STUDY ON ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE POLLUTION AT THREE DIFFERENT PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN KUALA TERENGGANU, TERENGGANU STATE

Abstract

Most of schools in Malaysia are located near the roadside, thus facing problems of noise pollution. Children exposed to elevated noise level had signifcantly decreased attention, social adaptability and increased opposite behavior relation to the other people. The increasing number of motor vehicles is among a trigger factors contributing to the noise pollution. This paper reports the level of traffc induced noise pollution at three primary schools in Kuala Terengganu with different surrounding activities i.e. industrial, commercial and residential. Noise levels were measured over six days at each schools comprising of three school and three non-school days from 0700 hours to 2200 hours every day. Noise measurement parameters analyzed were Lmax, LAeq, Lmin, L10 and L90. Results showed that noise level at each location is signifcantly different (P<0.05), and at all locations, the noise level exceeded the acceptable limit. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that the classes of motor vehicles that signifcantly contribute to noise level were motorcycles, passenger cars and small lorries. Highest noise level was recorded at school located within the industrial area, followed by commercial and residential area respectively.