.

154

Value to be added
to stronger
component [dB]
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0

10

Excess of stronger component [dB]

Figure A.5.1: Estimate of combined sound levels

Equivalent Continuous Sound Pressure Level

Average sound pressure level is determined for a time period of interest, T, which may be an
interval in seconds, minutes, or hours. This gives a dB-value in Leq that stands for equivalent
continuous sound pressure level or simply sound level. It is derived from the following
mathematical expression in which A-weighting has been applied:
.
T

LAeq,T = 10 log10 {(1/T) 0 m 10 Lp(t)/10 dt } [dBA]

Because the integral is a measure of the total sound energy during the period T, this process is
often called energy averaging. For similar reasons, the integral term representing the total
sound energy may be interpreted as a measure of the total noise dose. Thus, Leq is the level of
that steady sound which, over the same interval of time as the fluctuating sound of interest, has
the same mean square sound pressure, usually applied as an A-frequency weighting. The interval
of time must be stated.

Sound exposure level

Individual noise events can be described in terms of their sound exposure level (SEL). SEL is
defined as the constant sound level over a period of 1 s that would have the same amount of
energy as the complete noise event (Ford 1987). For a single noise event occurring over a time
interval T, the relationship between SEL and LAeq,T is,
SEL = LAeq,T + 10 log10 (T/T0 )
In this equation T0 is 1 s.

155

Day and night continuous sound pressure level

There are different definition in different countries. One definition is (von Gierke 1975; Ford
1987):
Ldn = LAeq,16h + LAeq,8h 10 dBA
Where LAeq,16h is the day equivalent sound pressure level and LAeq,8h is the night equivalent
sound pressure level.

Sound Transmission into and within buildings

An approximate relationship between sound reduction index (R), the frequency (f), the mass per
unit area of the panel (m) in kg/m2 , and the angle of incidence () is given by
R() = 20 log{f m COS()} 42.4, (dB)
This relationship indicates that the sound reduction index will increase with the mass of a panel
and with the frequency of the sound as well as varying with the angle of incidence of the sound.
It is valid for limp materials but is a good approximation to the behaviour of many real building
materials at lower frequencies.
The sound reduction index versus frequency characteristics are usually complicated by a
coincidence dip which occurs around the frequency where the wavelength of the incident sound
is the same as the wavelength of bending waves in the building faade material. The frequency at
which the coincidence dip occurs is influenced by the stiffness of the panel material. Thicker,
and hence stiffer materials, will have coincidence dips that are lower in frequency than less stiff
materials. Figure A.5.2 plots measured sound reduction index values versus frequency for 4 mm
thick glass and illustrates the coincidence dip for this glass at a frequency centered just above
3 kHz.

156

Sound Reduction Index, dB

50

40

Mass-air-mass
resonance

30

20

Coincidence
dip

10
125

250

500

1000

2000

4000

Frequency, Hz

Figure A.5.2: Sound reduction index versus

frequency for single and double layers of 4 mm
glass (air separation 13 mm).
As also illustrated in Figure A.5.2 for two layers of 4 mm glass, the low frequency sound
reduction can be severely limited by the mass-air-mass resonance. This resonance is due to the
combination of the masses of the two layers and the stiffness of the enclosed air space. As the
Figure A.5.2 example shows, this resonance can often dramatically reduce the low frequency
sound reduction of common double window constructions.
The sound reduction of various building constructions can be calculated as the difference
between the average sound levels in the two rooms (L1 L2 ) plus a correction involving the area
of the test panel (S) in m2 and the total sound absorption (A) in m2 in the receiving room,
R = L1 L2 + 10 log{S/A} [dB].
For outdoor-to-indoor sound propagation, the measured sound reduction index will also depend
on the angle of incidence of the outdoor sound as well as the position of the outdoor measuring
microphone relative to the building faade,
R = L1 L2 + 10 log{4S COS()/A} + k [dB].
When the outdoor incident sound level L1 is measured with the outdoor microphone positioned
against the external faade surface, measured incident sound pressures will be 6 dB higher due to
pressure doubling. This occurs because the incident sound and reflected sound arrive at the
microphone at the same time. If the external microphone is located 2 m from the faade, there
will not be exact pressure doubling but an approximate doubling of the measured sound energy
corresponding to a 3 dB increase in sound level. The table below indicates the appropriate
values of k to be used in the above equation, depending on the location of the outdoor
microphone, to account for sound reflected from the faade.
k = 0, dB
L1 does not include reflected sound.
k = -3, dB
L1 measured 2 m from faade and includes reflected energy.
k = -6, dB
L1 measured at the faade surface and includes pressure doubling effect.

