Noise Between Visual, Media, and Sound Pollution

The lucky ones are those who live in a sonic environment, in an age when everything is talking, shouting, and screeching.

Noise is considered as a disease and a problem facing the world, in combination with other pollutants that are increasing day by day. The infection has spread to all societies, and reached primitive areas to contribute to polluting and destabilizing their homogeneity. In this article, we will talk about the types of noise, their causes, effects, and ways to treat these effects. So, follow along with us.

Noise types:

Noise is divided into three types:

1. Noise or visual pollution.
2. Noise or media pollution.
3. Noise or sound pollution.

We will start by explaining each type separately:

1. Visual pollution:

It is the fading of the beautiful and elegant appearance of the countryside and cities, and the distinctive shape of the nature surrounding us, including buildings, rivers, beaches, roads, trees, etc., as well as the spread of distorted appearances that cause discomfort and tension.

Its causes:

• Views of fumes from factories, vehicle exhaust, etc.
• Views of waste, insects and foul odors associated with them.
• Views of beaches contaminated with factory waste.
• Views of slums and poor urban planning.
• The spread of cement forests and the decline of green forests.
• Sidewalks and roads filled with rubbish.

And many more that offend the appearance of our beautiful world.

2. Media pollution:

Visual media has become able to determine the fate of peoples and the future of the world. Media knowledge is not limited to the average citizen, rather it reaches the highest decision centers.

The absence of a well-studied objective media from our countries is similar to the absence of a father from his family. In order to reach a distinguished media, we must work freely to circulate facts with a qualified and emotional human element, which monitors the reality accurately without distortion.

Hence, we find the serious impact of media pollution. Because we are in the age of television and pictures, we are exposed to losing our insight due to the large number of movies and directed pictures that we watch. However, no one asks what is the purpose of them? And where do they come from? And what are their meanings? And why do we use them?

It is a type of consumptive media pressure that causes intellectual and scientific blindness. This media noise was created to divert us from the truth, and to keep us away from mental and cognitive balance, and thus the absence of the right vision and direction, to reach the intended places to harvest the fruits later.

We must not forget the role of the media and the yellow press, by injecting thoughts that pollute the human soul, which are full of corruption, money, and wars. This is the most dangerous thing man faces, which is polluting and corrupting themselves with money, politics, and media consumption. This seduces the human soul and convinces it with specific ideas, and forces people to buy materials and goods that they do not need.

3. Sound pollution:

It is the pollution formed by various annoying sounds such as the sounds of machines, electrical appliances, transportation, industrial workshops, and other sounds that negatively affect a quiet and healthy lifestyle.

The population increase, the high proportion of residents in one house or overcrowded housing units, and the products of modern civilization and technology might be  the most important sources that cause it, which can be listed as follows:

• Various modes of transportation: Cars, planes, trains, ships, and others.
• Daily life: As much as the comfort and luxury brought by life technology, it has produced negatives and problems for humans, from the electrical appliances used in every home, such as washing machine, vacuum cleaner, air conditioner, television, speakers, fans, and others. The danger of these devices increases in the residential unit and adjacent apartments, especially in case they are accompanied by traffic and the sounds of mechanisms for a period that exceeds 3 hours.
• Work noise: From the sounds of industrial and workshop machines, which are heard daily for more than 6 hours.
• Other sources of sound pollution, such as dissonance emanating from low-key songs and modern music, in which rhythm and drums predominate over tuned tunes. The largest group exposed to this type of pollution is adolescents.

Sound pollution measurement:

Sound intensity is measured in decibels, which is a measure of the pressure generated by sound waves generated by their source, and has the symbol DBA.

For a person, it is the measurement of the force of air displacement from the lungs and expelling it out through the nose through the vocal cords, knowing that the ability of humans to shout at the loudest voice does not exceed 100 decibels.

The noise level ranges between 30 to 150 decibels, and with high whispering, calm, and comfortable conversations. It needs a level between 30 to 50 decibels, and when the sound is loud in and outside the house and in crowded streets, the level reaches 70 decibels.

While the sounds of workshops and industrial machines raise the noise level to 90 decibels, which is considered harmful and illegal according to Western laws. When the noise level exceeds 120 decibels, the risk to hearing and heart increases with the sounds of planes, drilling and exploration machines, hammering, and pressure. If it exceeds the level of 150 decibels, it causes permanent deafness, and if it reaches 200 decibels, it may cause death.

