IMA Safe Sound Initiative: Safe Noise Points

IMA Safe Sound Initiative: Safe Noise Points • Noise has a lot of ill-effects on our health and it is the leading cause for permanent deafness. • Noise is a silent killer and affects all systems especially central nervous, cardiovascular, endocrine and immune systems. • Decibel (dB) is the unit of sound intensity. Zero dB is the minimum hearing capacity of a healthy person in a noise-free environment. Every 10 dB is 10 times more powerful. • Exposure to sounds above 80 dB for even shorter periods has serious effects on our health. • Traffic sounds are a major source of noise in Indian cities (90 to 120 dB). • Use of loudspeakers in public places after 10 pm and before 6 am is illegal. • DJs and cinemas have a noise level of 110 to 120 dB; limit your exposure to less than 2 hours in a week. Please note that even this duration is harmful to young children and pregnant ladies. • Staying away from very noisy situations, even for intervals of 5-10 minutes, reduces the ill-effects of noise to a great extent. • Use of ear plugs or muffler is highly recommended in very noisy situations. It will reduce sound exposure by 15 to 20 dB. • Participate actively in the IMA Safe Sound Initiative for a better, healthy in India. (Contributions from Dr John Panicker: Coordinator, IMA NISS)