News
Explosion of noise is slowly killing us
Laws governing noise pollution have largely not been updated for 22 years although industrialisation has driven noise levels to a pitch that is making humans and animals ill and phobic.
Air horns: One of the biggest culprits of noise pollution. Pix by Amila Gamage
Escalating sound pollution is causing widespread intense frustration along with dire warnings from medical professionals of short and long-term damage to health.
The biggest population centres, Colombo, Gampaha, Kandy and Galle, are the worst affected areas and the failure of local authorities to prepare noise zone maps separating residential zones from industrial and commercial zones was a major problem, the Deputy Director of the Central Environmental Authority’s (CEA) Air Resources Management and Monitoring Unit, Kamal Priyantha, said.
Noise starts early in the day as bakery product sellers tooting amplified musical horns take to the streets, followed by vendors and merchants collecting scrap metal and paper who use speakers to advertise their services. Places of religious worship use loudspeakers throughout the day, and noise continues into the night with musical shows or late-night parties in the neighbourhood.
The health implications are many, leading from loss of hearing to heart problems.
“Just as the lungs are the interface of air pollution, with noise pollution it is the hormonal secretion. High decibel sounds increase tension and this discharges two hormones, adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline increases the heart rate and blood pressure, which causes extra beats to occur, and the combination of these factors create a fat deposit,” Dr. Ruvan Ekanayake, a prominent consultant cardiologist told the Sunday Times.
“The stress hormone cortisol causes a fluffiness in the inner lining of the artery, which again could create a deposit of cholesterol. Therefore, noise pollution by this mechanism will probably cause atherosclerosis – the build-up of plaque in the arteries – in the long run”, he said.
Tension sends the arteries into spasm, and if the heart arteries go into spasm, less blood will reach that area which could cause a heart attack and sudden death. “However, we don’t have definite evidence presently, only statistical associations,” Dr. Ekayanake said.
In addition to physical effects, there were psychological effects like extreme tension, stress, aggression and even depression.
Dr. Ekanayake said that it was now being postulated whether immune deficiencies could result from the psychological effects.
These consequences also affect animals (see tying story).
“The most commonly experienced hearing ailments caused by noise pollution are hearing loss, tinnitus (which can be temporary or permanent) and vertigo,” consultant ENT surgeon Dr. Seetha Arambepola said.
People interviewed in Colombo said they wake to the blast of loudspeakers broadcasting chants from places of worship and the monotonous sound of jingles played at high volume by mobile bread vans or “choon paan three-wheelers”, and spend the day in anger and frustration, continuously bombarded by loud sounds.
Retiree C.S. Fernando, who lives near Nalanda Collage at Borella and Gothami Balika Vidyalaya, made angry remarks about loud broadcasts beginning at 5am from a place of religious worship nearby.
“I am an elderly person who likes to spend time in peace and tranquillity but the peace is short-lived with the early-morning religious recordings,” the 75-year-old complained. “They are too loud and break my sleep and keep me awake till they switch off their loudspeaker.”
School van driver Sudhira Sanjaya Denagama finds the choon paan vans an annoyance with their amplified tunes starting from 5am.
“Weekends are my days off. Those are the only two days that I sleep until 9am but these mobile bread sellers wake me up,” he said.
Noise pollution is at its peak in Pettah, Colombo with the continuously tooting horns of buses and three wheelers, and the loudspeaker-amped radio broadcasts of station ticket sellers.
A vendor who sells kola kanda herbal drinks at Pettah, Sarath Peiris, said he finds it hard to stay at his stall for even two hours because the continuous blaring of bus horns gives him a headache.
“Even before 7am the buses keep tooting. Some of their horns are illegal and louder than the horns used in trains while others have musical horns which are also illegal,” he said.
Accountant Thilanka Galapaththi said laws against noise pollution were hardly ever implemented.
“Air horns and musical horns are banned, yet buses that stop alongside the Fort railway station continually toot their horns,” he said. “The two police officers that remain at the police post at the Fort station are unable to control them, and even traffic officers also turn a blind eye to enforcing the law,” he said.
Trishaw driver H.A. Nishantha said the sudden blare of bus horns give him such a shock that he almost crashes into other vehicles.
He said he had seen amateur three-wheeler drivers colliding with other vehicles due to buses sounding loud horns.
“I sometimes have to brake hard and barely manage to save my vehicle from knocking into another vehicle as a loud horn is sounded,” the 43-year-old said. “The noise is driving me to the edge.”
Anthonyge Sadeesha Kaushalya
Bus drivers claim they are unable to drive without horns as they need to demand space on the road and cut through traffic congestion.
Driver Anthonyge Sadeesha Kaushalya claims he has to use his horn non-stop to drive away buses blocking his path at Fort station.
“If traffic officers or time keepers regulate buses and move the buses after giving them 10 minutes to load passengers we don’t need to toot this much,” he said.
People who live close to garages, factories and construction sites complain that work is carried on late into the night at some construction sites.
