sound pollution problem essay

Sound Pollution Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on sound pollution.

Sound pollution also known as Noise Pollution is one of the most rampant pollutions we find in the world. Especially in India, the nuisance of sound pollution is steadily on the rise, especially in urban cities and areas. Some statistics say that noise pollution in New Delhi is now having medical effects on the inhabitants of the city. But what exactly constitutes sound pollution? Let us read more in this sound pollution essay.

Sound or rather noise pollution is a physical form of pollution. Sound pollution does not affect any element of our environment directly. So it does not have a direct effect on the land, air, soil or any other such life-supporting elements. It actually affects the human population more directly. Essentially the excess of sound or noise, such that it causes disturbance and imbalances the day-to-day life of humans and animals is known as noise pollution.

Sources of Sound Pollution

While sound pollution is not fatal or lethal in any form to humans, it is still a very harmful form of pollution. In this sound pollution essay, it is essential that we look at some of the major sources of sound pollution and how they contribute to the ever-rising degradation of our habitats.

All the sources of noise pollution are man-made in nature. One of the most common and harmful sources is the noise caused due to various transportation systems and motor vehicles in particular. Increasing traffic congestions, the sheer number of vehicles on the roads, the noise from unnecessary honking, etc are all major contributing factors to sound pollution, especially in major cities like Mumbai and Delhi.

Read 500 Words Essay on Pollution here.

The other major source of noise pollution is industrial activities. Since the Industrial Revolution, the world has never slowed down manufacturing and other industrial activities. This has taken a toll on our environment in the form of land and air pollution. And now we can add noise pollution to the list. Factories, printing presses, mills, metal works, etc. are all contributing to the noise pollution of the area. Hence it is ideal to keep industrial areas and residential areas separate, but this is not always possible.

There are quite literally thousands of other sources such as loudspeakers, roadworks, crackers, household noises, agricultural activities, that all are also harmful and cause some degree of noise pollution.

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Effects of Noise Pollution

As we saw earlier in this sound pollution essay, the effects of sound pollution are directly on humans and not on the environment as such. While these effects are not instantaneous there are some very serious effects of noise pollution that cannot be taken lightly. The effects of noise pollution are both physical and psychological or behavioral in nature.

One of the obvious physical effects is the effect sound pollution can have on the hearing of a person. Hearing loss or some form of hearing impairment due to excessive noise is becoming increasingly common. And this is not only restricted to senior citizens, but even the younger generation is also being affected in this manner. Another common effect is the lack of sleep due to noise pollution. This, in turn, causes various other symptoms such as irritability, hypertension, ulcers and even cardiovascular diseases.

Persistent insomnia can cause humans to have certain negative psychological effects which we can also trace back to sound pollution. Fatigue, mental strain, stress and even depression in some capacity can be the effects of sound pollution.

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Essay on Noise Pollution: 100, 300 and 500 Words

• Updated on  
• Sep 8, 2023

Noise pollution, an insidious environmental menace, refers to the excessive and undesirable sound that disrupts the tranquillity of our surroundings. Often originating from urban areas, transportation, industries, and recreational activities, noise pollution has far-reaching implications on human health and well-being. 

Prolonged exposure to high noise levels can lead to stress, sleep disturbances, hearing impairment, and even cardiovascular problems. Moreover, it disturbs the natural habitat of wildlife and affects the overall quality of life. In this blog, we will give you a 100, 300, and 500-word essay on noise pollution. 

Also Read: Essay on Global Warming

100 Words Essay on Noise Pollution

Noise pollution is a pressing environmental issue that has detrimental effects on human health and well-being. It refers to our surroundings’ excessive, unwanted, and disturbing sounds. These sounds can originate from various sources, such as traffic, industrial machinery, construction, and even recreational activities.

Exposure to high levels of noise pollution can lead to several health problems, including hearing loss, increased stress, sleep disturbances, and cardiovascular issues. Additionally, it can disrupt communication, hinder concentration, and decrease overall quality of life.

To mitigate noise pollution, it’s essential to implement sound regulations and promote noise-reducing technologies in urban planning and infrastructure development . Public awareness and responsible behaviour, such as reducing unnecessary honking and limiting loud activities during nighttime hours, also play a crucial role in combating this problem.

In conclusion, addressing noise pollution is vital for creating healthier, more livable urban environments and improving the overall well-being of communities.

Also Read: Essay on Pollution 

300 Words Essay on Noise Pollution

Noise pollution is a pervasive and often underestimated environmental issue that has a significant impact on the quality of life in urban areas. It refers to the excessive, unwanted, and disruptive sounds that fill our surroundings, leading to a wide range of physical, psychological, and social problems.

Sources of Noise Pollution

One of the primary sources of noise pollution in urban settings is traffic. The constant roar of engines, honking horns, and screeching brakes can be overwhelming. Industrial activities also contribute significantly, with the relentless hum of machinery and construction sites adding to the cacophony. In addition to these, social and recreational activities, such as concerts, parties, and even barking dogs, can add to the noise burden.

Consequences of Noise Pollution

The consequences of noise pollution are far-reaching. Physiologically, exposure to high noise levels can lead to hearing loss, elevated stress levels, and an increased risk of cardiovascular problems. It can disrupt sleep patterns, leading to chronic fatigue and irritability. Noise pollution can also impair cognitive functions and hinder concentration, impacting productivity and academic performance .

Moreover, noise pollution has social implications. It can strain relationships among neighbours, causing conflicts and reducing the sense of community. Children growing up in noisy environments may experience delays in language development and learning difficulties. Additionally, it affects wildlife, disrupting their natural habitats and communication.

How to Reduce Noise Pollution

Addressing noise pollution requires a multifaceted approach. Urban planning and zoning regulations can play a crucial role in minimizing noise exposure for residents. The development of noise barriers, quieter road surfaces, and improved public transportation can help mitigate the problem. Promoting the use of noise-reducing technologies, such as quieter machinery and better-insulated buildings, is also essential.

Individual responsibility is equally vital. Reducing unnecessary honking, limiting loud activities during nighttime hours, and using noise-cancelling headphones are practical steps individuals can take to reduce their contribution to noise pollution.

In conclusion, noise pollution poses a growing threat to urban life, affecting physical and mental health, social harmony, and overall well-being. To combat this issue effectively, a combination of government regulations, technological advancements, and individual awareness and responsibility is needed. 

500 Words Essay on Noise Pollution

Introduction.

Noise pollution encompasses unwanted and disruptive sounds generated by various sources, including transportation, industrial activities, and recreational events. 

This essay explores the causes, effects, and solutions to noise pollution, emphasizing the pressing need for collective action to mitigate its adverse impact on modern urban life.

Causes of Noise Pollution

1. Transportation: Urban areas are characterized by constant traffic flow, which is a primary source of noise pollution. The incessant rumble of engines, screeching tires, and incessant honking contribute significantly to the overall noise levels.

2. Industrial Activities: Industries and factories, often concentrated in urban zones, generate noise through the operation of heavy machinery, equipment, and manufacturing processes. Construction activities, with their bulldozers and pile drivers, are particularly notorious for their noise emissions.

3. Recreational Activities: Urban centres are hubs of entertainment and recreation, hosting concerts, sporting events, and social gatherings. These activities generate high levels of noise, especially when amplified music or cheering crowds are involved.

Effects of Noise Pollution

1. Health Implications: Prolonged exposure to high noise levels can lead to severe health problems. Hearing impairment is a common consequence, with noise-induced hearing loss being a well-documented issue. Noise pollution is also linked to increased stress, anxiety, and elevated blood pressure, which can escalate the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

2. Sleep Disturbances: Noise pollution disrupts sleep patterns, leading to chronic sleep disturbances. Poor sleep quality can result in fatigue, irritability, and decreased cognitive performance, affecting overall productivity and well-being.

3. Cognitive Impairment: Noise pollution impairs cognitive functions, making it difficult to concentrate and focus. This can hinder academic performance and reduce workplace productivity.

Solutions to Noise Pollution

1. Urban Planning: Thoughtful urban planning and zoning regulations are essential to mitigate noise pollution. Separating industrial areas from residential zones, implementing noise-buffering green spaces, and designing soundproofed buildings can significantly reduce noise exposure.

2. Noise Barriers: Erecting noise barriers along highways and busy roads can shield residential areas from traffic noise. These barriers are designed to absorb or reflect sound waves, reducing their impact.

3. Quiet Transportation: Promoting quieter modes of transportation, such as electric vehicles and hybrid engines, can substantially reduce noise pollution. Improved public transportation can also reduce the number of private vehicles on the road.

Noise pollution poses a significant threat to urban life, affecting physical and mental health, social harmony, and overall well-being. 

To effectively combat this issue, concerted efforts are required at the individual, community, and government levels. Implementing noise-reducing technologies, adopting responsible behaviour, and enacting sound urban planning policies are steps toward creating quieter, healthier, and more livable urban environments for all. 

Also Read: Essay on Sustainable Development: Format; Examples

Ans. The primary sources of noise pollution include transportation, industrial activities, and recreational events. Transportation-related noise comes from vehicles on roads, railways, and aircraft in the sky. Industrial activities generate noise through machinery, equipment, and construction. Recreational events like concerts, sporting events, and social gatherings also contribute to noise pollution.

Ans. Noise pollution can have adverse effects on human health. Prolonged exposure to high noise levels can lead to hearing loss, increased stress, anxiety, and elevated blood pressure. It can disrupt sleep patterns, resulting in chronic fatigue and irritability. Noise pollution can also impair cognitive functions, making it challenging to concentrate and focus, which can impact productivity and overall well-being.

Ans. To reduce noise pollution, several measures can be implemented. These include: 1. Urban Planning: Thoughtful urban planning and zoning regulations can separate noisy industrial areas from residential zones and incorporate green spaces to buffer noise. 2. Noise Barriers: Installing noise barriers along highways and busy roads can shield residential areas from traffic noise by absorbing or reflecting sound waves. 3. Quiet Transportation: Promoting quieter transportation options like electric vehicles and hybrid engines can reduce noise emissions.

We hope that this blog on Noise Pollution has given you some known and unknown facts and secrets about Noise Pollution.  For more amazing reads on essay writing , follow Leverage Edu. 

Aditi Gupta

A bachelors in Journalism and Mass Communication graduate, I am an enthusiastic writer. I love to write about impactful content which can help others. I love to binge watch and listen to music during my free time.

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• Noise Pollution Essay

Essay on Noise Pollution

Noise pollution is one of the types of pollution we face daily. Like air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution and other types, noise pollution has a major impact on our health. Atmospheric pollution is not the only pollution we go through, but noise pollution can bring destruction to our lives. According to the World Health Organization, noise pollution is a dangerous health issue. The European Environment (EEA) says noise pollution is responsible for 16,600 premature deaths in Europe alone.

A person continuously facing noise pollution can start meeting health issues and can be dangerous in the long term. Several unpleasant noise distractions can bring problems later in life.

Cities have become noisier with car honking, loudspeakers; traffic, etc. leading to noise pollution. Construction of roads, buildings, apartments and other areas are also resulting in increased noise pollution.

What is Noise Pollution?

According to the WHO, noise pollution is a noise above 65db, which can severely affect both humans and animals. A noise beyond 75 dB can be painful and will affect the person severely.

It is impossible to see the danger posed by noise pollution. On land and under the sea, you can't see it, but it still exists. Humans and other organisms can be affected adversely by noise pollution if it is an unwanted or disturbing sound.                     

A decibel is the measurement of sound. Rustling leaves (20-30 decibels) or thunderclaps (120 decibels) to the wail of sirens (120-140 decibels) are all sounds that occur naturally in the natural environment. If a person hears sounds whose decibel level reaches 85 decibels or higher, their ears can be damaged. The sounds of lawnmowers (90 decibels), trains (90 to 115 decibels), and rock concerts (110 to 120 decibels) are just a few familiar sources that exceed this threshold.

The presence of noise pollution has a daily impact on millions of people. Hearing loss caused by noise is the most common health problem caused by noise exposure. Furthermore, loud noise can also lead to health problems such as hypertension, heart disease, sleep disturbances, and stress. All age groups are susceptible to these health problems, especially children. It has been shown that children living near loud airports and busy streets suffer from stress and other problems, such as memory problems, attention difficulties, and difficulties with reading.

Animals are also adversely affected by noise pollution. Caterpillars' hearts beat faster when loud sounds are made, and bluebirds have fewer chicks when loud noises are made. There are many reasons animals utilize sound, including to navigate, locate food, attract mates, and avoid predators. The noise pollution they encounter affects their ability to accomplish these tasks, affecting their survival.

