Noise pollution causing hearing loss in those who work on city roads

Infograph: TBS

Traffic Police Kazi Biplab, 45, has been working in the traffic police department for 12 years. He now feels his ears are muffled and heavy from "working amid noise all the time".

"Now I have trouble hearing," Biplab told The Business Standard yesterday while directing traffic at the capital's Banglamotor intersection.

Fazlul Kabir, another traffic police officer, said he has severe trouble hearing anyone talking softly.

Eight to ten hours of daily duty in constant noise has damaged the hearing, said Kabir, who is in his third year in the traffic department.

Some 25.3% of professionals working on the roads of five city corporations – Dhaka South, Dhaka North, Rajshahi, Cumilla, and Sylhet – are suffering from hearing impairment, according to a study between April and June 2022.

The research, conducted on 647 people working on the highways of the five city corporations, found that the noise levels range between 84 to 99 dB in all of them, while the roadside noise level is much higher than the allowable limit.

The highest proportion (41.9%) of rickshaw pullers suffered from hearing loss followed by traffic police and sergeants (30.7%), CNG and leguna drivers (23.9%), found the study by the Bangladesh University of Health Science.

Jahangir Alam, a rickshaw-puller for five years on Dhaka streets, said he is recently having trouble hearing in his right ear.

The traffic policemen and the rickshaw puller are one of many in their professions suffering from hearing loss resulting from being exposed to noise pollution for long hours every day.   

The objective of the study – Occupational Noise and Noise Induced Hearing Loss in Road Ways of Bangladesh – was to ascertain the occupational noise exposure in different areas of Bangladesh and its auditory effects among the people who work in the noise generating places.

The average working hour of the participants, all male with an average age of 38.2 years, was 10.7 hours per day.

They were picked from various lines of work including traffic police, sergeants, bus drivers and helpers, drivers of pick-up vans, CNG-run auto-rickshaws, legunas, sedans and SUVs, bikers and rickshaw-pullers in the five city corporations.  

The study measured noise levels at six points of each city corporation using a Type 2 digital sound level metre that provides an accuracy of plus or minus 1.5 dB while the hearing level was measured using the pure tone audiometry (PTA) method.

The research further found that among the hearing impaired, 13% had mild hearing loss in the right ear, and did not require a hearing aid immediately but 7% suffered from moderate to profound hearing loss and required hearing rehabilitation. In the left ear, 12.7% had mild hearing loss while moderate to profound hearing loss were detected in 8.7% requiring immediate hearing rehabilitation.

The highest 55% of the hearing impairment cases were found in Cumilla, 30.7% in Sylhet, 22.3% in Dhaka while 13.9% of professionals working on highways suffered from ear problems.

The measured sound level was between 84 and 99 Db in all city corporations while the level of roadside noise was also much higher than the allowable limit of 60 DB.

Principal Investigator Dr Saika Nizam, assistant professor, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the Bangladesh University of Health Sciences told The Business Standard, "The rate of ear problems among traffic police and rickshaw pullers is alarming. Those who work long hours on the road need to reduce exposure to noise for their well-being."

Dr Saika Nizamb said that the Department of Environment should take initiative and people need to be aware.

"Legislation should be enacted and strictly implemented to reduce sound pollution," recommended the assistant professor.

Md Munibur Rahman, additional commissioner (Traffic) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police told The Business Standard they are yet to introduce any psychological program for hearing impairment among traffic policemen.

"Any traffic policemen can get the treatment for hearing impairment free of cost at the Central Police Hospital (CPH). If needed we can refer them to other hospitals and police will bear a portion of the expenses," he added.

However, the police official argued that people need to be aware about excessive honking for the problem to be solved.   

"Introducing harsh punishment in this case is unlikely to yield the expected result. Rather, efforts to discourage unnecessary honking may turn out to be effective," he added.

The research, which was conducted in collaboration with the BSMMU, and the National Centre for Hearing and Speech for Children (SAHIC) was funded by Non Communicable Disease Control (NCDC), Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.