157

Appendix 6 : Participant list of THE WHO Expert Task Force meeting

on Guidelines For Community Noise, 26-30 April 1999, MARC,
London, UK
Professor Birgitta Berglund, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, S-10691
Stockholm, Sweden, Tel: +46 8 16 3857, Fax: +46 8 16 5522, Email: [email protected].
Dr. Hans Bgli, Bundesamt fr Umwelt, Wald und Landschaft (BUWAL), Abteilung
Lrmbekmpfung, CD 3003 Bern, Switzerland, Tel: +41 31 322 9370, Fax: +41 31 323 0372,
Email: [email protected].
Dr. John S. Bradley, Manager, Acoustics Subprogram, Indoor Environment Program, National
Research Council Canada, Ottawa, K1A OR6, Canada, Tel: +1 613 993 9747, Fax: +1 613 954
1495, Email: [email protected].
Dr. Ming Chen, Department of Otolaryngology, Fujian Provincial Hospital, NE 134 East Street,
Fuzhou 350001, People=s Republic of China, Tel: +86 0591 755 7768-365(258) office, 755 6952
home, Fax: +86 0591 755 6952, Email:
Lawrence S. Finegold, Air Force Research Laboratory, AFRL/HECA, 2255 H Street, WrightPatterson AFB, OH 45433-7022, USA, Tel: +1 937 255 7559, Fax: +1 937 255-9198, Email:
[email protected].
Etienne Grond, P.O. Box 668, Messina 0900, South Africa, Tel: +27 15 575 2031,
Fax: +27 15 575 2025, Email: [email protected].
Professor Andrew Hede , University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Maroochydore
South, Qld. 4558, Australia, Tel: +61 7 5430 1230, Fax: +61 7 5430 1231, Email:
[email protected].
Professor Gerd Jansen, Institut fr Arbeitsmedizin der Medizinischen Einrichtungen der
Heinrich-Heine-Universitt Dsseldorf, Kirchfeldstrae 35, D-40217 Dsseldorf, Germany,
Tel: +49 211 919 4985 (O.), +49 201 403 123 (R.), Fax: +49 211 919 3989, Email: Jan.G2tonline.de
Dr. Michinori Kabuto, Director, Env. Risk Research Division, National Institute for
Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan, Tel: +81 298 50 2333, Fax:
+81 298 50 2571, Email: [email protected]/[email protected].
Professor Thomas Lindvall, National Institute of Environmental Medicine and Karolinska
Institutet, PO Box 210, S-17177 Stockholm, Sweden, Tel: +46 8 728 7510, Fax: +46 8 33 22 18,
Email: [email protected].
Dr. Amanda Niskar, CDC/NCEH, 4770 Buford Highway, NE, Mailstop F-46, Atlanta, Georgia
30341-3724, USA, Tel: +1 770 488 7009, Fax: +1 770 488 3506, Email: [email protected].

158

Dr Sudhakar B. Ogale, Professor and Head, Dept. of Otolaryngology, G.S. Medical College
and KEM Hospital, Parel, Mumbai 400012, India, Tel: +91 22 413 6051 Ext ENT,
Home +91 22 412 4329, Fax: +91 22 414 3435, Email:
Mrs. Willy Passchier-Vermeer, TNO Prevention and Health, P. O. Box 2215, 2301CE Leiden,
The Netherlands, Tel: +31 715 181 786, Fax: +31 715 181 920, Email: [email protected]
Professor Shirley Thompson, Epidemiologist, Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School
of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA, Tel: +1 803 7777353/5056, Fax: +1 803 777-2524, Email: [email protected].
Max Thorne , National Environmental Noise Service, P.O. Box 6157, Rotorua, New Zealand,
Tel.: + 64 7 36 28 956, Fax: +64 7 362 8753, E-mail: [email protected].
Frits van den Berg, Science Shop for Physics, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747
AG Groningen, The Netherlands, Tel: +31 50 363 4867, Fax: +31 50 363 4727, Email:
[email protected].
Professor Shabih Haider Zaidi, Chairman, Dept. of ENT Surgery, Dow Medical College,
Karachi , Pakistan, Tel: +92 21 583 1197 or 583 3311, Fax: +92 21 568 9258/671 264, Email:
[email protected].

WHO Secretariat
Mr Dominique Francois, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Scherfigsvej 8, DK-2100
Copenhague O, Denmark, Tel: +45 39 17 14 27, Fax: +45 39 17 18 18, Email: [email protected].
Dr. Dietrich Schwela, Occupational and Environmental Health (OEH), World Health
Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Tel: +41 22 791 4261, Fax: +41 22 791
4123, Email:[email protected].
King=s College London
Professor Peter Williams , Director MARC, King=s College London, W8 7AD, UK, Tel: +44
171 842 4004, Fax: +44 171 848 4003, Email: [email protected].

Observer
Bernard F. Berry, Head of Noise Standards, Centre for Mechanical and Acoustical Metrology,
National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 OLW, United Kingdom, Tel: + 44
(0)181 943 6215, Fax: + 44 (0) 181 943 6217, Email: [email protected].

159