The police have drawn criticism for their inaction to curb noise pollution. There is a dedicated Environmental Protection Division but few people have seen them enforcing noise pollution laws.
Police sources said they assist the CEA in carrying out regulatory checks and claimed police lack adequate equipment to monitor and measure noise and air pollution.
Channa Kalansuriya, Senior Research Scientist at the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) said there are still no proper laws in Sri Lanka governing community noise and traffic noise.
A gazette imposing limits on vehicle horn noise was issued in 2011 but no such restrictions had been imposed on other vehicle noises such as engines, exhaust devices, silencers and amplifiers, he said.
While a 2007 Supreme Court decision imposed restrictions on the use of loudspeakers, this decision is not being properly enforced, Mr. Kalansuriya said.
Thilanka Galappaththi
Sarath Peiris
“Regulations governing noise pollution have not been updated since 1996. “The existing legislation is outdated. We have not moved forward in 22 years,” he lamented.
Even existing legislation is not being properly enforced, with much of the blame lying with local government authorities, the scientist stated. Gazette Notification No.924/12 of March 23, 1996, granted local authorities powers to prepare “noise zone maps” demarcating their areas into rural residential, urban residential , commercial, industrial and noise-sensitive areas.
“Clear demarcation of residential, industrial and commercial zones allows the local authority to move ahead with future development activities in a proper manner,” Mr. Kalansuriya said.
“Regrettably, not a single local authority has so far done this. As a result, we have industries being set up in residential neighbourhoods, leading to many noise pollution- related issues.”
“We must safeguard the rights of the people while not discouraging small and medium entrepreneurs. This is why commercial, industrial and residential areas should be identified; so that entrepreneurs can set up their industries in designated areas,” he said.
| Dangerous decibel levels | |
| Consultant ENT surgeon Dr. Seetha Arambepola defines noise pollution as the level at which noise exposure is harmful to humans and other animals, which is above the natural level of noise, set at 50 decibels. “The most commonly experienced hearing ailments caused by noise pollution are hearing loss, tinnitus (which can be temporary or permanent) and vertigo,” she said. Up to 80 decibels is acceptable in factories. If the level is between 80 and 85 decibels, the factory-owners and employers of a workplace have to advise their workers to be aware of continuous exposure to the sound. If it is above 85 decibels, they have to recommend the use of sound protectors and if it is above 90 decibels, the employers are bound by law to provide these protectors to their employees. The other factor is noise duration. The standard is set at eight hours for 90 decibels, but if this were to increase by five decibels the time is to be slashed by half, making it four hours, Dr. Arambepola explained. “When sound waves travel to the inner ear through the ear drum and the middle ear, it sensitises the hair cells which are responsible for hearing. Loud noise damages this, sometimes causing sudden hearing loss. Sounds ranging from 100-120 decibels, usually at a party, wedding or the blasting of firecrackers causes an instant ear-block feeling called temporary tinnitus. |
| Plenty of laws on horns but are they kept? | |
| The Motor Traffic (Amendment) Act No.8 of 2009 should, in theory, have strict controls on vehicle noise pollution. The Act stipulates that a driver can use the vehicle’s horn only when necessary as a traffic warning to avoid an accident or as an indication of his intention to overtake another vehicle. A multi-horn or other sound producing device can only be used by vehicles belonging to the fire brigade, police and tri-forces, or an ambulance responding to an emergency call. Gazette No. 1738/37 of December 29, 2011 imposed limits on the noise emanating from vehicle horns. Accordingly, drivers cannot toot horns with sound levels exceeding 105 decibels within a 2m range. Similarly, such sound or noise emanated should not exceed 93 decibels within a 7m range. The Commissioner-General of Motor Traffic, Jagath Chandrasiri, acknowledged that regulations governing noise levels of other areas of motor vehicles, including the engine, exhaust device or amplifying devices fitted to such vehicles, had still not been drafted. “It is something we are looking at, but as of now, the regulations only relate to vehicle horns,” he said. |
| Pets and other animals in pain | |
| Veterinarians frequently come across pets suffering from “noise phobia” who are under significant stress and are often found attempting to escape from the noise assailing them, animal researcher Dr. Eranda Rajapaksa said. “We have come across many cases where dogs try to escape from the source, at times jumping out of windows or over short walls to escape,” said Dr. Rajapaksa, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science at the University of Peradeniya. Loud horns and recorded music played by bakery and ice cream vending vans have been seen to cause irritation for domestic pets. Noise emitted by heavy industrial plants, construction equipment, generators and saw mills cause significant stress for wildlife and pets, Dr. Rajapaksa said. Studies have found that loud noise can affect the behavioural patterns, foraging, nesting and breeding of wildlife. The loud fireworks used to chase away elephants can affect the hearing of this sensitive species, Dr. Rajapaksa said. This is significant as elephants mostly move in herds and use sound to communicate with each other. While fireworks are the most easily available and cheap option for villagers to chase elephants away there have been some experiments using the “threat calls” of a male elephant and the sound of a hoard of hornets which could be developed into more effective means of deterrence, Dr. Rajapaksa said. |