Abstract
Context: Noise pollution has been well-recognized as one of the major trepidations that can adversely affect public health and quality-of-life in urban areas across the globe. Community noise, or environmental noise, includes the primary sources of road, rail and air traffic, industries, and public works.
Aims: The main aim of this study is to assess the noise level inside the University of Dammam (UD) campus.
Settings and Design: Three different locations were selected for measuring noise levels during this study; outside walls, the internal streets, and inside several buildings of the UD campus.
Materials and Methods: Levels of the environmental noise pollution were measured at three different periods of the academic year 2011-2012; during study days, final exams and the holiday periods. Statistical Analysis Used: Results of this research were statistically analyzed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS program.
Results: Levels of noise outside walls of the UD campus were higher than those inside the campus walls at all periods. Inside the UD campus, levels of noise were the highest at locations that are characterized by the high traffic movement. In addition, the highest level of noise was recorded during the studying period, while the lowest level was obtained during the holiday period. Levels of the indoor noise inside buildings of the campus were nearly the same or very slightly higher than those of the outdoor levels which indicate that the effect of human activity inside university buildings on noise pollution can be neglected comparing with the outdoor sources.
Conclusion: Both levels of noise inside and outside buildings were higher than their guideline values. These high noise levels require effective environmental control strategies and increasing awareness between all staff members inside universities camps.