Author: Todor Denisia-Suzana Co-author: Bigiu Adriana, Rus Victoria, Georgescu Mihai 1

Noise is a harmful factor present in human’s environment. It is a public health issue all over the world caused by mechanization, urbanization and growth of the urban population. One third of Europe's population is affected by traffic noise, which is the hardest noise to avoid The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of noise pollution on the health of the urban areas, over a period of several years 2

Material and methods A qualitative study was done in Romania as part of the program for monitoring the urban noise, in 2012 The study was done through questionnaires, at a national level in 9 important cities, on a sample of people of different ages, living in flats and individual houses. 3

Material and methods In each community there were completed a number of 25 questionnaires for households oriented towards the street with intense traffic and 25 questionnaires for the residential area unexposed to street noise (control) The data was received from the Public Health Direction Mures They were interpreted statistically, compared with other national and international studies 4

Results In 2012 there were included in the sample a number of 19 localities according to GD 321/2005 – on the assessment and management of environmental noise Surveyed localities : Nr.crt. Localities with a population over Nr.crt. Localities with a population over Arad - Arad 1. Bucuresti 1. Bacau- Bacau 1. Brasov 1. Baia Mare - Maramures 1. Cluj Napoca- Cluj 1. Botosani- Botosani 1. Constanta - Constanta 1. Braila - Braila 1. Craiova- Dolj 1. Buzau - Buzau 1. Galati-Galati 1. Oradea - Bihor 1. Iasi - Iasi 1. Pitesti - Arges 1. Ploiesti - Prahova 1. Sibiu- Sibiu 1. Timisoara - Timis 1. Targu Mures - Mures 5

Results The questionnaire was applied to a number of people 656 (59%) women and 456(41%) men responded to the questionnaires Age of the respondents ranged between 19 and 87 years, with no significant differences between the sexes Noise level with the highest frequency was recorded for streets with heavy traffic (48.5%) 6

Results In first place, audible discomfort is generated by means of transportation noise (bus, car, trolley, tram) road traffic, followed by: rail traffic, air and naval. Among the localities studied, in descending order, the top most noisiest cities on traffic mater, are shown in the table below 7

Distribution of traffic in localities Locality % INTENSE ROAD TRAFFIC Tg. Mures100,00% Bucuresti57,20% Bacau52,00% Sibiu52,00% MEDIUM ROAD TRAFFIC Arad40,00% Baia Mare34,00% Craiova34,00% Sibiu26,00% LOW ROAD TRAFFIC Ploiesti51,90% Brasov51,00% Timisoara50,00% Constanta45,50% 8

Results Home characteristics  Flat houses 712 (64 %)  Dwelling houses 400 (36%) The dwelling houses are mainly situated in a low traffic area (53 %) and medium traffic area (18.6 %) The majority of flat houses (60 %) are situated in the intense traffic area Daytime percentage of the population bothered regarding this means of transport in relation to the type of traffic is recorded as the most common, regardless of level, are buses (57%), followed by trams (20%) and buses (14 %). 9

Results Noise in the home is reported as disturbing for 53% of those surveyed, no significant differences between the sexes but only as type of dwelling (82% block vs 18% house) The degree of disturbance in relation to noise 10

Results Perception disturbance caused by noise at counties: Among the localities studied in descending order the highest degree of disturbance is seen in the following locations: Bacau (84 %) Tg. Mures(82%) Constanta (76 %) At the opposite pole, with the lowest noise level are Timisoara(28 %) Iasi (26 %) 11

Results Noise sources  External noise sources vary in number from one (31 %) over 13, in about 92 % of the home studied are present up to 7 external noise sources  Internal noise sources are represented by: 12

13

Results Analyzing the level of outside noise annoyance, a large share in producing noise and vibration has noise from road traffic (car traffic % strongly tram - 5.4%, trolley-1, 4%), followed by rail traffic, air traffic, car parks - 43% racing / motorcycle / scooters % strongly and often. Second place is occupied by the noise of social activities (parking spaces for motor vehicles, amusement parks, bars, clubs, restaurants), most applicants are parking spaces for motor vehicles both during the day and at night, as due to insufficient parking space. 14

Results External noise affects one (26.6%) to seven (4.7%) daily activities such as learning, reading, watching TV, resting, conversation. 15

Results When asked what symptoms they perceive at noise, they have reported a symptom (13.9%) up to 12 symptoms (0.7%) 394 people (13.6%) responded negatively to this question About 60% reported 1-4 symptoms 16

Results On first place was fatigue (52%), irritability (46%), sleep disturbance (44% cases) On last place stood depression (7%) and anxiety (  10%) were recorded only for adults. 17

Conclusions Sound discomfort in the house is determined by several factors : 1. location in the residential area; 2. away from arterial roads; 3. degree of sound insulation of building materials, etc 18

Conclusions Percentage of people disturbed by road traffic noise from traffic areas, is almost three times higher than in residential areas with low traffic Approximately one-third of residents accuse discomfort of construction and demolition of buildings, and the same proportion reported noise from commercial activities The analysis of the recorded symptoms in relation to the age of the persons that have been interviewed shows that children often have problems in learning process after noise exposure like: low performance, fatigue, attention deficit disorders as well as problems with relaxing and resting. Adults manifest a different profile with the following indicators: fatigue, irascibility, insomnia, stress, headaches 19

Conclusions Other health issues caused by noise pollution can be: cardiovascular diseases are most frequent in people over 60 of age (24%), psychological diseases are more likely to appear to adults who are over 60 (17.6%) than to those who are under 60. This study also showed a high frequency of hearing problems (12.35%) in adults who are over 60, this is also due to the senior age. The quality of the environmental factors influences the population health status, that monitoring the risk factors and assessing the impact of noise on the population’s health represents an essential component of the prophylactic medical activities. 20

21