Audiologist at Korle Bu Hearing Assessment Centre, Dr. Estella Bilson-Amoah has appealed to the relevant authorities and stakeholders to take immediate actions to enforce the laws on noise pollution.
She has frowned on excessive noise caused by individuals and event organizers and wants the authorities to enforce laws set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on noise pollution to help curtail harm caused by excessive noise.
Noise appears to have become a norm as the metropolis seem not to go a night without the excessive music from speakers on the streets, at pubs and from some churches.
Operators of these joints increase the volumes of their sound systems speakers to the extent that one can feel the vibrations while walking past them.
Event organizers also fail to consider noise disturbance when they plan an event which as a result exposes people to high levels of noise.
Meanwhile, there is a bye-law set by the Environmental Protection Agency to control noise making in the country (EPA, 2008).
It requires that noise levels should not be above 55 decibels during the day and 48 at night in residential areas.
Dr. Estella Bilson-Amoah who was speaking in an interview with Onua TV during a free ear screening at Korle-Bu teaching Hospital to mark the international hearing day underscored the need for the authorities to ensure compliance of the EPA bye-laws.
“Social programmes that use loud speakers create noise trauma to the inner ear and because we don’t want to be managing hearing loss as a result of preventable causes like exposure to loud noise, we would appeal to those in power to ensure that the laws are adhered to”.
If this is done then exposure to loud noise would be cut off totally or minimized in a way that we would not damage the inner ear and cause hearing loss in our population, the audiologist reiterated”.
She expounded that exposure to high levels of noise over an extended period can lead to permanent hearing damage, tinnitus, and other adverse effects and encouraged people to avoid excessive noise.