Abstract

SILVA, Luiz Felipe  and  CORREIA, Fábio Nogueira. Evaluating noise exposure levels inside the buses for urban transport in the city of Itajuba-MG, Brazil. Rev. CEFAC [online]. 2012, vol.14, n.1, pp. 57-64.  Epub Oct 27, 2011. ISSN 1982-0216.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-18462011005000132.

PURPOSE: to evaluate the noise exposure levels inside the buses for urban transport in the city of Itajuba - MG. METHOD: a sample of the itineraries was determined to carry out dosimetries in order to assess such exposure. The criteria for discomfort and hearing loss were referenced by those set out by the World Health Organization (WHO). RESULTS: evaluation on 15 itineraries, totaling over 23 hours of evaluation, the noise level ranged from 78 to 84 dB(A). The arithmetic mean for the obtained values was 81 ± 0.9 dB(A). CONCLUSIONS: the evaluated buses do not offer appropriate comfort in what concerns the acoustic parameters. There is a need to provide better vehicles being designed to reduce the noise level emitted by the vehicle.

Keywords : Noise; Transportation; Noise Effects; Noise Measurement.