Abstract
Abstract Existing studies in Singapore on environmental noise are scarce and limited in scale due to the need for expensive equipment and sophisticated modelling expertise. This study presents the approach of using participatory sensing and mobile phones to monitor environmental sound levels around Singapore. iPhones running the AmbiCiti application was adopted to sample equivalent continuous 30-second average outdoor sound levels (LAeq ,30 sec). The aggregated mean of each region was evaluated and the spatial distribution of environmental noise was analysed using noise maps generated from the measurement data. A total of 18,768 LAeq ,30 sec measurements were collected over ten weeks. About 93.6% of the daytime measurements (07:00 – 19:00) exceeded the WHO recommended level of 55 dBA to minimise negative non-auditory health effects due to noise. The results of this study suggest that the population of Singapore is potentially at risk of adverse non-auditory health effects and, to a lesser extent, hearing loss due to community noise levels. However, the measurements exceeding 70 dBA were frequent enough to warrant concern about contributions to the cumulative lifetime sound exposure contributing to hearing loss. The work also demonstrates that sound maps of an area can be efficiently generated using calibrated applications running on smart phones.
Highlights
Environmental noise is an issue commonly faced by the denizens of urbanised and urbanising areas worldwide
Collected daytime sound level data sets were collated from all participants and integrated with spatial information using an open-source Quantum Geographic Information System (q-geographic information systems (GIS)) program (Free Software Foundation, Inc, Boston, MA, USA)
Sound level contours of the measured data were constructed with inverse-distance weighted (IDW) interpolation method to identify local areas of relatively high sound levels
Summary
Environmental noise is an issue commonly faced by the denizens of urbanised and urbanising areas worldwide. It is defined as noise generated from all sources, excluding sources of occupational noise exposure in workplaces [1]. There is growing evidence regarding the negative impact of noise on health. Non-auditory effects of noise like cardiovascular and metabolic effects [6, 7], sleep disturbance and interference [8], cognitive impairment [9, 23], annoyance [10] and mental health impacts [11, 12] have been described. Lifelong exposure to sound level of more than 70 A-weighted decibels (dBA) equivalent continuous 24-hour average sound level (LAeq,24h) increases the risk of noise-induced hearing loss, especially for vulnerable groups with increased susceptibility to the harmful effects of noise [13]
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