Noise Pollution – Cause and Effects

Abstract

The noise pollution is gradually increasing in urban, industrial, commercial, mining, infrastructural-sited and even in sensitive areas causing nuisance and adverse health problems. Noise is a physical form of pollution and is not directly harmful to the life sup­porting systems namely air, soil and water. Its effects are more straight to the receiver i.e. human being. Even though noise pollution is not fatal to human life, yet its importance cannot be overlooked because repeated exposure to noise reduces the sleeping hours and productivity or efficiency of a human being. It affects the peace of mind and invades the privacy of a human being. The importance of noise pollution as environmental problem is being recognized as the ill effects of noise on human health and environment are becoming evident on time scale. Its predominant impacts are witnessed on hearing damage, physiological effects, and behavioral effects. An effort has been made in the present paper to deal with noise and its pollution, adverse effects and its causal factors.