Noisy environments are not only harming animals on land, but it is also getting worse for animals in the ocean. A once tranquil marine environment has become loud and chaotic because of ships, drilling devices, sonar, and seismic surveys. The negative effects of noise pollution are felt particularly by whales and dolphins. For marine mammals, echolocation is essential for communication, navigation, feeding and mate-finding. Excessive noise can interfere with echolocation.

It is the naval sonar devices that produce the loudest underwater noise. The use of sonar works similarly to echolocation in that sound waves are sent down into the ocean and bounce off objects, returning echoes to the ship that can pinpoint the object's location. Whales' ability to use echolocation is interfered with when they hear sonar sounds, which can reach 235 decibels and travel hundreds of miles under the surface. Research has shown that sonar can make whales strand on beaches and alter the feeding behaviour of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), which are endangered. Groups representing the environment have called on the U.S. Department of Defense to discontinue or reduce sonar-based military training.

Furthermore, hydrographic surveys can cause loud explosions from inside the ocean. Deep in the water, oil and gas are found using air guns that send sound pulses onto the ocean floor. There is potential for marine animals to be harmed by the sound blasts and to suffer serious damage to their ears. Additionally, the whales may also change their behaviour as a result of this noise. 

In Spain, bioacoustics researcher Michel Andre is studying the effects of noise pollution with the help of hydrophones. He has gathered data from 22 different locations during his project, LIDO (Listening to the Deep Ocean Environment). Using computers, the lab identifies 26 different species of whales and dolphins, including sounds produced by humans. In the analysis, underwater noise will be investigated for its effect on these animals.

What causes Noise Pollution?

Although the world is turning into the use of technology, at the same time, this technology is also harmful. Industries using compressors, exhaust fans, and generators are producing a lot of noise.

Similarly, bikes and cars with old silencers produce heavy noise that can lead to pollution. Planes, heavy trucks and buses are also part of this noise pollution. Low flying aircraft, especially military ones, causes noise pollution. Similarly, submarines can cause ocean sound pollution.

How Noise Pollution affects a Person?

Noise pollution can primarily start affecting the hearing ability of the person, causing permanent hearing impairment. Furthermore, it can cause an increase in blood pressure, hypertension, and other stress-related health issues. In many cases, noise pollution can cause a disturbance in a person's state of mind, which further causes disturbance in sleep patterns, stress, aggressiveness, and other issues. The psychological health of the person can also get disturbed due to regular exposure to noise pollution.  Noise above 45 dB can disrupt the pattern of your sleep. According to the WHO, the noise level should not be more than 30db. Change in the sleep pattern can also bring change in your behaviour.

If you have pets in your home or around your area, then noise pollution can bring a negative impact on the environment. Firecrackers can bring fear in them if they are regularly exposed to them. This will also bring change in their behaviour.

Effect on Wildlife and Marine Life

Animals and marine life are vulnerable to noise pollution. It can affect their listening skills, which further affects their behaviour pattern. These animals find it hard to listen during migration, which can negatively affect their lives. When it comes to marine life, noise pollution can lead to internal damage like physical problems in them.

Measures for Noise Pollution

There are many measures taken by the government and people to reduce the effect of noise pollution. Soundproof walls and windows are now being installed in many houses. Many flyovers in cities have soundproof walls to bring down the noise level to a nearby resident from vehicles running. As responsible citizens, we must contribute towards bringing down noise pollution. Needless honking should be stopped and officials should fine people doing it heavily. Hospitals and schools are built-in silent zones.

There should be rules to avoid noise in residential and sensitive areas. People need to be aware of health hazards from noise pollution.

One of the best ways to bring down noise pollution is by planting more and more plants. This process of planting trees can help to reduce the travelling of noise from one place to another.

Noise pollution is the most common problem faced by humans, thanks to various reasons that push many people to face health issues. Following standard measures can be helpful in the long term for both humans and the environment. The ultimate aim is to bring down noise pollution for a better environment.

Noise Pollution: Impact on Human Health

There are several ways in which noise pollution can harm human health:

Having an elevated blood pressure for a long period directly results in hypertension, which is caused by noise pollution.

Hearing loss occurs whenever humans are repeatedly exposed to sounds that exceed what their eardrums can handle, resulting in permanent damage to their hearing.

To function properly at work, it is necessary to get enough sleep every night. Sleep disorders affect energy levels throughout the day. Pollution causes disturbance in sleep cycles, which in turn results in irritation and unrest.

Heart issues such as blood pressure level, stress and cardiovascular diseases can arise in a healthy individual, but a person suffering from heart disease may experience a sudden increase.

It will affect your mental health also very badly because continuously hearing the noise this much loud will pressure your eardrums and that will badly affect your brain also

FAQs on Noise Pollution Essay

1. What are the significant factors causing noise pollution?

Multiple factors can result in noise pollution. Some of these are massive honking during road traffic, construction, poor urban planning, loudspeaker and others. Furthermore, firecrackers, the noise of bands and others can also result in noise pollution.

To eliminate or decrease noise pollution, it is crucial to know their effect. This will help to create measures and work towards it.

2. How can noise pollution be controlled?

There are different ways of controlling noise pollution. Some of the measures are-

Control at Receiver's End - For those people who are working in noisy installations- they can work on ear-protection aids like earplugs, earmuffs, noise helmets, etc.

Reducing Noise from Vibrating Machine - Another way is by the noise produced from the vibrating machine by vibration damping, beneath the engine.

Planting of Trees - One of the best ways to reduce noise pollution is to plant more and more trees along roads, around hospitals and schools.

3. Who is at the risk of the health effects of noise pollution?

When it comes to the effect of noise pollution, the risk of health effects can be for any age of the person. Sound louder than 80 dB can be hazardous. Be it, kids or young adults, high decibel sound can affect ears. People who listen to headphones can face noise-induced hearing loss issues. Additionally, there is the current scenario where people are completely used to using headphones and gadgets that impact their hearing ability. Because of that, those people are more likely to experience health problems caused by noise pollution.

4. In what different ways can noise pollution cause health problems?

We can say that there are three types of pollutants:

noise from transportation

transportation

transportation, noise from the surroundings

surroundings

surroundings, and industrial noise

Noise from transportation: Traffic noise is mainly responsible for this disturbing noise, which has increased greatly since the number of vehicles has increased. Increased noise pollution causes older people to lose their hearing, headaches, and hypertension, among other diseases.

Noise from the Neighbourhood: Electronics, household utensils, etc. cause a lot of noise. Musical instruments, transistors, speakers, and others are the most common sources.

Noise from Industrial Processes: An industrial machine produces an especially loud noise due to its high intensity. A large number of studies have shown that industrial noise pollution damages hearing by 20% to 30%.

5. How does noise cause environmental pollution? What are the reasons why noise pollution must be taken seriously?

Noise pollution is caused by extreme noises generated by sources such as industry, transport, loudspeakers, etc, which adversely affect human health by causing headaches, migraines, mental imbalance, nervous breakdowns, and heart diseases.

There are numerous health hazards associated with noise. The following are some of the physical, physiological, and psychological effects of prolonged exposure to noise:

A reduction in sleep is one of the effects of repeated exposure to noise.

Noise noise, which affects human productivity and efficiency.

Taking pictures of someone invades their privacy and disturbs their peace of mind.

Essay on Sound Pollution

Students are often asked to write an essay on Sound Pollution in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Sound Pollution

What is sound pollution.

Sound pollution, also known as noise pollution, is harmful noise that disrupts the environment and harms living beings. It’s caused by loud noises from vehicles, machines, loud music, and more.

Effects of Sound Pollution

Sound pollution can cause many health problems like stress, hearing loss, sleep disorders, and more. It also disturbs wildlife, affecting their feeding and breeding patterns.

Preventing Sound Pollution

We can reduce sound pollution by limiting the use of loud machines, regulating noise in populated areas, and promoting the use of ear protection.

Also check:

• Paragraph on Sound Pollution
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250 Words Essay on Sound Pollution

Introduction.

Sound pollution, also known as noise pollution, is an environmental issue that is often overlooked compared to its counterparts like air and water pollution. It is defined as excessive, displeasing human, animal, or machine-created noise that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life.

The Sources and Impact

The primary sources of sound pollution are industrialization, urban development, transportation, and construction activities. These sources generate noise levels that significantly exceed the human tolerance limit, leading to numerous health and psychological issues. Prolonged exposure to high decibel levels can result in hearing loss, stress, hypertension, sleep disturbances, and other harmful effects.

Regulation and Mitigation

Addressing sound pollution requires a comprehensive understanding of its sources and effects, as well as the implementation of effective noise control measures. Governments worldwide have established noise pollution standards and regulations to control noise levels in residential, commercial, and industrial areas.

In conclusion, sound pollution is a serious environmental issue that requires immediate attention. It is crucial to raise awareness about the harmful effects of noise pollution and promote noise control measures to protect our health and wellbeing. Through collective efforts, we can create a quieter, healthier, and more sustainable environment.

500 Words Essay on Sound Pollution

Introduction to sound pollution.

Sound pollution, also known as noise pollution, is an often overlooked form of environmental pollution that poses significant threats to human health and biodiversity. It is primarily characterized by the presence of high-intensity sounds in the environment that are harmful or annoying to living beings.

Causes of Sound Pollution

Sound pollution stems from various sources. Industrialization is a major contributor, with factories and heavy machinery creating constant noise. Urbanization also plays a significant part, with city life marked by traffic noise, construction work, and loud music. Additionally, transportation systems like airplanes, trains, and ships contribute to the noise levels. Even daily human activities, such as loud conversations or household appliances, can add to the overall sound pollution.

Impacts on Human Health

The effects of sound pollution on human health are profound and multifaceted. Continuous exposure to high-intensity noise can lead to hearing impairment and even permanent hearing loss. Moreover, it can cause psychological disturbances, including stress, anxiety, and sleep disturbances, which can further lead to severe health conditions like cardiovascular diseases. The World Health Organization has recognized noise pollution as a significant threat to public health, second only to air pollution.

Effects on Wildlife

Sound pollution also has severe implications for wildlife. Animals, particularly those that rely on sound for communication, navigation, and predation, are significantly affected. Noise pollution can interfere with their ability to find food, avoid predators, and even mate. It can lead to changes in species composition in an area and can contribute to the decline of certain sensitive species.

Policy Responses and Mitigation Strategies

Given the severe impacts of sound pollution, it is crucial to devise effective mitigation strategies. Policymakers can enforce stricter regulations on noise emissions from industries and transportation. Urban planning can also play a role in reducing noise pollution by designing cities to minimize noise exposure for residents.

On an individual level, people can reduce sound pollution by limiting the use of loud devices, properly maintaining vehicles to reduce engine noise, and promoting awareness about the harmful effects of noise pollution. Technological innovations, like noise-cancelling devices and soundproof construction materials, can also help mitigate the effects.

In conclusion, sound pollution is a pressing environmental issue that warrants urgent attention. While it is an inevitable byproduct of modern life, its impacts on human health and biodiversity are too significant to ignore. Therefore, it is imperative to integrate noise pollution control into broader environmental and health policy frameworks. Through a combination of policy measures, technological innovations, and individual actions, we can mitigate the harmful effects of sound pollution and work towards a quieter, healthier environment.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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The Effects of Noise Pollution Cause and Effect Essay

The introduction, the conclusion, works cited, noise pollution meaning.

When speaking about the effects of noise pollution, it is necessary to highlight some fundamentals of the issue. So, first of all, it should be pointed out that noise is considered to be a negative phenomenon both at physiological and psychological levels.

Generally, one is to keep in mind that noise seems to be one of the most important threats to the quality of a person’s life. The modern technological developments are recognized to be the basic reasons of noise appearance. Moreover, the effects of noise pollution are especially harmful for urban areas where industry and transportation are developed.

Some fundamentals of noise pollution

A sound pressure, which exceeds 70 dB, is recognized to be harmful for human ears. In most cases, “continuous exposure to such high level noise higher than the acceptable values can lead to a progressive loss of hearing and/or an

increase in the threshold of hearing” (Roba 2). It should be pointed out that such high sound levels are mostly associated with noise from factories, motorcycles, etc.

Noise pollution studies

The impact of noise pollution on people was also observed. For instance, those adults, who were annoyed by traffic noise (trains, air and road traffic) had hypertension; while for children, it was extremely hard to lean and to differentiate between the words under high sound levels.

Those people, who live in high traffic areas, have more health problems (higher blood pressures and lower heart pulse rates). The employees of some factories in Turkey also took part in the investigation. The results of the studies showed that approximately 50% of employees suffered from NIHL.

