noise

In the legislation of the ancient Greek settlement of Sybaris (600 BC) we read: "Since the noises have an adverse effect on the nerves, no handicraft that involves hammering may be practiced within the city walls. It is also forbidden to keep taps because they disturb sleep. " Certainly at that time the intensity of the noise was out of proportion to the noise that modern humans are exposed to on a daily basis.

Noise is harmful to health

Today, complaints about constant exposure to noise come mainly from large and medium-sized cities. Surveys have shown that around a fifth of the population suffers from noise, and four fifths feel disturbed by noise at work.

When, towards the end of the last century, the advancement of technology with factories and means of transport created the first real sources of noise, the great German doctor and microbiologist Robert Koch said that "one day man will have to fight noise just as relentlessly as cholera and Pest".

Today, complaints about constant exposure to noise come mainly from large and medium-sized cities. Surveys have shown that around a fifth of the population suffers from noise, and four fifths feel disturbed by noise at work. It is interesting that - sorted according to the accused noise sources - road traffic noise is by far at the top, while railroad and aircraft noise, radio, children's noise, etc. follow only a long way off.

In addition, small children and old people and even more sick people are particularly sensitive to noise. The increasing noise in the environment may also be one of the reasons for the currently increasing consumption of sleeping pills; Because sleep as an essential means of restoring work and productivity, as well as maintaining human health, is not guaranteed for everyone under the influence of noise.

The agglomeration of homes and workplaces to form large cities and large industrial areas has made the noise that is generated in the environment by a large number of sources of noise and at high intensity a problem of our time. A closer analysis of the subjective complaints of the population about the noise reveals interesting findings.

Naturally, the louder the noise, the more frequent the complaints. Low and high frequencies are more annoying than mid-frequency sounds. Constant, increasing and decreasing noise is more unpleasant than continuous noise. A regular rhythm of the noise peaks is not as disruptive as an irregular rhythm.

Noise coming from different directions is more uncomfortable than constant noise from the same direction. Avoidable noise is particularly annoying. Whether you find the noise more or less uncomfortable depends on your occupation. It is well known that noise is particularly annoying during intellectual work.

For some people, noise that they cause does not seem annoying at all, in contrast to their environment. Apparently one can get used to the noise, but the noise has an objective effect on the organism. It can impair, endanger and, in the worst case, damage health.

Illnesses & ailments

It is well known that, for example, in so-called noise operations, intense noise can lead to damage to the hearing organ, i.e. the ear, unless - as we do today - appropriate medical precautions are taken. But we have to assume that the noise affects the entire organism and not just the ear. This is the case with environmental noise and depends on the volume, pitch and other factors.

If a few years ago the average volume on the city streets was 60 to 80 decibels, today it is much higher. Noise pollution is particularly great in narrow streets, as considerable sound reflections arise.

With the higher, narrowly limited frequency components, the noise insulation between the apartment and the street is less strong than with broadband noise with a low-frequency component. For this reason, for example, scooters that cause noises of 500 to 1000 Hertz are known to be perceived as particularly unpleasant sources of noise. Most traffic noise, however, is broadband noise.

In all cities and towns, the noise level increases roughly proportionally with increasing traffic density. Environmental noise penetrates homes, schools and hospitals and creates unfavorable conditions for recreation, intellectual work and successful medical treatment.

Since the noise is not extremely loud, there is no damage to the ear or directly to the central nervous system. However, the physical effect, i.e. the annoyance, remains, which does not impair health, but can reduce the current performance, apart from the already mentioned negative consequences for the necessary recovery, such as sleep.

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Symptons & ailments

The effect on the vegetative nervous system also remains with higher noise intensity. Symptoms of fatigue, headaches, insomnia, high blood pressure and other reactions are typical. It is interesting that these vegetative reactions, such as changes in blood pressure, occur regardless of whether the person concerned is aware of the noise or not.

If the individual sound stimuli become so strong or repeat themselves so often that no recovery is possible between the stimuli, a chronic regulatory disorder of the vegetative nervous system, i.e. manifest damage, can occur.

The environmental noise of our time therefore also harbors the possibility of endangering human health. In order to answer the question of whether noises are harmful to health or not, do not start from the subjective perception of the person concerned or from the perception of overly sensitive people.

If, on the basis of general medical experience, there is justified concern that damage will occur, the possibility of damage must be assumed. The medical findings on the objective harmful effects of noise on the human organism are also taken into account in the limit values ​​that were laid down for Germany in the noise limit values.

These regulations, which vary from state to state, contain the permissible limit values ​​for the sound level or volume in buildings or in their vicinity.

In order to maintain and promote the health of the population and to protect it from harmful noise influences from the environment, planning, technical and administrative measures for noise abatement and noise reduction in the environment are necessary. In particular, it is important to comply with the above-mentioned noise protection standard in practice and to enforce it.

But the main thing is to combat the source of the noise itself, and this is first of all a technical problem. The traffic noise will continue to increase considerably with the anticipated increase in traffic density.

On the other hand, however, the development of our cities prohibits moving buildings many meters away from the street. The noise abatement has to be as Use technical measures primarily at the source of the noise. The most effective and economical way to combat noise is to prevent it from occurring.

Such measures can only be successful if urban planners, architects, Doctors, traffic planners, technicians, engineers and designers work together and the fight against noise becomes a matter for the whole population.