Noise Exposure Assessment at a Secondary School in a City of Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Schools are considered sensitive areas to noise pollution. The objective of this study is to ascertain the sound level in schools with respect to different sampling time sessions and sampling points. Five sampling points, consisting of two classrooms (Classroom A and Classroom B), a canteen, a staffroom and a field, were chosen to obtain an overview of the noise level within the whole school in three different time sessions (morning, afternoon and evening), as well as 8-h continuous sampling in both classrooms and the staffroom. The average noise level (L_Aeq,10min) obtained in this school was found to be in the range of 48.8 dBA to 83.7 dBA, where most of the values exceeded the permissible maximum sound pressure level set by the Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE). Classroom B recorded the highest average noise level (L_Aeq,8h) of 77.9 dBA, which exceeded the maximum value set by the Department of Environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Noise assessment
• traffic noise
• public health risk
• occupational safety health management

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Author contributions

Conceptualisation, N.A. and J.M.H; Formal analysis, N.I.M. and M.H.M.H.; Funding acquisition, J.M.H.; Investigation, N.I.M. and M.H.M.H.; Methodology, N.A. and J.M.H; Project administration, J.M.H. and M.H.Z.; Resources, N.A. and J.M.H; Supervision; N.A. and J.M.H; Visualization, N.A., M.H.Z. and J.M.H; Writing – original draft, N.I.M and M.H.M.H.; Writing – review and editing, N.A., M.H.Z., J.M.H and F.A.N.

Additional information

Funding

This research study was supported by MRUN – Translational Research Grant with the reference number of 304.PTEKIND.656207