In other words, one is to keep in mind that noise-induced hearing loss seems to be the most widespread disease in industries. Lane is of the opinion that “Noise has numerous health effects, making noise pollution a public health concern; although, it has not been well addressed. To name a few, these effects include elevated blood pressure, noise-induced hearing loss, sleep disorders, and irritability” (1).

It is obvious that noise pollution is really a great problem, as there are not only adults, but also children who show the signs of noise-induced hearing loss. For instance, it might be noted that 15% of children (6-19 years old) in the USA suffer from NIHL.

Mental diseases, however, should also be taken into account, as certain studies have shown that children’s decreased attention, oppositional behavior, etc. mostly depended upon noise levels, which exceeded 55 dB. Certain difficulties with social adaptation because of high sound levels should not be neglected too. Isabelle Lane states that “Noise pollution via community noise also causes annoyance and disturbance among those with depression and anxiety and may make their

symptoms worse” (4). Generally, there are many unpleasant consequences, which noise pollution causes. A person’s ability to work well, his or her memory, concentration and motivation depend upon the conditions he or she works within.

The effects of noise pollution seem to be really destructive, as they deteriorate people’s quality of life. Various accidents in the workplace also occur because of noise pollution. The employees’ effectiveness and accuracy depend upon sound level they work within. Increased negative reactions are also caused by high sound levels; so, to prevent negative social and behavioral effects, one is to think about his or her hearing protection.

Lane, Isabelle. Noise Pollution, n.d. Web.

Roba, Mohammed Anis Saeed. The Effects of Noise Pollution on Arterial Blood Pressure and Heart Pulse Rate of School Children at Jenin City, 2010. Web.

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Essay on Noise Pollution : Causes, Effects & Solutions

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Table of Contents

What is Noise pollution?

Noise pollution is a type of pollution that does not directly affect the environment but has adverse effects on the hearing abilities of the inhabitants of our ecosystem.

Hearing of an organism is directly linked to the nervous systems internally.

Hence noise pollution affects the mental health and disturbs the delicate balance of an individual in case of over-exposure to noise levels beyond a certain decibel.

There may have been many instances, especially when you’re living in a city, that you’ve been so annoyed with the noise around you, that you lose your composure. You grab your ears and just wait for the noise to stop.

That is the essence of noise pollution. It comprises of all the loud noises around you, caused by vehicular traffic, heavy machinery in factories and sometimes, the disturbance of trains and aeroplanes, if you live near an airport or railway station .

The blaring sounds from loudspeakers and high speakers are not to be left behind, especially when there are processions or big festivals taking place.

Let us ponder over a few examples for better understanding.

Whales are known to emit their call louder when they detect a submarine since a submarine uses SONAR and other sound oriented devices for communication and navigation.

The SONAR dampens the whale’s call, making it less effective, which in turn might lead to some members not hearing it and missing some vital signal, like a hunting call.

Causes of noise pollution

Let us first begin by trying to understand how noise is generated technically.

Noise basically is a mixture of all sounds around us. These sounds originate from various sources.  Inside the waveform of a noise, we can find overlapping waveform indicating mixed and jumbled outputs rendering ‘noise’.

The outcomes may contain undesirable and irritating waveform called noise. Noise pollution is more prominent in urban areas than in rural areas.

This is because rural areas have only half the amount of vehicles, minimal amount of factories and other sources producing loud noises.

It is more discomforting and annoying in particular to senior citizens, who seek a calm and peaceful atmosphere in their days of retirement. In India, festivals are a crucial part of our culture and thus, are given utmost importance.

But the celebrations and proceedings involved with these festivities result in noise pollution on a wide scale.

This scenario especially gets worse when people disregard the fact about patients in hospitals, nursing mothers, pregnant women and ill patients who need relief from such blaring noises.

Similar is the case with wedding celebrations. Nowadays, almost everyone holds a wedding procession which involves the bride and groom, either walking or on horses or carriages, slowly proceeding towards the groom’s house.

Celebrations take place on a large scale involving huge loudspeakers and noise from trumpets and drum beats causing inconvenience to residents and other establishments, including schools, colleges, hospitals and other religious establishments like temples and churches.

Well known incidences of noise pollution occur during festivals, normal, everyday traffic on the road, etc.

During festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi , Diwali etc the occurrence of sound pollution is really high.

Diwali causes noise as well as Air pollution , people celebrate Diwali for their joy, and indeed they burst crackers that create massive noise.

Traffic on the road is the primary reason for sound pollution in big cities. There are many other factors too that cause the deadly noise pollution.

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Effects of noise pollution

Our human ear can detect sounds in the frequencies between 20Hz to 20 KHz. But constant exposure to sound beyond certain intensity is harmful to the ears.

We already know that sound intensity is measured in Decibels, also denoted as dB. In a normal airport, a plane that is landing or leaving the run way creates a noise exceeding intensities of 120 dB.

There are chances of irreversible damage to the human ear when exposed to noises above 80 dB. Instances of noise have been recorded from the ancient times in the cities of Rome, on account of the dawn of industrialization.

Poorly planned cities and towns are another reason where residents have to become victims of noise pollution. If the city is near an industrial area, then the residential areas face heavy instances of noise pollution.

Though the human ear’s maximum capacity of tolerating noise cannot be exactly measured, it is believed that the intensity is about 80 dB.

Continuous exposure to sounds of intensities higher than this may lead to a myriad of health problems. It may lead to physical as well as psychological changes.

A person shows increased levels of stress and becomes prone to mental illnesses if he is prone to irregular levels of noise.

Every person’s tolerance is inbuilt differently and the ability of a person to tolerate noise provides him stability from within. Beyond that threshold level, the mind senses disturbance and gets irritated by the effects of noise.

This irritability is then transferred to the inner regions on the brain wherein complex reactions alter normal functioning of brain components.

When this process happens over long periods of time, the brain functioning itself gets altered and that’s when we say that an abnormality has occurred in the mental well being of a person.

The chances of a cardio vascular disease are also highly elevated. It is not just humans who are affected, but animals in the vicinity too face disturbance.

Dogs, with a higher sense of hearing, may get their ears damaged by exposure to higher levels of noise pollution.

Wildlife is adversely affected, as the loud man-made noises drown the mating calls, warning alarms and threat noises that animals use normally to communicate with one another.

For example in birds, the bird robin is observed to sing more likely at night, in a heavily noise polluted area since, in the day time, the noises are significantly louder.

Solutions for noise pollution

The threat of noise pollution is being realized and the governments are taking measures to reduce them.

In India too, certain rules and regulations have been set up regarding noise generation and emission. But the enforcement of these laws is not incorporated on strict terms and thus the defaulters escape scot-free.

It is good to know that there are many NGOs (non-government organizations) that have taken the initiative to reduce noise pollution and so far they’ve made tremendous progress, especially in the urban areas.

The rural areas, unfortunately, still face the wrath of noise pollution. It is up to us, the educated urban crowds, to control and prohibit the curse of noise pollution.

It’s also good to create awareness among the rural inhabitants regarding the ill effects of noise pollution.

Today, everyone has come to know the deadly effect of noise pollution. The government has taken some of the crucial steps to reduce the sound pollution.

The noise of Loud Speakers should be limited and should not cross beyond a certain decibel. An individual or group isn’t permitted to use loud speakers in the vicinity of schools, colleges, and hospitals.

Government has imposed strict restrictions and posed limitations on the use of loudspeakers during festivals. It has posted a big list do’s and don’ts and applied the rules at appropriate regions of high noise traffic.

The effects of noise pollution is not restricted to human beings alone, it has deadly impacts on lives of animals as well.

To control this type of pollution, people should create awareness on its impact on human health. Airports should be situated far away from residential areas.

Manufacturing industries such as steel and iron establishments should be situated far away from residential complexes.

It’s more of an individual effort to control noise pollution.  We may not be able to totally stop noise pollution , but we can definitely take steps to reduce it by a great level.

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Essay on Noise Pollution for Students in 1000 Words

In this article, we have published an Essay on Noise Pollution for Students in 1000 Words with Its Facts, Causes, Effects, and Control Steps.

Table of Contents

Essay on Noise Pollution (1000 Words)

Due to the improvement of technology, Sound pollution is increasing day by day, and it is becoming a major threat to Human Survival.

Also read: Essay on Pollution

What Is Noise Pollution? (Introduction)

Noise Pollution has become a significant threat to our times. The Increase in Urbanization, Transportation (All Formats), the Problem of Sound Pollution is a severe and multidimensional threat in the process of growth and development.  

Since Thirty years, the world has been facing a deadly menace for physical and mental health, resulting in the malfunction of the same human body areas. Major Causes are Air Transport, Rail Transport, Road Transport, Starting the Trucks, hard music and Harley Davidson Bikes.  

The natural effects on areas of concern are Sleeplessness hearing damage works environment. Overall, the Increase in Sound Pollution is a major threat to humans and other species.

Facts about Noise Pollution

These are some important facts about Noise Pollution-

• The Chief Sources of Noise Pollution is from Air, Rail & Road Transport, which is the regular feature in all cities and even Rural Areas in India.
• The other source is from political meetings, religious establishments, Television, and entertainment, barking dogs round the clock Transport is a Common phenomenon. Several studies in the U.S. have found that working in Sound Pollution doubles human body stress.
• Industrial establishments, aero drums, Bus Complexes, Railway Tracks, and Industrial Cyran’s are the never-ending source of Sound Pollution in our Country and worldwide. In the ’80s, the U.S. Population and Airplanes ratio was 1,000:400, followed by Japan. Noise Pollution has been a continuous phenomenon since World War II worldwide and is high in developed countries as of now. 

Causes of Noise Pollution

Noise Pollution of Two types Community Noise and Industrial Equipment Sound comprises domestic sources like Refrigerator, Juice-mixer Grinder, T.V, Washing Machine and Gas Cooker, etc. The industrial sound includes Vehicles on Road, Construction Activities, Fireworks and Loudspeakers from Religious and Political Activities. 

• Noise Pollution from the Industrial sector comprises engineering companies, printing presses, Textile mills, and metal works. 
• N. P. From Transport systems, Alarm & Social events: Sound from Vehicles through Air, Road, Railway and Water Transport, alarms systems from Ambulances, VIP Vehicles & Fire Brigades. Social events like Marriages, parties, Pubs, Worship places are the Chief sources; rule-breaking on all fronts is a continuous threat to daily life.
• Defence, Construction and Miscellaneous Sources: Defense equipment like Tanks, Explosion, Military aircraft, shooting exercises, launching of Rockets, Jet Plans creates Loud Sound, Construction in Residential areas is typical, and Construction of Roads, Flyover Bridges, and dams generate more Sound Pollution The other sources, like cutting of stones, mountains, automobile repair shops, blasting, Bulldozing, are the main activities of Noise Pollution

Effects of Noise Pollution

Some major effects were briefed as under- .

• The Term “Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) is used for the people who are prone to loud sounds, which are measured as 25% in  the United States.  Nearly 30 Million affected by hazardous sounds, mining Industry, manufacturing, and construction are shared for Sound Pollution, and hearing loss is a regular feature in older people. 
• In Germany,  the effect of Noise Pollution on children is resulting in memory loss and reading impairment; the other feature is the baby understanding sounds in impact due to the sounds of T.V. or radio and acting as a barrier to learning the primary language. 
• In Tokyo,  U.S. Military base is causing a vast noise resulting in irregular Blood pressures because of sounds resulting from winning thousands of Dollars as a lawsuit against the U.S. Air force.
• In India,  Noise Pollution is causing two types, namely Auditory effects and Non-Auditory effects. The latter is causing Auditory Fatigue and Deafness the Non-Auditory is resulting in Annoyance, Lack of working efficiency, Interference in speech communication and physical disorder like increase in Heartbeats, B.P.etc.,

How to Control Noise Pollution?

1. In March 2011, the central pollution control board established the first part of the Noise Pollution Monitoring network in 35 major cities. The second and third phases will cover around 160 cities in India. 

2. The GOI had introduced the  Environmental protection  Act, Noise Pollution(Regulation and Control) Rules 2000,

• Noise standards
• Restrict the use of Loudspeakers
• Restrict the over usage of horns, use of Constructions and Firecrackers 
• Allotting responsibility to state pollution to take adequate measures etc.,

3. WHO Report to U.N. Conference on Environment listed the problems of Sound Pollution and measures to control, the features are:

• Design and Fabrication of Silencing devices for Aircraft, Industrial, and Domestic Appliances.
• Change in the Design and operations of machines, vibration control, soundproof cabins, and sound-absorbing materials can reduce it.
• Sound-reducing limit to vehicular traffic, ban on honking horns, industrial establishments amusement areas, residential areas, and creation of Silent Zones near schools, hospitals, and residential areas.
• Control of Indoor noise to 6dB in locating the buildings,  trees,  and shrubs may be planted in front of the building to provide some absorption.
• Locate Bedrooms and living rooms on the quiet side whereas kitchen, bathrooms, and elevators on Noisy Sides

To reduce Noise pollution, we must create vegetation buffer zones in different parts of the city. There is an urgent need to form legislation to control Sound pollution and educate through Radio, T.V., and Newsreels in cinemas about Noise Pollution.