Noise effects i.e. sound pollution:

• Effect of noise on health: The effects of noise on health are numerous, and are directly proportional to the exposure period. These effects include “high arterial tension, hearing impairment or loss, nervous system disorders, digestive disorders, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders, and many others.
• The effect of noise on the psychological state: Noise reflects a person's relationship with their external environment and thus their Feelings of malaise, tension, nervousness, mood changes and fatigue vary from person to person. The damage gets worse if the noise is accompanied by a lifestyle full of smoking, alcohol, and constant exposure to dyes, sprays, paints, and other substances that are present in a harmful and continuous work environment, and this accelerates damage to the kidneys, heart, nervous and psychological systems.
• The effect of noise on the education process: Noise affects the learning ability of young and elderly people, not to mention the auditory damage it causes. School students who live in areas near factories and crowded places are less able to focus and study due to chronic exposure to noise, compared to students who live in rural areas and other quiet areas.
• The effect of noise on the intellectual side: Noise causes mental fatigue, lack of ability to focus and clear the mind, and delays in productivity and performance. This leads to making many mistakes and having poor relationships with co-workers and family members, which leads to depression, social isolation, and other mental and psychological damage.

Noise effects treatment:

The effects of noise in a person are treated by following a healthy lifestyle, and we will mention in the following some successful measures:

• Exercising, meditation, deep breathing and relaxation exercises to improve mood and relieve stress.
• Going to bed and resting early and avoiding staying up late as much as possible.
• Respecting holidays, practicing hobbies, and listening to calming music that reduces stress and makes you feel relaxed.
• Reducing working hours in places exposed to loud noises, and periodic examination of the hearing and heart.
• Participation in afforestation campaigns in cities in particular, as trees have the ability to scatter and absorb sounds and purify the atmosphere.
• Conducting media campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers of noise of all types.
• Moving industrial workshops outside cities and residential areas, and using ear protectors in work that requires standing close to industrial machines that emit loud noises for long periods of time every day.
• Expanding new and old streets to reduce congestion and noise problems.
• Building the walls of houses and apartments from two layers with an insulating space between them of cork or rubber.
• Educating people, especially workers, of the need to abide by the rules of staying calm, limit work times, and use ear protectors when using machines that emit loud sounds.
• Vibration suppression and acoustic isolation of industrial facilities by the available methods.
• Adoption of standards for the distance between factories and residential areas, combustion factories at a distance of 2,300 meters, and canning factories at a distance of 200 meters from residential areas.
• Regulating driving and speed laws to limit loud noises emitted by mechanisms and means of transportation, and to violate those who don’t follow them.

How does noise cause hearing loss?

Sounds are transmitted in the form of successive waves in the gasses that make up the air around us. They are distributed and spread in all directions, and are received by the human ear. These waves or vibrations and their frequency, whether slow or fast, high or low, are called sound frequency, and they are measured in Hertz, which is the unit of measurement for the number of vibrations per second. Each sound wave has a specific frequency, and the human ear can hear frequencies ranging from 20 to 6000 Hz.

Hearing takes place when the ear receives sound waves, and the pinna directs them to enter through the external auditory meatus until they reach a thin membrane located at the beginning of the middle ear called the tympanic membrane. Once sound waves hit this membrane, it vibrates. Then the vibrations move to the ossicles: the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup. These bones vibrate and move according to the intensity of the sound to send signals to the inner ear, which includes the oval and round window, and then to the eustachian tube to reach the nerve receptors that send a nerve impulse in the form of electrical impulses to the brain, which in turn translates these impulses and recognizes the sound.

In the event that the ear receives loud sounds for a continuous and long period, this will lead to the weakening of the auditory nerve cells, and the tympanic membrane may be affected and ruptured, and the hearing ossicles may break; This leads to permanent hearing loss.

In conclusion:

The responsibility for reducing the noise level rests with the entire society, from the factory to the workers, all people and those responsible for enforcing the law. We must work to reduce the visual pollution that destroys the beauty of our nature, and we must reduce the media pollution that threatens the minds of our children and the youth of our society. We must not forget that the silent majority does not make noise, but they make history.