Yes, noise is a form of pollution from motorized vehicles that’s
bad for your health. Sound pollution in Iranian cities is hitting an all-time
high. The large cities like Tehran are the worst. Sound pollution can be any
unwanted or offensive sounds that unreasonably intrudes into our daily
activities. When a person drives by open windows in a street, the sound is
something like 70 decibels. A whisper is 35 decibels and a normal room has a
sound intensity of 40 db. At 45 db a person cannot sleep. At 85, the ears are
damaged, and at 120, it can hurt your ears. The main reasons for sound
pollution in Iranian cities are the sound of vehicles, airplanes, construction
of buildings, small construction jobs and more. The most sound-polluted city in
Iran is Tehran, which is now a city that draws the attention of the new comers
by high amount of noise. This noise is much more felt in the central parts of
the city. The first reason for this pollution is the cars. Older cars usually
produce more noise pollution. The second reason is the motorcycles. As Dr.
Yousef Rashidi, the managing director of Tehran’s Air Quality Control Company
says 49 percent of the sound pollution of Tehran is produced by motorcycles. These
vehicles give out a 90 db sound. Airports and trains are other important
contributors. The statistics say that in most of the metropolitan areas of Iran
the urban noise is 20 to 30 db higher than the allowed limits. But the
government isn’t taking this problem seriously. Of course some partial steps
have been taken during the last 10 to 15 years. Some sound walls on the two
sides of noisy urban highways have been constructed, for when highways pass
through the residential neighborhoods. More severe actions are needed to combat
sound pollution, an often overlooked form of pollution in the Middle East. The
government and parliament of Iran should prepare strict laws like the Noise
Control Act (NCA) of 1972 in the United States to save our health, and hearing.
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