Its effects on human beings and, above all, Public participation and control is possible by the people’s participation to curb the menace for sustainable and  healthy life  on earth. Noise Pollution can only be curbed other than any pollution prevailing. I hope this essay on noise pollution helped in your project.

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Noise Pollution Essay in English for Students and Children

Noise pollution essay , its sources, health effects and practical solutions. Noise pollution is any type of unwanted sound that causes problems for humans and animals.

November 3, 2023

Table of Contents

Noise Pollution Essay: While waiting for the traffic signal to turn green, do you get irritated by someone honking their car horn? When heavy construction occurs near your house, and the drilling sound deafens you, how will you focus on your work or studies? In this noise pollution essay, we will discuss more about noise pollution.

Despite hearing about air pollution, water pollution, land pollution, etc., children may be wondering if there is something like noise pollution as well. In addition to other types of pollution, noise pollution occurs when the noise level increases significantly from its average level.

Noise Pollution Essay in English

The issue of noise pollution in India has become a significant concern, greatly affecting the lives of its citizens. We must educate ourselves on the causes, effects, and preventive measures to avoid its harmful impacts.  It is not uncommon for people to use horns, and the long sirens disturb others, as well as to play loud music in cars and buses. As a result, we put other people in an uncomfortable position. When you consider the commotion that occurs during weddings and other festivals and the nuisance it causes to those living nearby, you can understand the seriousness of the matter. It is, therefore, our intention to shed some light on this issue by writing a noise pollution essay in English.

Noise Pollution Essay in 10 lines

• Environmental pollution caused by excessive noise from various sources is a serious concern. Also known as noise disturbance, it can harm health and disrupt the balance of human and animal life. 
• While it is a significant issue in India, it is considered less hazardous than water, air, and soil pollution. 
• Outdoor noise is primarily generated by machinery, transportation systems, and poor urban planning, where industrial and residential buildings are located side by side. Indoor sources include household appliances, construction activities, and loud music. 
• The most common effect of noise pollution is permanent hearing loss due to eardrum damage.
• Through grinders, compressors, televisions, generators, and so on, technology has made our lives easier, but we don’t know that this same technology is ruining our health as well. 
• Besides these machines, cars, bikes, buses, trains, and aeroplanes also create a lot of noise.
• The most common health problem caused by noise is hearing loss.
•  Loud noise can also cause health problems such as hypertension, heart disease, sleep disturbances, and stress.
• Animals on land and in the ocean are both suffering from noisy environments.
• We will learn about the various factors that contribute to noise pollution in the environment through this Noise Pollution Essay. 

Noise Pollution Essay in 150 Words

The average level of sound required for daily functioning can be disrupted by undesired noise, causing noise pollution that is not tolerated by humans, animals, and plants in our environment. This unwanted sound, commonly called noise, can come from industrial or non-industrial sources that are part of our everyday lives. When noise reaches high levels, it can have adverse effects on our health and can cause discomfort, particularly for our ears. This interference with daily activities such as sleep, conversation, and hearing ability can also affect the well-being of water animals. Forest animals are also heavily impacted by noise pollution from chain-saw operations by timber companies. Familiar sources of noise pollution include household gadgets, vehicles, aeroplanes, helicopters, and industrial machines. The World Health Organization recommends that industries limit their sound production to 75 dB.

Noise Pollution Essay in 500 Words

Nowadays, noise pollution is a form of pollution that has become very deadly. Noise pollution is an issue that is rapidly increasing and creating a dangerous environment. Noise pollution occurs when the level of noise exceeds the normal level, making it dangerous for living things. 

Put simply, loud noises are not normal. As society moves forward, so does noise pollution. Modern advancements have provided conveniences like appliances and devices for various tasks. Need to mix or blend something? Just use a mixer or blender. Feeling warm? The air conditioner or cooler can cool you down. Want some entertainment at home? Watch TV or listen to music. But, the downside of these comforts is their harmful impact on the environment. All these gadgets add to noise pollution, disrupting the natural flow of life and qualifying as pollutants.

What Causes Noise Pollution?

No matter how big or small an industry is, it contributes to noise pollution through the equipment they use like compressors, exhaust fans, generators and more. The world is turning towards technology for comfort, but it is also harming us.

Also contributing to this pollution is the ever-increasing use of automobiles. Not only are automobiles involved, but also other transport vehicles, such as aeroplanes, buses, bikes, trucks and more. People honk unnecessarily in the traffic and listen to loud music on the way.

Furthermore, social events such as weddings, parties, and religious functions in places like clubs, pubs, temples, halls and more create a lot of nuisance in residential areas. Also, construction activities such as mining, flyover construction, bridge construction and so on make a lot of noise.

The Damaging Impact of Noise Pollution

Noise pollution has a serious impact on the lives of living beings. Firstly, noise pollution leads to a number of hearing problems. High levels of noise damage the eardrums, sometimes resulting in hearing loss.

Similarly, it reduces the ear’s sensitivity to the sounds that the body uses to regulate its rhythm. Additionally, it affects our psychological health.

It is common to experience fatigue and migraines when your sleep is disturbed or you constantly have headaches due to too much noise.

Noise pollution affects wildlife as well. For example, pets become aggressive when hearing loud noises. This is why crackers are not allowed around pets.

In short, we must make people aware of the impact of noise pollution. We must also encourage them to adopt ways that do not contribute to noise pollution. We will be able to reduce noise pollution greatly if we all start doing the same individually.

Noise Pollution Essay FAQs

Ans.  A noise pollution essay is a written composition that discusses the adverse effects of excessive and unwanted sound in our environment, its sources, impacts on health and well-being, and potential solutions to mitigate this problem.

Ans. Noise pollution refers to the presence of loud, disruptive, or unwanted sounds in the environment that can harm human health, well-being, and the ecosystem. Sources of noise pollution include traffic, industrial activities, construction, and recreational events. 

Ans. Noise pollution is harmful or disturbing noise in our surroundings, often caused by various activities and machines, affecting people's health and peace.

Ans. Noise pollution is when there is too much loud and unpleasant noise in the environment. It comes from things like traffic, construction, and loud music. Noise pollution can upset people, have trouble sleeping, and even harm their ears. It's essential to keep our surroundings quiet and peaceful for everyone's well-being.

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Essay on Noise Pollution

In the modern world, the cacophony of sounds from vehicles, industrial activities, and urban development has become a constant backdrop to our lives. This relentless barrage of noise constitutes what we know as noise pollution, an environmental and public health issue that is often overshadowed by other forms of pollution but is equally potent and destructive. This essay delves into the depths of noise pollution, unraveling its causes, impacts, and potential solutions, aiming to shed light on an issue that is powerful in its ability to affect human health, wildlife, and the environment.

Noise Pollution

Noise pollution is defined as any unwanted or harmful sound that disrupts the natural balance and creates potential harm to human and animal life. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified noise pollution as the second-largest environmental cause of health problems, just after the impact of air quality. From the incessant hum of traffic to the roar of airplanes overhead and the clamor of construction sites, noise pollution surrounds us, often so pervasive that many have become desensitized to its presence.

Causes of Noise Pollution

The sources of noise pollution are manifold and predominantly stem from urban development and human activities. Key contributors include:

• Transportation Systems: The roar of vehicles, trains, airplanes, and ships are amongst the most significant sources of noise pollution, especially in urban areas.
• Industrial and Construction Activities: Factories, construction sites, and mining operations generate substantial noise from machinery and heavy equipment.
• Urbanization: The growth of cities brings with it an increase in noise from commercial and residential areas, including sounds from electronic devices, entertainment venues, and human activities.
• Social Events: Concerts, festivals, and public gatherings can create high decibel levels, contributing to the noise landscape.

Impacts of Noise Pollution

The power of noise pollution lies in its pervasive ability to impact health and well-being, disrupt wildlife ecosystems, and contribute to societal issues.

Health Effects

Noise pollution is not merely an annoyance; it has profound health implications. Exposure to high levels of noise can lead to:

• Hearing Loss: Prolonged exposure to noise levels above 85 decibels can cause permanent hearing damage.
• Stress and Cardiovascular Issues: Noise acts as a stressor, triggering the release of stress hormones. Chronic exposure is linked to increased risks of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.
• Sleep Disturbances: Noise can interrupt sleep patterns and reduce sleep quality, leading to insomnia and other sleep disorders.
• Cognitive Impairment: In children, noise pollution can hamper learning and memory, affecting academic performance and cognitive development.

Environmental and Wildlife Effects

Noise pollution extends its reach beyond human health, affecting the natural world in profound ways.

• Disruption of Wildlife: Animals rely on sound for communication, navigation, and predator-prey interactions. Noise pollution can interfere with these essential behaviors, leading to adverse effects on reproduction, feeding, and migration patterns.
• Ecosystem Imbalance: Excessive noise can alter the natural habitat, causing an imbalance in predator-prey dynamics and affecting biodiversity.

Societal and Economic Impacts

The repercussions of noise pollution also ripple through society and the economy, manifesting as:

• Decreased Productivity: Noise can distract and reduce efficiency, affecting workplace productivity and learning environments.
• Property Value Decline: Areas subjected to high levels of noise, such as those near airports or highways, often see a decrease in property values.
• Increased Healthcare Costs: The health issues associated with noise pollution lead to higher healthcare expenditures for individuals and governments.

Mitigating Noise Pollution

Addressing the issue of noise pollution requires a multifaceted approach, involving policy, technology, and community engagement.

Policy and Regulation

Effective noise pollution management starts with stringent regulatory frameworks that limit noise levels in residential, commercial, and industrial areas. Implementing noise standards for vehicles and machinery, along with zoning laws that separate residential areas from noisy industrial zones, are critical steps.

Technological Innovations

Advancements in technology offer promising solutions to reduce noise pollution. Quieter road surfaces, noise barriers, soundproofing materials in buildings, and the development of electric vehicles can significantly lower noise levels.

Community Engagement and Awareness

Raising awareness about the impact of noise pollution and promoting community involvement in noise reduction initiatives are essential. Simple actions, such as choosing quieter appliances, respecting noise ordinances, and planting trees to serve as natural sound barriers, can make a difference.

In conclusion, Noise pollution is an insidious force with the power to affect human health, disrupt wildlife, and impact societal well-being. Recognizing the seriousness of this issue is the first step towards mitigating its effects. Through a combination of policy intervention, technological innovation, and community action, we can attenuate the impact of noise pollution. By addressing this unseen power, we not only improve our quality of life but also protect the environment and ensure the health and well-being of future generations. In the fight against noise pollution, silence truly is golden.

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Noise Pollution Essay

Introduction.

Do you get irritated when someone honks their car horn while waiting for the traffic signal to turn green? Will you be able to concentrate on your work/studies when heavy construction is taking place near your house and the drilling sound deafens you? These are some of the instances of noise pollution, and we will be discussing more in this noise pollution essay.

Causes of Noise Pollution

There are various factors that cause noise pollution in the environment, and we will understand them through this short essay on noise pollution. We know that technology has eased the life of humans through grinders, compressors, televisions, generators etc., but we are not aware that this same technology is ruining our health. Along with these machines, there are also cars, bikes, buses, trains and aeroplanes that produce a large amount of noise. We will see how this creates pollution through this noise pollution essay.

People unnecessarily use horns, and the long siren disturbs other people. Besides, people play music at a loud volume while travelling in cars or buses. Due to this, we put others in an inconvenient position. It is only required to think of the commotion that happens during weddings and other festivals and how it causes a nuisance to those residing nearby to understand the seriousness of the matter. The noise pollution essay in English is, therefore, an attempt to throw light on this issue.

Ways to Reduce Noise Pollution

Noise pollution is a serious concern, and hence, we must try to prevent it. But before we see how it can be controlled, we will see its effect on us in this short essay on noise pollution. Noise pollution causes hearing problems if we get exposed to a high volume of sounds continuously. It also has the potential to damage our eardrums, resulting in permanent loss of hearing.

Moreover, it disturbs our state of mind, and we might experience stress, tension, loss of sleep etc., thus affecting our psychological health. All these reasons point out that noise pollution can be dangerous and we must follow certain measures to prevent it.

