Noise Pollution:
a Deafening Issue
Essay by: Sandra Marcela
Environmental problems in big cities include noise
pollution as one of the most important factors of population healthy problems.
In Bogotá, mobile sources (road traffic and air traffic) represents 60% of
noise pollution and 40% remaining corresponds stationary sources, such as
shopping malls, buildings, big and medium factories, among others. (Secretaría
Distrital de Ambiente, 2016). Those factors are affecting our physical and mind
state progressively.
We are constantly exposed to a barrage of sound every
day and it makes our body reacts in negative way: stress, insomnia, anxiety,
moody behaviors. In fact, we do not perceive those changes after long time,
because we had to be familiarized with the flow of the city. However, we also
have to pay attention to our healthy signs in order to avoid other illness.
How does government assess levels of sound in Bogotá?
There is a Global Environment Management System (GEMS) which is in charge of
monitoring noise levels in the city. It has three stations in Bogotá: Capellanía,
Villa Luz and Botanical Garden. Those centers analyze the impact of most
important sources of sound in city in order to prevent future problems in the
community (Secretaría Distrital de Ambiente, 2016). Despite GEMS, noise
pollution in city is increasing dramatically. Health problems in community are
affecting coexistence in people and their performance in their daily
activities.
It is important to highlight that not only mobile and
stationary sources are part of noise pollution, headphones or earphones are
cause of it. Some of ear infections or pain in ears are consequence of overuse
of those modern appliances, and they can breed bad effects on brain or life
threatening accidents (Trends Health, 2014). Those sound tools make us feel a
great musical experience, but they also affect our additive channels.
It is time to listen our body, noise pollution is
affecting our mind and physical health. We need to reduce our exposure to high
levels of sound in our rest spaces, because most of the times we do not have
the control for noise in big cities. We can develop all our activities avoiding
sound directly in our ears using speakers, in order to regulate how much noise
we perceive.
References
Secretaría Distrital de Ambiente. (2016). Información General Sobre la
Problemática del Ruido.
Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá. Tomado de: http://ambientebogota.gov.co/ruido
Trends and Health.
(2014). Health Issues Side Effect of Using Headphones and Earphones.
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