Interdisciplinary approach to combating noise pollution

Abstract

Effective control of the effects of noise on people and the environment requires the cooperative effort of professionals in several disciplines. The purpose of this paper is to describe and assess an ongoing program of this type. In May 1973, funded by a grant from the United Way of Metropolitan Washington, D. C., the Washington Hearing and Speech Society, a nonprofit organization, initiated a hearing conservation program which combined the professions of audiology, engineering, medicine, and law in a cooperative effort to aid the metropolitan area's community, government, and industry in the assessment and management of environmental and occupational noise problems. In its first year, the program has contributed to (1) the initiation of numerous industrial hearing conservation programs, (2) the development of prototype models for government agencies, (3) increased community awareness of the health effects of noise and how to combat it, (4) training audiometric technicians for government and industry, and (5) interest in local noise-control legislation. It seems evident that the ever-increasing concern with the problems created by noise pollution will result in a growing need for additional multi-disciplinary programs. Thus, the examination of the development and activities of an ongoing program may well be of particular interest to members of the Acoustical Society who wish to initiate similar programs.