The Solution To Noise Pollution: Noise Barriers

Environmental noise has a significant impact on human health. Noise pollution is a severe public health problem that goes far beyond the annoyance generated by noise and of which we are often unaware.

Noise pollution is the presence in the environment of noise or vibrations, whatever the source or acoustic emitter that originates them, which implies annoyance, risk, or damage to people, to the development of their activities or to goods of any nature, or which causes significant effects on the environment. Noise is a particular case of sound, in this case unwanted, annoying, or harmful.

Sound, and noise, is a wave that propagates through the air, reaches our ears, and produces a sensation; we hear it. It is characterized by its frequency, its sound pressure level (colloquially its energy, intensity, or volume), and its duration. The unit used to measure it is the decibel (dB). As it is not the same to be exposed for more or less time, the Equivalent Noise Level (Lq, Leq) is used, an index or average decibel value that weights the sound pressure and the time during which we are exposed to it.

Noise can cause hearing effects (deafness, tinnitus, etc.). When it is of high intensity, it damages our hearing. But exposure to lower levels for prolonged periods can cause numerous non-auditory effects such as stress, anxiety, sleep disturbances, reduced academic performance, cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic effects (diabetes, obesity), low birth weight, prematurity, and infant mortality and exacerbations of degenerative neurological diseases.

The truth is that we are surrounded by noise, and it is one of the factors that influence people’s health. Traffic, machinery, commercial and leisure premises, loud music, street works are unavoidable noise sources. Therefore, their impact must be minimized. Absorbent acoustic barriers or panels are an optimal solution to reduce it as much as possible.

Also known as sound walls or sound barriers, acoustic barriers are exterior structures that are generally manufactured to reduce noise pollution from roads or industries. However, according to soundfighter.com, they also serve to dampen noise from equipment or machinery in the open field. Acoustic barriers or panels absorb and attenuate noise from both stationary sources and road traffic. Taking into account that noise is transmitted through the air, arriving directly to the receiver, the installation of an acoustic barrier of acrylic or polycarbonate makes a part of the noise reflected in them, the reason why it is indispensable to combine them with absorbent materials in the inferior function.

The acoustic barrier works as an obstacle installed between a noise source and an affected area to reduce the sound impact. In other words, in this case, the noise would be controlled from the propagation; the two different ways to prevent it are from the source and the receiver.

The acoustic screens have a tongue and groove joint between the panels, which prevents the acoustic bridge from increasing to the maximum levels of insulation and acoustic absorption. They are formed by an insulating rock wool core and metallic faces, one of them being multi perforated to favor acoustic absorption.

Absorbent acoustic panels have multiple applications; for example, transport means are often a source of much noise. Acoustic barriers or panels are designed for direct application on roads and railroads and public utilities such as power stations, electrical transformers, gas regulators, and water pumpers, which produce a very annoying noise. So do refrigerators, pumps, motors, or compressors, or construction works (temporary solutions).

So if you are looking to reduce noise considerably, sound barriers are the best option, come to soundfighter.com, and you will indeed find the best option.