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Noise pollution considered a public health problem

Many people have failed to realise that noise pollution is a public health problem, impacting humans, plants and animal health, Mr Hope Smith Lomotey, the Volta Regional Director, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has said.

Noise of high decibels over a period of eight hours for six months becomes a public health issue and people working around those kinds of noise must seek medical attention, he said.

Noise nuisance is described as any loud, unnecessary or unusual sound or any sound whatsoever, which either annoys, disturbs, injures, endangers or distracts from the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of a person.

Mr Lomotey told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that noise pollution impacted millions of people daily and mostly caused noise induced hearing loss.

“Loud noise exposure causes high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep disturbances, miscarriage, impaired cognitive functions, stress and may affect the circadian rhythm (sleep cycles)”.

The National Park Service in the United States says noise pollution has an enormous environmental impact and could cause serious damage to wildlife with the potential to interfere with breeding cycles and even hasten the extinction of some species.

Studies have shown that loud noise may cause caterpillars’ hearts to beat faster and bluebirds to have fewer chicks. Noise pollution makes it difficult for animals to use sound for navigation, finding food, mating, and avoiding predators, affecting many animals’ ability to survive.

Repeated exposure to noise during critical periods of development may affect a child’s acquisition of speech, language, and language-related skills, such as reading and listening.

Research also reveals how noise pollution connects with climate change. Many contributors to global warming generate noise, chief among them being transportation and fossil fuel extraction and processing.

Urban sprawl and deforestation destroy natural carbon absorption reservoirs while removing natural sound buffers.

MR Lomotey said in Ghana, the permissible ambient noise, set by the EPA and the Ghana Standards Authority for residential areas is 55 decibels during the day and 48 decibels at night.

Permissible noise level for category B, which includes health and educational facilities, offices and the courts range from 55 to 50 decibels, with the category C, tagged as ‘mixed used’ having a range of 60 to 55 decibels for day and night, respectively.

Light industry areas (Category D) and commercial areas (Category E) have permissible levels of 65 and 75 decibels for day and 60 and 65 decibels for night.

Category F and G, tagged as light and heavy industrial areas, operate between 70 decibels during the day and between 60 and 70 at night, respectively.

Mr Lomotey entreated the public, especially estate developers, to always obtain environmental permits from the EPA before commencing any building project to determine whether the premise was conducive for homes, recreational centres or churches to avoid the challenges of noise nuisance.

He said church building projects should be well-planned to embody all the requirements including noise protection.

Due to the high use of acoustic systems in churches, sound proofs and synthesizers were necessary to protect the floors, roofs and walls to save the community from noise nuisance and pollution.

Noise level hotspots in the Ho Municipality included Rabazey Pub, Mirage, Ray Makossa, Depot View, White House, Pizozy, Cruxio, The Geist and Nogora Pub, Mr Lomotey said.

He classified noise into temporal and permanent. The temporal includes funeral, festivals, and crusades, with the permanent being excessive noise from night clubs and pubs, restaurants, mosques and churches.

The EPA continued to engage all major actors on the subject, regularly, to change attitudes to stem the tide, he said.

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