Noise control policy in Brazil and South America

Abstract

There are noise policies and regulations in Brazil for occupational, community, and product noise. (1)Noise in the workplace, MTE 3214-1978, is a regulation of the Minister of Labor which specifies 85 dBA – 8 hours sift with 5 dBA rate (this should be changes to 3 dB). (2)Community Noise: There are two regulations of the Minister of the Environment covering noise which affects industrial, commercial, social, recreation, and political activities. A- Silence regulation NBR10151: SPL= 35-45 dBA between 10 PM to 6 AM. B- Comfort regulation NBR10152: Table of SPL (35 to 60 dBA) or NC curves for each place (hospital, hotel, residence, offices, school, etc.) range from C= 30 to 55. (3)Brazil also has Standard NBR 13910-1, 2, and 3:1999 which recommends noise labeling using the sound power level. Since 2001 the working party has been in power in Brazil, and since then industrial noise regulations have been enforced. If industrial noise cannot be reduced at the source, hearing protectors are required. All hearing protection devices must go through attenuation measurements in Brazil (ANSI S12.9-2008(B) subject fit method. Most of South America countries have similar regulations as those in Brazil. The Ibro-American Federation of Acoustics (FIA)in the last years has played an important role in noise control engineering education through its congresses in 1998 (Brazil), 2000 (Spain), 2002 (Cancun with ASA), 2004 (Portugal), and 2006 (Chile).