First of all, we must be responsible for not honking unnecessarily. If strict actions are taken against the violators of this rule, we can reduce noise pollution to some extent. Besides, installing soundproof walls and windows in houses, buildings and flyovers can also help in bringing down the noise level.

Planting trees is another effective measure as we can reduce the noise from travelling from one place to another. So, children can write an essay on noise pollution 150 words by taking important points from the noise pollution essay in English and thus creating awareness regarding the issue. For more interesting essays , you can refer to our website.

Frequently Asked Questions on Noise Pollution Essay

What are the effects of noise pollution.

Noise pollution creates many health issues in humans and affects their hearing ability. Hypertension, stress, irregular sleep patterns and irritation are its other effects. Noise pollution also harms wildlife and marine life as it impairs their listening abilities.

How to reduce noise pollution?

People can wear earplugs or earmuffs while working in factories that produce a high level of noise daily. Car horns must not be used needlessly and playing loud music on public transport should be banned. Planting more trees can also reduce noise pollution to some extent, as vegetation helps in the reduction of sound intensity.

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Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials into the environment. These harmful materials are called pollutants.

Biology, Ecology, Health, Earth Science, Geography

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Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials into the environment . These harmful materials are called pollutants . Pollutants can be natural, such as volcanic ash . They can also be created by human activity, such as trash or runoff produced by factories. Pollutants damage the quality of air, water, and land. Many things that are useful to people produce pollution. Cars spew pollutants from their exhaust pipes. Burning coal to create electricity pollutes the air. Industries and homes generate garbage and sewage that can pollute the land and water. Pesticides —chemical poisons used to kill weeds and insects— seep into waterways and harm wildlife . All living things—from one-celled microbes to blue whales—depend on Earth ’s supply of air and water. When these resources are polluted, all forms of life are threatened. Pollution is a global problem. Although urban areas are usually more polluted than the countryside, pollution can spread to remote places where no people live. For example, pesticides and other chemicals have been found in the Antarctic ice sheet . In the middle of the northern Pacific Ocean, a huge collection of microscopic plastic particles forms what is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch . Air and water currents carry pollution. Ocean currents and migrating fish carry marine pollutants far and wide. Winds can pick up radioactive material accidentally released from a nuclear reactor and scatter it around the world. Smoke from a factory in one country drifts into another country. In the past, visitors to Big Bend National Park in the U.S. state of Texas could see 290 kilometers (180 miles) across the vast landscape . Now, coal-burning power plants in Texas and the neighboring state of Chihuahua, Mexico have spewed so much pollution into the air that visitors to Big Bend can sometimes see only 50 kilometers (30 miles). The three major types of pollution are air pollution , water pollution , and land pollution . Air Pollution Sometimes, air pollution is visible . A person can see dark smoke pour from the exhaust pipes of large trucks or factories, for example. More often, however, air pollution is invisible . Polluted air can be dangerous, even if the pollutants are invisible. It can make people’s eyes burn and make them have difficulty breathing. It can also increase the risk of lung cancer . Sometimes, air pollution kills quickly. In 1984, an accident at a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, released a deadly gas into the air. At least 8,000 people died within days. Hundreds of thou sands more were permanently injured. Natural disasters can also cause air pollution to increase quickly. When volcanoes erupt , they eject volcanic ash and gases into the atmosphere . Volcanic ash can discolor the sky for months. After the eruption of the Indonesian volcano of Krakatoa in 1883, ash darkened the sky around the world. The dimmer sky caused fewer crops to be harvested as far away as Europe and North America. For years, meteorologists tracked what was known as the “equatorial smoke stream .” In fact, this smoke stream was a jet stream , a wind high in Earth’s atmosphere that Krakatoa’s air pollution made visible. Volcanic gases , such as sulfur dioxide , can kill nearby residents and make the soil infertile for years. Mount Vesuvius, a volcano in Italy, famously erupted in 79, killing hundreds of residents of the nearby towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Most victims of Vesuvius were not killed by lava or landslides caused by the eruption. They were choked, or asphyxiated , by deadly volcanic gases. In 1986, a toxic cloud developed over Lake Nyos, Cameroon. Lake Nyos sits in the crater of a volcano. Though the volcano did not erupt, it did eject volcanic gases into the lake. The heated gases passed through the water of the lake and collected as a cloud that descended the slopes of the volcano and into nearby valleys . As the toxic cloud moved across the landscape, it killed birds and other organisms in their natural habitat . This air pollution also killed thousands of cattle and as many as 1,700 people. Most air pollution is not natural, however. It comes from burning fossil fuels —coal, oil , and natural gas . When gasoline is burned to power cars and trucks, it produces carbon monoxide , a colorless, odorless gas. The gas is harmful in high concentrations , or amounts. City traffic produces highly concentrated carbon monoxide. Cars and factories produce other common pollutants, including nitrogen oxide , sulfur dioxide, and hydrocarbons . These chemicals react with sunlight to produce smog , a thick fog or haze of air pollution. The smog is so thick in Linfen, China, that people can seldom see the sun. Smog can be brown or grayish blue, depending on which pollutants are in it. Smog makes breathing difficult, especially for children and older adults. Some cities that suffer from extreme smog issue air pollution warnings. The government of Hong Kong, for example, will warn people not to go outside or engage in strenuous physical activity (such as running or swimming) when smog is very thick.

When air pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide mix with moisture, they change into acids . They then fall back to earth as acid rain . Wind often carries acid rain far from the pollution source. Pollutants produced by factories and power plants in Spain can fall as acid rain in Norway. Acid rain can kill all the trees in a forest . It can also devastate lakes, streams, and other waterways. When lakes become acidic, fish can’t survive . In Sweden, acid rain created thousands of “ dead lakes ,” where fish no longer live. Acid rain also wears away marble and other kinds of stone . It has erased the words on gravestones and damaged many historic buildings and monuments . The Taj Mahal , in Agra, India, was once gleaming white. Years of exposure to acid rain has left it pale. Governments have tried to prevent acid rain by limiting the amount of pollutants released into the air. In Europe and North America, they have had some success, but acid rain remains a major problem in the developing world , especially Asia. Greenhouse gases are another source of air pollution. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane occur naturally in the atmosphere. In fact, they are necessary for life on Earth. They absorb sunlight reflected from Earth, preventing it from escaping into space. By trapping heat in the atmosphere, they keep Earth warm enough for people to live. This is called the greenhouse effect . But human activities such as burning fossil fuels and destroying forests have increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This has increased the greenhouse effect, and average temperatures across the globe are rising. The decade that began in the year 2000 was the warmest on record. This increase in worldwide average temperatures, caused in part by human activity, is called global warming . Global warming is causing ice sheets and glaciers to melt. The melting ice is causing sea levels to rise at a rate of two millimeters (0.09 inches) per year. The rising seas will eventually flood low-lying coastal regions . Entire nations, such as the islands of Maldives, are threatened by this climate change . Global warming also contributes to the phenomenon of ocean acidification . Ocean acidification is the process of ocean waters absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Fewer organisms can survive in warmer, less salty waters. The ocean food web is threatened as plants and animals such as coral fail to adapt to more acidic oceans. Scientists have predicted that global warming will cause an increase in severe storms . It will also cause more droughts in some regions and more flooding in others. The change in average temperatures is already shrinking some habitats, the regions where plants and animals naturally live. Polar bears hunt seals from sea ice in the Arctic. The melting ice is forcing polar bears to travel farther to find food , and their numbers are shrinking. People and governments can respond quickly and effectively to reduce air pollution. Chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are a dangerous form of air pollution that governments worked to reduce in the 1980s and 1990s. CFCs are found in gases that cool refrigerators, in foam products, and in aerosol cans . CFCs damage the ozone layer , a region in Earth’s upper atmosphere. The ozone layer protects Earth by absorbing much of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation . When people are exposed to more ultraviolet radiation, they are more likely to develop skin cancer, eye diseases, and other illnesses. In the 1980s, scientists noticed that the ozone layer over Antarctica was thinning. This is often called the “ ozone hole .” No one lives permanently in Antarctica. But Australia, the home of more than 22 million people, lies at the edge of the hole. In the 1990s, the Australian government began an effort to warn people of the dangers of too much sun. Many countries, including the United States, now severely limit the production of CFCs. Water Pollution Some polluted water looks muddy, smells bad, and has garbage floating in it. Some polluted water looks clean, but is filled with harmful chemicals you can’t see or smell. Polluted water is unsafe for drinking and swimming. Some people who drink polluted water are exposed to hazardous chemicals that may make them sick years later. Others consume bacteria and other tiny aquatic organisms that cause disease. The United Nations estimates that 4,000 children die every day from drinking dirty water. Sometimes, polluted water harms people indirectly. They get sick because the fish that live in polluted water are unsafe to eat. They have too many pollutants in their flesh. There are some natural sources of water pollution. Oil and natural gas, for example, can leak into oceans and lakes from natural underground sources. These sites are called petroleum seeps . The world’s largest petroleum seep is the Coal Oil Point Seep, off the coast of the U.S. state of California. The Coal Oil Point Seep releases so much oil that tar balls wash up on nearby beaches . Tar balls are small, sticky pieces of pollution that eventually decompose in the ocean.

