POPULATION DENSITY AND NOISE

The effect of population density and noise on individuals



The effect of population density and noise on individuals

Introduction

Scientists, experts and numerous government agencies as the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Economic Community (EEC), the National Research Council (CSIC), etc declared unanimously that noise is very harmful to health. These injuries range from purely physiological disorders such as progressive loss of hearing, to the psychological, producing irritation and fatigue that cause dysfunction in daily life, both in job performance and relationships with others. The recognition of noise as a health hazard is recent and its effects have become a health problem considered increasingly important. More than half of European citizens live in noisy surroundings; third support levels of noise that disturb sleep at night. In the U.S. during 1990, nearly 30 million people were exposed daily to an occupational noise level above 85 dB, while in Germany and other developed countries they were 12-15% of those employed. Prolonged exposure to noise, either in daily life or in the workplace can cause medical problems such as hypertension and heart disease. Noise can adversely affect reading, attention, problem solving and memory. The failures in the performance of work activity may cause accidents. Noise levels above 80 dB can increase aggressive behavior. It also appears to be a connection between community noise and certain mental health problems due to the demand of tranquilizers and sleeping pills, the incidence of psychiatric symptoms and the number of admissions to psychiatric hospitals. Noise can cause many other problems, but the main social consequence is the impairment of hearing, which causes inability to understand speech in normal conditions and considered a severe social handicap.

General negative factors associated with noise effect

In general, within the noise effects may include:

1.Headache

2.Oral communication difficulty

3.Decreased hearing

4.Disruption of sleep and rest

5.Stress

6.Fatigue, neurosis, depression

7.Neuro sensory system disorders

The noise implies a strong subjective component. The same sound can be considered a disturbing element for some people but not for everyone. This depends on the characteristics of the receiver and the time when noise occurs. Some factors that can influence are the time zone in which it occurs, the activity of the person at the time, exposure time, interval between exposures, social cultural background, so that the person, accustomed to a certain noise. If the noise is continuous or intermittent, intensity and frequency of sound might increase at a rapid pace at the given time (Kryter, 1994).

The concepts of Territoriality, Privacy, and Personal Space

There was one researcher known as Straub in 2007, who referred to a study conducted by John Calhoun, in which he did an experiment with population density within the living conditions of rats. In this study, rats behaved normally by all standards, when there was ample living space, although as the population increased, the rat's social environment deteriorated. They fought, became more territorial, infant mortality increased sharply, reproductive capacity diminished, and some rats became cannibalistic. Although these discoveries may not necessarily translate to human behavior under ...