Assessment of the Noise Pollution impact over the Romanian

population from the urban areas

Author: Todor Denisia-SuzanaCo-author: Bigiu Adriana, Rus Victoria,

Georgescu Mihai

1

Noise is a harmful factor present in human’s environment.

It is a public health issue all over the world caused by mechanization, urbanization and growth of the urban population.

One third of Europe's population is affected by traffic noise, which is the hardest noise to avoid

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of noise pollution on the health of the urban areas, over a period of several years

2

Material and methodsA qualitative study was done in Romania as

part of the program for monitoring the urban noise, in 2012

The study was done through questionnaires, at a national level in 9 important cities, on a sample of people of different ages, living in flats and individual houses.

3

Material and methodsIn each community there were completed a

number of 25 questionnaires for households oriented towards the street with intense traffic and 25 questionnaires for the residential area unexposed to street noise (control)

The data was received from the Public Health Direction Mures

They were interpreted statistically, compared with other national and international studies

4

ResultsIn 2012 there were included in the sample a

number of 19 localities according to GD 321/2005 – on the assessment and management of environmental noise

Surveyed localities : Nr.crt.Localities with a population over

100.000

Nr.crt.

Localities with a population over 250.000

1.   Arad - Arad 1.   Bucuresti

1.   Bacau- Bacau 1.   Brasov

1.   Baia Mare - Maramures 1.   Cluj Napoca- Cluj

1.   Botosani- Botosani 1.   Constanta - Constanta

1.   Braila - Braila 1.   Craiova- Dolj

1.   Buzau - Buzau 1.   Galati-Galati

1.   Oradea - Bihor 1.   Iasi - Iasi

1.   Pitesti - Arges 1.   Ploiesti - Prahova

1.   Sibiu- Sibiu 1.   Timisoara - Timis

1.   Targu Mures - Mures    5

ResultsThe questionnaire was applied to a number of

1.112 people656 (59%) women and 456(41%) men

responded to the questionnairesAge of the respondents ranged between 19

and 87 years, with no significant differences between the sexes

Noise level with the highest frequency was recorded for streets with heavy traffic (48.5%)

6

ResultsIn first place, audible discomfort is generated

by means of transportation noise (bus, car, trolley, tram) road traffic, followed by: rail traffic, air and naval.

Among the localities studied, in descending order, the top most noisiest cities on traffic mater, are shown in the table below

7

Distribution of traffic in localities Locality %

INTENSE ROAD TRAFFIC

Tg. Mures 100,00%

Bucuresti 57,20%

Bacau 52,00%

Sibiu 52,00%

MEDIUM ROAD TRAFFIC

Arad 40,00%

Baia Mare 34,00%

Craiova 34,00%

Sibiu 26,00%

LOW ROAD TRAFFIC

Ploiesti 51,90%

Brasov 51,00%

Timisoara 50,00%

Constanta 45,50%

8

ResultsHome characteristicsFlat houses 712 (64 %)Dwelling houses 400 (36%) The dwelling houses are mainly situated in a low

traffic area (53 %) and medium traffic area (18.6 %)The majority of flat houses (60 %) are situated in the

intense traffic area Daytime percentage of the population bothered regarding this means of transport in relation to the type of traffic is recorded as the most common, regardless of level, are buses (57%), followed by trams (20%) and buses (14 %).

9

ResultsNoise in the home is reported as disturbing

for 53% of those surveyed, no significant differences between the sexes but only as type of dwelling (82% block vs 18% house)

The degree of disturbance in relation to noise

 DWELLING TIPE

TOTAL

 

BLOCK HOUSE 

% Of noise disturbance

81,7% 18,3% 100,0%

% Of dwelling type 67,8% 27,3% 53,3%

10

ResultsPerception disturbance caused by noise at

counties:Among the localities studied in descending order

the highest degree of disturbance is seen in the following locations: Bacau (84 %)

Tg. Mures(82%) Constanta (76 %)At the opposite pole, with the lowest noise level

are Timisoara(28 %) Iasi (26 %)

11

ResultsNoise sources External noise sources vary in number from

one (31 %) over 13, in about 92 % of the home studied are present up to 7 external

noise sources Internal noise sources are represented by:

12

Source %Elevator 16,0

Install 11,3

Heating 1,6

Ventilation 3,4

Electronics 11,7

Children’s game 11,2

Pets 10,5

Birds 0,7

Walking on stairs 10,1

Uncivilized neighbors 25,0

Other sources 7,613

ResultsAnalyzing the level of outside noise annoyance , a

large share in producing noise and vibration has noise from road traffic (car traffic - 11.8% strongly tram - 5.4%, trolley-1, 4%), followed by rail traffic, air traffic, car parks - 43% racing / motorcycle / scooters - 22.7% strongly and often.

Second place is occupied by the noise of social activities (parking spaces for motor vehicles, amusement parks, bars, clubs, restaurants), most applicants are parking spaces for motor vehicles both during the day and at night, as due to insufficient parking space.

14

ResultsExternal noise affects one (26.6%) to seven

(4.7%) daily activities such as learning, reading, watching TV, resting, conversation.

15

ResultsWhen asked what symptoms they perceive at

noise, they have reported a symptom (13.9%) up to 12 symptoms (0.7%)

394 people (13.6%) responded negatively to this question

About 60% reported 1-4 symptoms

16

Results On first place was fatigue (52%), irritability

(46%), sleep disturbance (44% cases)On last place stood depression (7%) and

anxiety (10%) were recorded only for adults.

17

ConclusionsSound discomfort in the house is determined

by several factors : 1. location in the residential area; 2. away from arterial roads; 3. degree of sound insulation of building

materials, etc

18

ConclusionsPercentage of people disturbed by road traffic noise from

traffic areas, is almost three times higher than in residential areas with low traffic

Approximately one-third of residents accuse discomfort of construction and demolition of buildings, and the same proportion reported noise from commercial activities

The analysis of the recorded symptoms in relation to the age of the persons that have been interviewed shows that children often have problems in learning process after noise exposure like: low performance, fatigue, attention deficit disorders as well as problems with relaxing and resting. Adults manifest a different profile with the following indicators: fatigue, irascibility, insomnia, stress, headaches

19

ConclusionsOther health issues caused by noise pollution can be:

cardiovascular diseases are most frequent in people over 60 of age (24%), psychological diseases are more likely to appear to adults who are over 60 (17.6%) than to those who are under 60. This study also showed a high frequency of hearing problems (12.35%) in adults who are over 60, this is also due to the senior age.

The quality of the environmental factors influences the population health status, that monitoring the risk factors and assessing the impact of noise on the population’s health represents an essential component of the prophylactic medical activities.

20

21