Human activity also contributes to water pollution. Chemicals and oils from factories are sometimes dumped or seep into waterways. These chemicals are called runoff. Chemicals in runoff can create a toxic environment for aquatic life. Runoff can also help create a fertile environment for cyanobacteria , also called blue-green algae . Cyanobacteria reproduce rapidly, creating a harmful algal bloom (HAB) . Harmful algal blooms prevent organisms such as plants and fish from living in the ocean. They are associated with “ dead zones ” in the world’s lakes and rivers, places where little life exists below surface water. Mining and drilling can also contribute to water pollution. Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a major contributor to pollution of rivers and streams near coal mines . Acid helps miners remove coal from the surrounding rocks . The acid is washed into streams and rivers, where it reacts with rocks and sand. It releases chemical sulfur from the rocks and sand, creating a river rich in sulfuric acid . Sulfuric acid is toxic to plants, fish, and other aquatic organisms. Sulfuric acid is also toxic to people, making rivers polluted by AMD dangerous sources of water for drinking and hygiene . Oil spills are another source of water pollution. In April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing oil to gush from the ocean floor. In the following months, hundreds of millions of gallons of oil spewed into the gulf waters. The spill produced large plumes of oil under the sea and an oil slick on the surface as large as 24,000 square kilometers (9,100 square miles). The oil slick coated wetlands in the U.S. states of Louisiana and Mississippi, killing marsh plants and aquatic organisms such as crabs and fish. Birds, such as pelicans , became coated in oil and were unable to fly or access food. More than two million animals died as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Buried chemical waste can also pollute water supplies. For many years, people disposed of chemical wastes carelessly, not realizing its dangers. In the 1970s, people living in the Love Canal area in Niagara Falls, New York, suffered from extremely high rates of cancer and birth defects . It was discovered that a chemical waste dump had poisoned the area’s water. In 1978, 800 families living in Love Canal had to a bandon their homes. If not disposed of properly, radioactive waste from nuclear power plants can escape into the environment. Radioactive waste can harm living things and pollute the water. Sewage that has not been properly treated is a common source of water pollution. Many cities around the world have poor sewage systems and sewage treatment plants. Delhi, the capital of India, is home to more than 21 million people. More than half the sewage and other waste produced in the city are dumped into the Yamuna River. This pollution makes the river dangerous to use as a source of water for drinking or hygiene. It also reduces the river’s fishery , resulting in less food for the local community. A major source of water pollution is fertilizer used in agriculture . Fertilizer is material added to soil to make plants grow larger and faster. Fertilizers usually contain large amounts of the elements nitrogen and phosphorus , which help plants grow. Rainwater washes fertilizer into streams and lakes. There, the nitrogen and phosphorus cause cyanobacteria to form harmful algal blooms. Rain washes other pollutants into streams and lakes. It picks up animal waste from cattle ranches. Cars drip oil onto the street, and rain carries it into storm drains , which lead to waterways such as rivers and seas. Rain sometimes washes chemical pesticides off of plants and into streams. Pesticides can also seep into groundwater , the water beneath the surface of the Earth. Heat can pollute water. Power plants, for example, produce a huge amount of heat. Power plants are often located on rivers so they can use the water as a coolant . Cool water circulates through the plant, absorbing heat. The heated water is then returned to the river. Aquatic creatures are sensitive to changes in temperature. Some fish, for example, can only live in cold water. Warmer river temperatures prevent fish eggs from hatching. Warmer river water also contributes to harmful algal blooms. Another type of water pollution is simple garbage. The Citarum River in Indonesia, for example, has so much garbage floating in it that you cannot see the water. Floating trash makes the river difficult to fish in. Aquatic animals such as fish and turtles mistake trash, such as plastic bags, for food. Plastic bags and twine can kill many ocean creatures. Chemical pollutants in trash can also pollute the water, making it toxic for fish and people who use the river as a source of drinking water. The fish that are caught in a polluted river often have high levels of chemical toxins in their flesh. People absorb these toxins as they eat the fish. Garbage also fouls the ocean. Many plastic bottles and other pieces of trash are thrown overboard from boats. The wind blows trash out to sea. Ocean currents carry plastics and other floating trash to certain places on the globe, where it cannot escape. The largest of these areas, called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. According to some estimates, this garbage patch is the size of Texas. The trash is a threat to fish and seabirds, which mistake the plastic for food. Many of the plastics are covered with chemical pollutants. Land Pollution Many of the same pollutants that foul the water also harm the land. Mining sometimes leaves the soil contaminated with dangerous chemicals. Pesticides and fertilizers from agricultural fields are blown by the wind. They can harm plants, animals, and sometimes people. Some fruits and vegetables absorb the pesticides that help them grow. When people consume the fruits and vegetables, the pesticides enter their bodies. Some pesticides can cause cancer and other diseases. A pesticide called DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) was once commonly used to kill insects, especially mosquitoes. In many parts of the world, mosquitoes carry a disease called malaria , which kills a million people every year. Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Muller was awarded the Nobel Prize for his understanding of how DDT can control insects and other pests. DDT is responsible for reducing malaria in places such as Taiwan and Sri Lanka. In 1962, American biologist Rachel Carson wrote a book called Silent Spring , which discussed the dangers of DDT. She argued that it could contribute to cancer in humans. She also explained how it was destroying bird eggs, which caused the number of bald eagles, brown pelicans, and ospreys to drop. In 1972, the United States banned the use of DDT. Many other countries also banned it. But DDT didn’t disappear entirely. Today, many governments support the use of DDT because it remains the most effective way to combat malaria. Trash is another form of land pollution. Around the world, paper, cans, glass jars, plastic products, and junked cars and appliances mar the landscape. Litter makes it difficult for plants and other producers in the food web to create nutrients . Animals can die if they mistakenly eat plastic. Garbage often contains dangerous pollutants such as oils, chemicals, and ink. These pollutants can leech into the soil and harm plants, animals, and people. Inefficient garbage collection systems contribute to land pollution. Often, the garbage is picked up and brought to a dump, or landfill . Garbage is buried in landfills. Sometimes, communities produce so much garbage that their landfills are filling up. They are running out of places to dump their trash. A massive landfill near Quezon City, Philippines, was the site of a land pollution tragedy in 2000. Hundreds of people lived on the slopes of the Quezon City landfill. These people made their living from recycling and selling items found in the landfill. However, the landfill was not secure. Heavy rains caused a trash landslide, killing 218 people. Sometimes, landfills are not completely sealed off from the land around them. Pollutants from the landfill leak into the earth in which they are buried. Plants that grow in the earth may be contaminated, and the herbivores that eat the plants also become contaminated. So do the predators that consume the herbivores. This process, where a chemical builds up in each level of the food web, is called bioaccumulation . Pollutants leaked from landfills also leak into local groundwater supplies. There, the aquatic food web (from microscopic algae to fish to predators such as sharks or eagles) can suffer from bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals. Some communities do not have adequate garbage collection systems, and trash lines the side of roads. In other places, garbage washes up on beaches. Kamilo Beach, in the U.S. state of Hawai'i, is littered with plastic bags and bottles carried in by the tide . The trash is dangerous to ocean life and reduces economic activity in the area. Tourism is Hawai'i’s largest industry . Polluted beaches discourage tourists from investing in the area’s hotels, restaurants, and recreational activities. Some cities incinerate , or burn, their garbage. Incinerating trash gets rid of it, but it can release dangerous heavy metals and chemicals into the air. So while trash incinerators can help with the problem of land pollution, they sometimes add to the problem of air pollution. Reducing Pollution Around the world, people and governments are making efforts to combat pollution. Recycling, for instance, is becoming more common. In recycling, trash is processed so its useful materials can be used again. Glass, aluminum cans, and many types of plastic can be melted and reused . Paper can be broken down and turned into new paper. Recycling reduces the amount of garbage that ends up in landfills, incinerators, and waterways. Austria and Switzerland have the highest recycling rates. These nations recycle between 50 and 60 percent of their garbage. The United States recycles about 30 percent of its garbage. Governments can combat pollution by passing laws that limit the amount and types of chemicals factories and agribusinesses are allowed to use. The smoke from coal-burning power plants can be filtered. People and businesses that illegally dump pollutants into the land, water, and air can be fined for millions of dollars. Some government programs, such as the Superfund program in the United States, can force polluters to clean up the sites they polluted. International agreements can also reduce pollution. The Kyoto Protocol , a United Nations agreement to limit the emission of greenhouse gases, has been signed by 191 countries. The United States, the world’s second-largest producer of greenhouse gases, did not sign the agreement. Other countries, such as China, the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, have not met their goals. Still, many gains have been made. In 1969, the Cuyahoga River, in the U.S. state of Ohio, was so clogged with oil and trash that it caught on fire. The fire helped spur the Clean Water Act of 1972. This law limited what pollutants could be released into water and set standards for how clean water should be. Today, the Cuyahoga River is much cleaner. Fish have returned to regions of the river where they once could not survive. But even as some rivers are becoming cleaner, others are becoming more polluted. As countries around the world become wealthier, some forms of pollution increase. Countries with growing economies usually need more power plants, which produce more pollutants. Reducing pollution requires environmental, political, and economic leadership. Developed nations must work to reduce and recycle their materials, while developing nations must work to strengthen their economies without destroying the environment. Developed and developing countries must work together toward the common goal of protecting the environment for future use.

How Long Does It Last? Different materials decompose at different rates. How long does it take for these common types of trash to break down?

• Paper: 2-4 weeks
• Orange peel: 6 months
• Milk carton: 5 years
• Plastic bag: 15 years
• Tin can: 100 years
• Plastic bottle: 450 years
• Glass bottle: 500 years
• Styrofoam: Never

Indoor Air Pollution The air inside your house can be polluted. Air and carpet cleaners, insect sprays, and cigarettes are all sources of indoor air pollution.

Light Pollution Light pollution is the excess amount of light in the night sky. Light pollution, also called photopollution, is almost always found in urban areas. Light pollution can disrupt ecosystems by confusing the distinction between night and day. Nocturnal animals, those that are active at night, may venture out during the day, while diurnal animals, which are active during daylight hours, may remain active well into the night. Feeding and sleep patterns may be confused. Light pollution also indicates an excess use of energy. The dark-sky movement is a campaign by people to reduce light pollution. This would reduce energy use, allow ecosystems to function more normally, and allow scientists and stargazers to observe the atmosphere.

Noise Pollution Noise pollution is the constant presence of loud, disruptive noises in an area. Usually, noise pollution is caused by construction or nearby transportation facilities, such as airports. Noise pollution is unpleasant, and can be dangerous. Some songbirds, such as robins, are unable to communicate or find food in the presence of heavy noise pollution. The sound waves produced by some noise pollutants can disrupt the sonar used by marine animals to communicate or locate food.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Environmental Issues — The Global Problem Of Marine Noise Pollution

The Global Problem of Marine Noise Pollution

• Categories: Environmental Issues Marine Life Pollution

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Published: Jul 15, 2020

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Introduction/how sound travels, communication.

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Essay on Noise Pollution for Children and Students

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Noise pollution or sound pollution refers to the presence of excessive and disturbing noise (from machines, transportation systems, aircrafts, trains, etc) in the environment that is very harmful to the physical and mental health of the living beings on earth.

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Long and Short Essay on Noise Pollution in English

Noise pollution has become one of the big problems in India affecting the human lives in many ways. We all should know the causes, effects and most importantly the preventive measures of the noise pollution in order to get prevented from the effects of it. School students generally get this topic to write something according to their own view during the competitions like essay writing, etc. We have provided below some easily written essay on noise pollution under different words limit for students. You can select any noise pollution essay according to your need and requirement.

Noise Pollution Essay 1 (100 words)

It is considered as the environmental pollution caused in the environment by the excess level of noise through many sources. Noise pollution is also known as the noise disturbance. Excessive noise is harmful to the health and cause imbalance to the human or animal life. It has been a massive environmental issue in India which needs a proper attention to be solved however it is less dangerous than the water, air and soil pollution. Outdoor noise is hugely caused by the sources like machines, transportation systems, poor urban planning (construction of side-by-side industrial and residential buildings), etc. Indoor noise sources are household machines, building activities, loud music, etc. The most common impairment caused by the noise pollution is the permanent hearing loss due to ear drum damage.

Noise Pollution Essay 2 (150 words)

Normal level of the sound necessary to maintain the daily lives however undesired sound or noise which is not tolerated by the people, animals or plants causes noise pollution in the environment. Noise is commonly called as the unwanted sound created by many industrial or non-industrial sources used in the daily life in our surrounding. High level sound creates unpleasant effects and discomfort to the health especially to the ears.

Unwanted sound generally interferes with the daily routine activities like sleep in night, conversation, hearing ability, feeling of well being, etc. Water animals also affected by the noise pollution created by the noise of submarines and big ships in the ocean. Forest animals have been affected to a great extent due to the chain-saw operations (create extreme noise) by timber companies. Common sources of the noise pollution are household gadgets, transport vehicles, jet planes, helicopters, industrial machines, etc. According to the World Health Organization, industries must limit their sound production by 75 dB.

Noise Pollution Essay 3 (200 words)

Noise pollution the pollution caused by the high and unsafe level of noise in the environment causes lots of health disorders to the human beings, animals and plants. Common problems caused by the noise pollution are stress related illnesses, anxiety, communication problems, speech interference, hearing loss, lost productivity, sleep disruption, fatigue, headache, irritability, nervousness, weakness, reduce sensitivity to sound which our ear receive to maintain body rhythm, etc. It causes gradual impairment to the hearing ability over a long period of time. Continuous exposure to high level sound causes permanent damage to the eardrum.

High level of the noise causes huge nuisance, injuries, physical trauma, bleeding around brain, large bubbles in organs and even death to the marine animals specially whales and dolphins as they use their hearing ability to communicate, find food, defend and survive in water. Source of noise in the water is navy submarine’s sonar which can felt around 300 miles away. The consequences of the noise pollution are more dangerous and worrying in the near future.

There are many preventive measures of the noise pollution, some are like promoting soundproof rooms construction in the industries, industries and factories should be away from the residential building, repairing of motorbikes having damaged exhaust pipes, ban of noisy vehicles, airports, bus, railway stations and other transport terminals should be far from the living places, declaring silence zones near educational institutes and hospitals, allowing more vegetation along with roads and residential areas in order to reduce noise pollution by absorbing sound.

Noise Pollution Essay 4 (250 words)

Noise pollution caused by the high level of unwanted sound in the environment which causes pain. Some of the main sources of the noise pollution like noise generated by the road traffic, air craft noise, railroads noise, noise generated by the construction (of buildings, highways, city streets, flyovers, etc), industrial noise, noise created in home on daily basis (due to electrical home appliances, plumbing, generators, air conditioners, boilers, fans, etc), and noise from consumer products (like household equipments, kitchen appliances, vacuum cleaners, washing machine, mixer, juicer, pressure cooker, TV, mobile, dryer, cooler, etc).

In some countries (highly populated countries like India, etc) poor urban planning also plays vital role in the noise pollution as this planning includes the construction of congested houses having large families in small space (causing fight for parking, fights for basic requirements, etc) lead to the noise pollution. New generation people play music in full volume and dance for late night causing lots of physical and mental disturbances to the neighbors. High level of noise causes loss of normal person’s ability to hear properly. High level of noise slowly affects the health and acts as slow poison.

It hugely affects the wildlife, lives of plants, and human beings. Normally, the ability of our ear is to accept the only certain range of sounds without making any damage to the ear. However, our ear cannot bear the regular exposure to loud levels of noise and get damage to the ear drums which results in the temporary or permanent loss of hearing. It also causes other disorders like sleeping disorders, fatigue, weakness, cardiovascular issues, stress, high blood pressure, communication problem, etc.

Noise Pollution Essay 5 (300 words)

There are various types of pollution in the environment, soil pollution is one of them and have become more dangerous to the health. It has become so dangerous that it can compared to the other most dangerous problems like cancer, etc in which slow death is sure. Noise pollution is the dangerous gift of modern living style and increasing level of industrialization and urbanization. If regular and effective actions not taken to control, it can very serious to the future generations. Noise pollution the pollution caused by the noise due to the increased level of unwanted sound in the environment. It is a big potential hazard to the health and causes huge level of communication problems.

