Hong Kong is a noisy city. Traffic, construction, trying to tune it out with
earphones – how loud is it really, and what effect does all the noise have on
us? asks
Brooke Chenoweth
.
H
ong Kong is renowned for its sweeping
skyscrapers and busy, bustling streets, but for
those of us who live here, all the construction
and activity that makes this city what it is
comes at a price. Noise pollution isn’t usually the type of
pollution that comes to mind when people talk about Hong
Kong, but it is quite a big problem. It’s a familiar story in
a city of seven million inhabitants crammed into a very
small area: Having to shout to be heard while conversing
along Queen’s Road, being woken at 5am as the overnight
flight from Sydney comes in to land with a deafening roar,
the horns blaring on a one-way street as an accident holds
up traffic, and the constant hum of domesticity from the
apartments beside, below and above you.
When you live amongst this noise all day, every day,
you almost become accustomed to it. But, according
to the Hong Kong Government’s Environmental
Protection Department (EPD), “If left unchecked,
this sort of noise can lead to mental stress and
hearing loss, and also can interfere with daily
activities such as doing homework, watching
television, talking on the telephone and
sleeping.”
The main sources of noise pollution
in the city are construction and traffic,
both of which are heavily regulated.
Despite that, walking through any
of the city’s streets, it would be easy
to think that the native bird of Hong
Kong is the jackhammer, a sound that
is as synonymous with Hong Kong as the city’s skyline.
Constant building, demolition and renovation can be
deafening and, for some residents, trying to live with this
aural assault can have a negative impact on their daily
lives. The government admits that it is a problem and has
gone so far as to create an ordinance in regards to noise
pollution. So what impact does excessive noise have on
Hong Kong’s residents, and what is being done about it?
Hearing 101
The human ear is a delicate instrument that detects sound.
The outer ear “collects” sound waves and sends them to
the eardrum. Sound causes the eardrum to vibrate, which
causes three bones in the middle ear
to move. The middle
ear then sends these vibrations to the inner ear, or cochlea,
where they are picked up by small sensory hair cells and
sent as electrical impulses along the auditory nerve to
the brain. Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is caused
by damage to, or loss of, those tiny hairs after prolonged
exposure to high levels of noise or sudden, very loud noise,
such as an explosion or fireworks. According to experts at
Phonak Hearing Centres
(www.phonak.com.hk
), this type
of hearing loss cannot be reversed.
Noise at levels that can be perceived by the human ear
is measured in decibels (dB). Typical human speech measures
at 65dB, a washing machine is 75dB, and busy traffic is
85
dB. Exposure to anything over 85dB can be harmful to
your hearing, especially if that noise is frequent or prolonged.
Noises frequently heard in Hong Kong, like jackhammers
and emergency vehicle sirens, register at 125dB or above.
keep it
April 2013
65