The relationship between noise frequency componets and physical,
physiological and psychological effects of industrial workers
Noise & Health, (2008)Abstract
A corollary to industrialization and urbanization is a significant
increase in noise levels. In many industrial settings, the noise
levels are such that they are potential health hazards. There are
many studies which suggest that prolonged exposures to high noise
levels have a negative impact on various aspects of human physiology.
However, not much work has been conducted in studying the effects
of various noise frequencies in the industrial environment. This
paper has made an attempt to identify various noise frequency components
to which the workers of six major industries in Mysore (Karnataka
State, India) are being exposed, and their effects on the physical,
physiological, and psychological systems of the working community
with respect to their noisy industrial environment. The study results
showed that the sampled industrial workers were repeatedly being
exposed to noise of dominant low- and mid-octave band center frequencies.
It is found that symptoms such as 'eye ball pressure,' 'awakening
from sleep,' 'pains in neck,' 'frequent ear vibration,' 'chronic
fatigue,' 'repeated headache,' 'backache,' and 'repeated ear pulsation'
are observed to be highly associated with low- and mid-octave band
center frequency noise exposure among the sampled workers. Furthermore,
among the major psychological symptoms identified to be associated
with octave band center frequencies, it is evident that 'irritability'
is highly associated with low- and mid-octave band noise frequency
characteristics.