High level of noise brings irritation in the behavior of many people especially diseased, old people and pregnant women. Unwanted sound causes deafness problem and other chronic disorders to the ear like damage to the ear drum, ear pain, etc. Sometimes high sound music pleases the listeners however irritates other people. Any undesired sound in the environment is injurious to the health. Some of the sources participating highly in the noise pollution are industries, factories, transportation, traffic, aeroplane engines, train sounds, home appliances, construction, etc.

The noise level of 60 db considered as the normal noise however, noise level of 80 db or above become physically painful and harmful to the health. Cities having high noise quantum are Delhi (80 db), Kolkata (87 db), Bombay (85 db), Chennai (89 db), etc. Limiting the amount of noise to a safe level has become very necessary for the life on the earth as undesired noise affects the health of human beings, plants and animals too. It is possible through the general awareness among public about the noise pollution, its main sources, it’s dangerous effects, as well as all the possible preventive measures to get prevented from the noise pollution.

Noise Pollution Essay 6 (400 words)

It caused by the noise when the level of noise gets increased than the normal level in the environment. Excessive amount of noise in the environment is unsafe for the living purpose. Unpleasant sound causes various disturbances in the natural balance. High volume noises are unnatural and create difficulty in escaping those generated noises. In such a modern and technological world, where everything is possible through the electrical appliances at home or outside the home, the risk of noise has increased to a great extent.

Increasing the demand of urbanization and industrialization in India is causing major exposure of people to the unwanted sounds. Understanding, planning and implementing strategies to get prevented from the noise pollution has necessary to curb within time. The sounds we make in our everyday life like loud music, unnecessary use of television, phone, traffic, dog barking and etc noise creating sources have become part of the urban culture as well as most disturbing things causing headache, sleep disturbances, stress, etc. Those things causing disturbance to the natural rhythm of life called as dangerous pollutant. Following are the causes or sources and effects of the noise pollution:

• Industrialization is putting our health and life at risk because all the (big or small) industries are using big machines producing high pitch sound in large amount. Other equipments (compressors, generators, exhaust fans, grinding mills) used in the factories and industries also produces big noise.
• Regular social events like marriages, parties, pub, club, disc or place of worship, temples, etc create nuisance in the residential area.
• Increasing transportation in the cities (vehicles, aeroplanes, underground trains, etc) produces heavy noise.
• Regular construction activities (including mining, bridges, building, dams, stations, roads, flyovers, etc) involve big equipments creating high level of noise.
• Use of household appliances in our daily life is also the main reason noise pollution.
• Noise pollution causes various hearing problems (damage to ear drums and loss of hearing) because of the unwanted sound.
• It reduces ear sensitivity to the sounds required to regulate body rhythm.
• Noise pollution affects the psychological health and causes the occurrence of aggressive behavior, sleep disturbance, stress, weakness, fatigue, hypertension, cardio-vascular diseases including other severe and chronic health issues in later life.
• It creates communication problems and lead to misunderstanding.
• Affects wildlife and makes pets more aggressive.

Preventive Measures:

General awareness should increased among people and all the rules should followed seriously by everyone in order to control the unsafe sound level in the environment. Unnecessary use of things generating high pitch sound should reduced in the home or outside the home like clubs, parties, bars, discos, etc.

Essay 7 (800 words)

Noise pollution the pollution caused by the various noise sources whether by the industrial or non-industrial affecting the human beings, plants and animals health in many aspects. Regularly increasing level of the noise pollution is keeping the lives of people of present generation and coming generations at high risk. I have discussed below the sources, effects, legal aspects control noise pollution and conclusion of the noise pollution.

Following are the sources of noise pollution

The level of noise pollution has increased a lot in India by the urbanization, modern civilization, industrialization, etc. The spread of noise caused by the industrial and non-industrial sources. Industrial sources of noise include the use of big machines of high technologies working at high speed and high level of noise intensity in the various industries. Non-industrial sources of noise include noise created outside the industries such as through the transport, vehicles traffic and other means by people. Non-industrial source of noise can be natural or man made. Some of the industrial and non-industrial sources of noise pollution mentioned below:

• Noise created by the low flying military aircraft has also added noise pollution to the environment to a great extent.
• Road traffic noise is increasing day by day in the city because of the motors and exhaust system of vehicles like trucks, buses, autos, motorcycles, personal cars, etc. Tall buildings in the cities cause noise to resound in that area for some time.
• Industrial noise created by the manufacturing plants because of the use of motors, compressors, fans, etc.
• Construction noises created by the construction of tall buildings, roads, highways, city streets, etc through the use of pneumatic hammers, bulldozers, air compressors, dump trucks, loaders, pavement breakers, etc.
• Rail roads noise (from locomotive engines, whistles, horns, switching or shunting operations in the rail yards) are also very effective in the creating high level of noise pollution as they create peak level of noise of around 120 dB to the 100 feet distance.
• Noise created in the building because of the plumbing, generators, boilers, household equipments, music, air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, kitchen appliances, fans, and other noisy activities in the neighborhood.
• Another source of noise pollution is the use of variety of fire crackers (high sound generating) during the festivals and other family occasions.

Following are the effects of noise pollution

Noise pollution highly affects the health of human beings, animals and properties. Some of mentioned below:

• Increasing noise pollution day by day is decreasing the efficiency and quality of work of human beings.
• Noise pollution reduces concentration level as high level of noise causes fatigue and tiredness.
• Hugely affects the pregnant women and cause irritation and abortion.
• Causes various diseases (high blood pressure and mental illness) to the people because it disturbs the peace of mind.
• High level of noise decreases quality of work and thus causes lack of concentration level.
• It may cause temporary or permanent deafness because noise level of 80 to 100 db is unsafe for the people.
• It also damage historical monuments, old buildings, bridges, etc because it weakens the structure by creating dangerous waves which struck to the walls.
• Animals lose control on their mind and can be more dangerous because high level noise damage their nervous system.
• It also affects the plants and causes poor quality crops production.

Following are legal aspects to control noise pollution

• Constitution of India guarantees right to life, right to information, right to religion and noise.
• Section 133 empowers human being to remove a public nuisance on a conditional or permanent order.
• It is Control Rule 2000 under Environment Protection Act 1996 involves controlling the growing problem of noise pollution.
• Factories Act Reduction of Noise and Oil of Machinery limits for noise exposure in the work zone.
• Motor Vehicle Act involves the use of horn and change of fault engines.
• Indian Penal code deals with the health and safety issues caused by the noise pollution. One can penalized under law of torts.

Increasing level of noise pollution has created the urgent need of general awareness about the sources, effects and preventive measures of the noise pollution. High level of noise should prohibited in the areas like working places, educational institutes, residential areas, hospitals, etc. Young children and students should motivated to not get involved in the high sound producing acts like use of high sound generating equipments and instruments on the occasions. Use of high level sound generating fire crackers should reduced during the occasions like festivals, parties, marriages, etc. Subjects related to the noise pollution should added into textbooks and activities can organized in the schools like lectures, discussion, etc so that new generations can more aware and responsible citizens.

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April 16, 2024

15 min read

Quiet! Our Loud World Is Making Us Sick

Experts describe ways to turn down the volume, from earbuds to smartphone apps that detect harmful noise levels

By Joanne Silberner

The Niobrara National Scenic River in Nebraska is a place where people can spend a long time hearing only natural sound at low volumes.

marekuliasz/Getty Images

T en years ago Jamie Banks started working from her home in the town of ­Lincoln, Mass. After a couple of months, the continuing racket from landscaping machines began to feel unendurable, even when she was inside her home. “This horrible noise was going on for hours every day, every week—leaf blowers, industrial lawnmowers, hedge trimmers,” she says. The sound of a gas-powered leaf blower outside can be as loud as 75 decibels (dB) to someone listening from inside a house—higher than the World Health Organization cutoff to protect hearing over a 24-hour period. “I started thinking, this can’t be good,” she says. “It’s definitely not good for me. It certainly can’t be good for the workers operating the equipment. And there are lots of kids and lots of seniors around. It can’t be good for them either.”

Banks is a health-care specialist and environmental scientist who has worked most of her life as a consultant on health outcomes and behavior change for government agencies, law firms and corporations. She decided to do something about her situation and got together with a like-minded neighbor to pester the town government. It took the pair seven years to get their town to do one thing—ban gas-powered leaf blowers during the summer. The process was long and frustrating, and it made Banks think about going bigger and helping others.

So she did. In June 2023 Quiet Communities, a nonprofit group that Banks founded and runs, sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for not publishing or enforcing rules and regulations to limit loud sounds: unmuffled motorcycles, cacophonous factories, the thunder of an airplane just overhead, the roar of an elevated train, the scream of a sound­track in a spin class, headphones set too loud. There is a federal law that calls for the EPA to do this, but it hasn’t been enforced for more than 40 years.

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Banks’s idea that loud noise “can’t be good” is well supported by science. Noise can damage more than just your ears . Through daytime stress and nighttime sleep disturbances, loud sounds can hurt your heart and blood vessels, disrupt your endocrine system, and make it difficult to think and learn. The World Health Organization calculated that in 2018 in the European Union, 1.6 million years of healthy life were lost because of traffic noise. The organization recommended that to avoid these health effects, exposure to road traffic noise should be limited to below a weighted 24-hour average of 53 dB (the sound of a campfire from about 16 feet away) during the day, evening, and night and 45 dB specifically at night (the sound of light traffic about 100 feet away).

Precise “safe” levels to avoid specific ailments are hard to come by. But in general, research shows, reducing loud noise can reduce the risk of harm. There are several ways to protect yourself. Various organizations have made maps that indicate quiet and noisy places around the U.S. Smartphone apps can tell you if you’re in one that’s too loud for safety. And noise experts all seem to own earbuds and headphones and use them often to block out the din.

For most of human history, the issue with noise was simply how annoying it can be. The first noise ordinance on record was drafted by Julius Caesar shortly before his assassination in 44 B.C.E., limiting the times that noisy carts and wagons could be on the street. The modern industrial era brought regulations to protect the ears of workers exposed to steam engines, drop forges, and other loud machinery but little information or action on everyday noises. A big moment came in 1970, when psychoacoustics expert Karl Kryter , then at the Stanford Research Institute, published The Effects of Noise on Man . The book focused on what loud sound could do to hearing and touched on work performance, sleep, vision and blood circulation.

That noise has biological effects beyond the ear makes sense in evolutionary terms. Noise may signal that a herd of elephants is charging your compound or that a pack of wolves is close by—you need to know, and your body needs to get ready for something unpleasant. As noise and sleep researcher Mathias Basner of the University of Pennsylvania and his colleagues put it in a 2014 Lancet review , “evolution has programmed human beings to be aware of sounds as possible sources of danger.”

MSJONESNYC; Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( reference )

From an evolutionary point of view, sleep was “a very dangerous stage,” a time when you had to maintain attention to your environment, Basner says. But the psychiatrist and epidemiologist, who has spent much of his career studying the effects of airport noise on people sleeping nearby, notes a “watchman function” that leads to night awakenings is for the most part harmful, not helpful, in modern societies.

A lot of people think they sleep soundly despite nearby noise. They should think again. Basner has exposed hundreds of people to noise during sleep studies. He says many would get up in the morning swearing they’d slept through the night without waking, but the data showed they’d had num­er­ous awakenings.

By the early 1970s a poll showed that the public considered noise pollution a serious problem. Formal government recognition came in 1972 with the passage of the Noise Control Act and the establishment of the EPA’s Office of Noise Abatement and Control. The act promised that the government would “promote an environment for all Americans free from noise that jeopardizes their health or welfare.” At the time, the EPA estimated that 100 million Americans experienced daily average sound of 55 dB or over. Fifty-­five dB is about halfway between the level of a quiet conversation at home and one in a restaurant or office. Any 24-hour exposure average louder than that, according to the EPA, was loud enough to interfere with activities and cause annoyance.

By this time, studies from universities in the U.S. and Europe were beginning to identify health effects of noise beyond the ear, starting with behavior and learning. In 1973 three U.S. researchers, with funding from the National Science Foundation and two private organizations, studied 73 children in primary school who lived in several 32-story apartment buildings clustered over Interstate 95 where it passes through New York City. Children on the lower floors, exposed to more highway noise, were less able to distinguish sounds and were reading at a lower level than children on the higher floors. There was even a dose-response relation: the longer the child had lived in the building, the lower their scores were likely to be.

