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Noise Pollution and Impact on Children Health

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Abstract

With rapid urbanization and life style changes, loud noise is omnipresent and has become a part of life. Indoor and outdoor environmental noise pollution have been documented as a serious health hazard with increasing adverse effects on fetus, infants, children, adolescents and adults. Noise induced hearing loss and non-auditory adverse effects due to noise pollution, are being increasingly diagnosed in all age groups including the fetus. Outdated motorized vehicles, machinery, increasing traffic, congested residential areas, crowded educational institutions and workplaces, unregulated commercial and industrial noise have become a source of noise pollution with long-term disability. Areas of noise pollution must be identified and corrective measures be taken. Toys, personal, domestic, commercial, industrial equipment should be within the safe sound intensity. Loudspeakers and vehicular horns should be banned except in emergencies. Nocturnal noise pollution must be avoided near residential areas as sleep disturbances have serious long-term health consequences. Pregnant women, fetus, newborns, infants and children are most susceptible to noise induced health hazards and should be given utmost protection. Educational institutions, workplaces, commercial and industrial areas should be regularly monitored for noise levels and protective ear muffs and plugs be used. Public be educated repeatedly regarding health hazards of noise. Traffic noise should be regulated to be within safe limits. Bus-stands, railway stations and airports should be moved away from residential areas. Houses should be sound proofed suitably. Long term studies should be conducted in pregnant women, newborn children and adults to have more data on hazards of noise pollution.

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Abbreviations

AF:

Audio frequency

Hz:

Hertz – frequency of sound waves

dB:

Decibel – unit of sound

dB(A):

Relative loudness of sound in air

μPa:

Sound pressure

NIHL:

Noise induced hearing loss

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatric Specialties Clinic, Mansarovar Polyclinic, Agarwal Farm, Mansarovar, Jaipur, Rajasthan, 302 020, India

    Alok Gupta

  2. Department of Gastroenterology, SMS Medical College, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

    Anant Gupta

  3. Department of Pathology, Bhagwan Mahaveer Cancer Hospital & Research Center, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

    Khushbu Jain

  4. Department of Microbiology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

    Sweta Gupta

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  1. Alok Gupta
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  2. Anant Gupta
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  4. Sweta Gupta
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Contributions

AlokG, AnantG and KJ: Literature search and drafted the manuscript; AlokG and SG: critically reviewed the manuscript. AlokG will act as guarantor for this paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alok Gupta.

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Gupta, A., Gupta, A., Jain, K. et al. Noise Pollution and Impact on Children Health. Indian J Pediatr 85, 300–306 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-017-2579-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-017-2579-7

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