Assessment of Potential Health Risk Due to Traffic-Induced Sound Pollution: A Study in Khulna City, Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Sound pollution has been emerging as a leading nuisance for urban dwellers all over the world. This study was conducted in some busiest traffic junctions of the Khulna metropolitan city of Bangladesh to reveal the impact of sound pollution on urban dwellers. Methods: The questionnaire survey was conducted using a probability selective sampling procedure and different age groups of respondents were chosen from the five busiest traffic junctures. The necessary associations were discovered using ross-tabulation, Pearson’s Chi-square with Cramer’s V coefficient, and binary logistic regression analysis. Results: Maximum respondents (95%) were found to be affected by several health issues (physical and psychological) due to the current level of road-traffic sound pollution. During the daytime, 98% of respondents claimed the high density of vehicles as a key factor. Meanwhile, 92% of them marked the buses [(χ2(2, n=140)=27.404, p<.0.001) with Cramer’s V coefficient of 0.44] as the most sound generating source. The respondents spending more time in the noisy places were found to have approximately 1.354, 1.311, and 1.221-times higher risk of hypertension, bad temperament, and irregular heartbeat problems, respectively than those who did not report. Notably, hearing loss issues were significantly more common among respondents from various age groups [odds ratio (OR): 1.045, 95% CI: 1.012-1.079]. Conclusion: Traffic sound pollution is harmful to human health. This study suggests that increasing awareness among people along with taking administrative measures would be effective to diminish the sound pollution problem.