In 1975 researchers at the City University of New York looked at school records for 161 primary school students at a school that was 220 feet from an elevated subway, with trains hurtling by every 4.5 minutes. The records showed a three- to four-month reading lag for kids in classrooms on the noisy side of the building compared with those in classes on the quiet side.

Researchers were able to do a natural ex­­per­i­ment when the Munich International Airport moved about 25 miles north in 1992. The scientists found that among children living near the old airport site, long-term memory and reading skills improved after the airport closed. But for kids near the new airport, those changes went in the opposite direction, and their stress hormone levels increased.

In the early 2000s Stephen Stansfeld, then a psychiatrist at the University of London, studied kids aged nine to 11 living and going to school near airports in Europe, comparing their blood pressure and learning ability with those of similar children who did not live under flight paths. Airplane noise reached 77 dB(A) at several schools ; dB(A) is a decibel scale that em­­phasizes frequencies the human ear hears best. “We found a straight-line relationship between increasing levels of aircraft noise and children’s reading comprehension,” Stansfeld says. “Noisy schools were not healthy educational environments.” A colleague found the harmful effects lasted into secondary school.

All the while, the U.S. was getting noisier. In 2014 Rick Neitzel, an environmental and occupational health professor at the University of Michigan who has been researching noise for 25 years, and his colleagues estimated that more than 100 million Americans had a continuous average exposure level in 24 hours of greater than 70 dB. Imagine standing next to a washing machine all day or suffering occasional blasts from the gas-powered lawn equipment Jamie Banks could hear inside her house. It was a rise of 15 dB in just a generation, which is the difference between normal conversation and a vacuum cleaner.

Beyond the brain and cognition, the heart and blood vessels also take a hit from noise—perhaps not surprising given the stressful effects of noise and the impacts of stress on the circulatory system. A slew of epidemiological studies over the years have linked environmental noise, especially nighttime noise, to high blood pressure, heart failure, myocardial infarction (heart attacks) and stroke. The association held true even after researchers controlled for confounders such as air pollution and socioeconomic variables.

Some of the strongest human data come from Denmark, which is an epidemiologist’s dream country because it collects health data on pretty much every resident. Mette Sørensen, an epidemiologist at Ros­kilde University in Denmark, Thomas Münzel, a professor at Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany, and others teased apart the effects of noise on types of heart disease such as myocardial in­­farc­tion, angina and heart failure. Looking at 2.5 million people 50 years or older, they found road traffic noise increased the incidence of all three. In a 2021 report on 3.6 million Danes, they showed that an average daily 10-dB increase in sound exposure because of road noise increased the risk of stroke by 3 to 4 percent.

They’ve also looked at type 2 diabetes, a condition that had already been associated with chronic sleep disturbance. This link makes sense, Sørensen says: stress such as frequent awakening raises levels of glucocorticoids, which inhibit insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity. Reducing these two things leads to diabetes. In 2013 Sørensen and her colleagues re­­port­ed an 8 percent increase in diabetes risk for every 10-dB increase in exposure to road traffic noise. Eight years later , looking at 3.56 million Danes 35 years and older, with 233,912 new cases of diabetes, they calculated that road traffic noise could be blamed for 8.5 percent of the cases of diabetes in Denmark and railway noises for 1.4 percent.

Sørensen is aware that those percentages don’t sound very high. But they are meaningful, she says. In Denmark, more than one third of the population is exposed to average daily sound levels above 58 dB. “You have such a huge proportion exposed to this,” she says, “so even though it’s only a really small in­­crease in risk, it’s a large number of people who get diabetes due to noise.”

The physical mechanisms behind these links are still being investigated, but animal studies have highlighted possible culprits. (Researchers cannot deliberately expose people to such potentially harmful noise effects.) Münzel explored some of these connections in mice, for example. In one study, he ex­­posed the rodents to average sound levels of 72 dB over four days and found that the animals had higher blood pressure and levels of stress hormones and inflammation , as well as changes in the activity of genes that regulate vascular health and cell death.

Jen Christiansen; Source: “Environmental Noise and the Cardiovascular System,” by Thomas Münzel et al., in Journal of the American College of Cardiology , Vol. 71; February 2018 ( reference )

In the U.S., most research on noise has been done without much help from the federal government, despite the Noise Control Act. In 1981, after Ronald Reagan was elected president on a promise of cutting back the federal government, he appointed Anne Gorsuch as head of the EPA; she eliminated funding for the agency’s noise-control office. “She wanted to show the White House that she believed in small government,” says Sidney Shapiro, a Wake Forest administrative law professor who has studied the rise and fall of noise-abatement laws. He says noise has never had a well-organized constituency to support it. Responsibility for noise-control research, funding and regulation was left to individual state and local governments.

Today the EPA’s noise-control office is still there—on paper. “There is no money to enforce regulations or for research or education,” Neitzel says. That’s why Quiet Communities is suing. “Not having the EPA doing its job is hugely damaging, not only to the public who are being harmed by noise but also to the research community. We don’t have access to a stream of funding that should be there.”

Without that information, noise researchers have long struggled to quantify the overall impact of the American din. In 2014 when Neitzel and his colleagues at the University of Michigan wanted to figure out whether reducing noise would have a beneficial effect on cardiovascular disease, they had to resort to prevalence estimates made in 1981. In 2015 they published their findings. A 5-dB reduction in average noise exposure would cut the prevalence of high blood pressure by 1.5 percent and cut heart disease by 1.8 percent. Again, these are low numbers. But because of the high incidence of these conditions to begin with, an average 5-dB reduction would have an annual economic benefit of $3.9 billion. “I was shocked that the numbers were as big as they were,” Neitzel says.

Overall, as with chemical and air pollution, people with lower incomes are being hit the hardest. Their communities may have highways running through them or have factories and airports nearby. “Folks who are already in marginalized communities may be bearing way more than their fair share of noise exposure,” Neitzel says.

In these areas, it’s essential to ground research and solutions in community priorities, says Erica Walker, an epidemiologist at Brown University. Walker founded the Community Noise Lab , which works with communities to study and mitigate the effects of noise and other pollutants. She believes that it’s probably not just the absolute sound level that determines bodily damage—it’s unwanted sound. If the sound is a welcome one, does prolonged exposure to, say, 75 dB (about the volume of street musicians playing trumpets 30 feet away from you) raise stress levels the way that large studies have shown? “We need to know what the difference is between sound and noise from an individual point of view and from a community perspective,” Walker says.

She points to the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C., which has been undergoing gentrification. “The cultural practice was to play go-go music. As the neighborhood began to become gentrified, newcomers had their own acoustical expectations of what the neighborhood should sound like,” Walker says. “If I’m going into a community and I’m measuring noise and I’m saying it’s really loud (based strictly on decibels) and harmful to health, that might be a misclassification.” People already in the community might perceive that noise as comfortable.

Walker and her colleagues are now trying to tease apart unacceptable noise and acceptable sound. In an ongoing study, they’ve been asking volunteers how they feel about different kinds of noise. Then the researchers deconstruct those noises by rearranging them, making them unidentifiable as a specific sound but maintaining the decibel level and frequency spectrum (think high notes and low notes). By the end of this summer, Walker hopes to know whether the deconstructed sound matches up with the recognizable sound. Such information could help distinguish the roles of sound intensity and cultural connotation in hu­­man harm.

W hatever your community’s sound tolerance, you can protect yourself from noise that’s intolerable. The simplest way, of course, is to avoid it. Sørensen’s data show that sleeping on the quieter side of a building, away from the street, makes a difference. Or you can move to a quieter area. That is easier said than done, and all the experts I spoke with noted that moving to a more peaceful place, as many of them have, is possible only for people who can afford it. If you plan to move, Basner advises visiting the new area at different times of day.

For noise that can’t be avoided, science may offer some promise, at least for ear effects. Sudden loud noises (think concerts, jet engines, leaf blowers and loud machines) stimulate the delicate hair cells and nerve fibers in the inner ear, resulting in the release of damaging free radicals. Animal work has identified some promising chemicals to sop these molecules up, says Colleen Le Prell, a psychologist and head of the department of speech, language and hearing at the University of Texas at Dallas, who is working on several candidates. There is already a drug for children to prevent chemotherapy-induced hearing loss, but it has significant side effects and isn’t approved for general use.

The Montello Foundation’s artist retreat in Nevada has been identified by the nonprofit Quiet Parks International as a community without irritating noise.

Stefan Hagen

If you want to get a snapshot of the sound around you, the Internet can help. The National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety has a national map , but it works only on Apple mobile devices right now. The U.S. Department of Transportation has a map for transportation noise , but it doesn’t include workplace noise or inside noise. You can see noise across the entire country , albeit at pretty low resolution, on a National Park Service sound map.

To measure sound directly, there are plenty of smartphone apps. Don’t be surprised if the numbers are high. Data from Apple watches suggest that one in three adult Americans is exposed to excessive noise and daily averages of 70 dB(A) (the sound of an older washing machine or dishwasher) or greater. Those levels are considered by both the World Health Organization and the EPA as dangerous to the ear. You can see state-by-state results on Apple Hearing Study U.S. maps . Apple watches and iPhones can be set to alert you when sound reaches a particular level.

The data collected from Apple watches come from the Apple Hearing Study, begun in 2019 by Neitzel and his colleagues at the University of Michigan and funded by Apple. The study shows that a quieter world is possible. It took the lockdowns of COVID to prove it. The researchers got smartphone data from about 6,000 volunteers, covering a period from just before the pandemic began in January 2020 through late April of that year, when many businesses and activities had shut down for safety, and lots of people were staying close to home. The data showed a 3-dB(A) drop in noise exposure. Because decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale, that’s a halving of sound energy, easily noticeable by the human ear.

Sørensen moved from a city out into the country and checked a noise map first. Neitzel is very intentional about his exposure. “One thing that I absolutely try to do is make sure I’ve programmed periods into the day that I’m not going to have noise exposure,” he says. That means a bike ride through a quiet area or turning the TV off. If he’s at a bus stop, he stands back from the street as much as he can, and he routinely wears noise-blocking earplugs or earmuffs—sometimes both—when he’s checking out industrial sites.

Neitzel protects his ears at concerts as well. “There’s a bit of social stigma around wearing ear protection at a concert,” he says, so he wears clear plugs, much like many musicians use. And he’s got noise-canceling headphones and earbuds. They seal the ear to limit outside sound, which permits listening at a lower volume. He and his family wear noise-canceling earbuds on planes.

You can ask others to turn sound down. Sharon Kujawa, an audiologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear hospital in Boston, and her colleagues did an experiment to see whether people in spin classes preferred louder or softer sound. They liked softer. The facility managers were reluctant to make a change, but eventually customer requests got them to agree to a 3-dB decrease in volume. Fellow ear researcher Le Prell had her children use volume-limiting headphones. The kids were in marching bands in high school, in the percussion section, and she donated earplugs to the entire group.

As for specific levels to aim for, that’s a tough one. There’s no formula that says x hours of exposure to road traffic noise will raise your risk of heart disease y percent. The EPA, which established its noise standards in 1974, before the full health effects were so clear, indicates that a 24-hour exposure level of 70 dB or less will prevent any hearing damage, and 55 dB outdoors and 45 dB indoors will prevent activity interference and annoyance. For lack of anything more current, that’s the standard used by many noise researchers today.

In terms of protective devices, there are only limited federal regulations on headphones, and there’s some concern that the devices go up to volumes that can damage the health (ear and otherwise) of children. Volume limiters on headphones generally have an upper limit of 85 dB, but what the limit should really be, and for how long, is anybody’s guess. There’s also no solid research on whether devices that produce masking noises help.

Clear, consistent standards for how much is too much, and what works, are unlikely without a revitalization of the EPA’s noise-control office. An agency spokesperson wouldn’t say whether the lawsuit by Quiet Communities will spur any change. The two sides in the suit “are currently in the midst of filing motions and cross-motions,” says Quiet Communities lawyer Sanne Knudsen of the University of Washington. When we spoke, Knudsen expected some kind of agreement would be reached by April and hoped it would be one that got the Office of Noise Abatement and Control up and running again.

Jamie Banks now spends most of her time in a quiet town in rural Maine, which, she says, is blissfully free of loud lawn equipment and other noise. She is optimistic that a newly active federal noise-control office will establish data-based noise limits and regulations and that the EPA will ensure regulations are enforced. In 1972, when the noise office was established, the Los Angeles Times opined that it wouldn’t mean an instant reduction in harmful sound, “but at least a start has been made.” Fifty-two years later Banks hopes for not just a start but real progress.

Joanne Silberner , a former NPR health correspondent, has been covering medicine and public health since the start of the HIV epidemic. A co-founder of the Association of Healthcare Journalists, she lives and works on a quiet island in Puget Sound.