The ability to perceive sounds is vitally important for life and communication, but not all sounds are desirable to hear.
Sound is generated from mechanical vibrations that occur when a particle in the environment (gas, liquid, solid) comes into contact with another force in the environment. Vibrations from the sound source are distributed in the form of elastic waves — similar to the way in which a loudspeaker membrane disseminates sound.
While sound is an essential component of life, too much or too little sound can cause mental disorders. Many factories that produce air-conditioning units have specially built testing chambers that extinguish all sound coming from both outside and inside. These chambers are used to test the equipment in order to understand what kind of noises it produces. When the rooms are being shown to visitors, the doors are left open so that people elsewhere in the factory can be heard, as being left alone in complete silence can cause severe distress.
The power of sound is measured in decibels (dB). The rustle of leaves in the trees produces about 20 dB, a quiet office environment is around 40 dB, a relatively noisy office between 50 and 60 dB, traffic or a noisy restaurant 75 to 80 dB, a jackhammer or rock concert between 100 and 120 dB, and a plane taking off between 130 and 140 dB. A sound of the latter’s magnitude can cause physical pain, and more intense sounds can cause shock or concussion, or even lead to death.
Excessive
noise is harmful to humans:
Noise has negative physical and mental effects:
Studies have shown that in Europe:
In Belarus, more than 30 percent of citizens are exposed to noise levels of 55 to 65 dB on an everyday basis:
Aside from vehicles (which are responsible for 60 to 80 percent of all noise), other sources include factories, construction work, car alarms, barking dogs and noisy people:
Measures can be taken to reduce noise levels:
According to current health rules and norms, the permissible noise levels in residential buildings are up to 40 dB during the day and up to 30 dB at night. These levels were calculated taking into account physiological and health studies, as well as long-term observations and international datasets. The dimensions of buffer zones for railway lines are determined on an individual basis using calculations of physical effects as described in the official publication Requirements for the Organisation of Sanitary Protection Zones for Enterprises, Buildings and Other Objects That Are Subject to Impacts on Human Health and the Environment.