Introduction

Noise can be explained as an undesirable sound especially above ambient levels in an environment. Noise generation in the environment is growing at an unacceptable level as a result of the increase in human activities¹.Generally, the world population is increasing geometrically and this accounts for the proportional increase in environmental pollution. Pollution is the presences of unwanted substance in any part of the environment which most of the time are generated by humans due to its everyday activities. These generated pollutants are usually discharged into the environment as by – products.

Some sources of noise pollutions are; natural sources, biological sources and artificial sources.

The natural sources involve those sources of noise which ordinarily cannot be avoided and are inevitable ². These sources includes high speed wind, thunder storm, hurricanes, gales, earthquakes, high intensity rainfall, hail storms, waterfalls, etc.

Another sources of noise pollution is the biological and includes noise from wild and tamed animals, such noise involves roars of lions and barking of street dogs. It also involves sounds created and generated by humans such as shouting, laughing, singing, weeping and quarrelling.

The artificial sources of noise pollution in the environment are the sounds generated due to man’s activities, and may arise from industries, automobiles, railway locomotive engines, construction works, aircraft, musical instruments, factories, loudspeakers and other domestic appliances. The health effects of these noise levels cannot be measured cumulatively ³.

The health effect of noise pollution on humans cannot be overemphasized. They may include annoyance, sleep interference, auditory impairments, speech interference and psychological effects ⁴.

Auditory impairments may involve the damages done to hearing mechanism due to exposure to higher noise levels.  The speech interference is the non-audibility of a person’s speech as a result of environmental noise pollution.

Environmental noise pollution can lead to some psychological effects such as changes in the behavior of some individuals and animals. Some of these behavioral changes include annoyance, irritation, weakness. These changes in behavior could result in poor output, reduced efficiency and lead to errors. It can also affect the speech by reducing its intelligibility ⁵.

It is estimated that about 5% of the children in developing countries are affected by some levels of speech inadequacies due to exposure to noise above ambient levels ^5,6. Annoyance and irritation are usually caused by high frequency noise levels. Also sounds of very greater intensity can cause mental imbalances. Some Neurotic individuals are more sensitive to noise level ⁶. Noise levels below 85.0 dBA decibels are usually said to be free from noise pollution while the levels above this value are regarded to be unsafe ⁷.

Higher noise levels can reduce the quality of good sleep and affect the overall mental and physical health of an individual. The intensity of noise level at night is estimated to be at the range of about 40 dBA and can result to sleep disturbance ⁸. Noise intensities at the range of 50dBA to 60dBA can affect the center of the brain and lead to change of normal sleep patter and distort deep sleep ⁶.

Materials and Methods

Materials

The KK Moon sound level meter (GM1352) was used for recording the noise level in the study sites. The KK Moon sound level meter (GM1352) has SPL, L_eq, L_max, L_min and S_EL measurement. It is very simple to operate and is an ideal and essential tool for noise measurement and data collection in the field. It has a wide measurement range and a host of features and linear weighting.

Figure 1: (Kkmoon Sound Meter, GM135) Click here to view Figure

Method

The KK Moon sound level meter (GM1352) is a hand – held instrument. At each sampling point, the instrument was raised to a height of about 50cm above the ground level. The noise levels were measured at five different sampling points for each location at a considerable distance away from the preceding measurement. The analysis of results used in generating our results was the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The expression for the mean value of the measured noise levels within the sample locations is given in equation (1). The computed mean noise values are expressed in unit of Decibel (dBA).

Results and Discussion

The mean of the measured Noise levels in the various sample locations indicate that in Rumuola market the noise level varied from 70.1-74.9 dB, with an average of 71.92 dB, Rumuokwuta market, the noise levels varied from 73.6-79.6 dB with an average of 76.8 dB , in Rumuigbo market the noise level ranged from 63.3-104.4 dB with a computed average of 81.9 dB, the noise levels in Rumuokoro market varied from 69.0-81.9 dB,  with an average of 76.88 dB ,  Wimpey market ranged from 71.4-90.9 dB with an average of 76.86 dB , Junction market changed from 67.4-74.7 dB ,with an average of 70.92 dB , the noise levels at Iwofe market ranged from 80.7-90.3 dB , with an average of 82.28 dB , the noise level at Ozuoba market ranged from  72.0-93.7 dB, at Choba market, the noise level varied from 72.0-93.7 dB , within average of 76.82 dB , while the noise levels from Rukpokwu market ranged from 70.9-75.8 with an average of 70.72 dB .  All these values obtained indicate that Iwofe market has the highest average noise level of  82.28 dB and this can be attributed the high presence of  milling machines within the market.

Table 1: Result From Market Analyses

Figure 2: Chart Showing Average Noise Level of Selected markets Click here to view Figure

Figure 3: Surface map of the Noise level in Ten Market in Obio/Akpor LGA Click here to view Figure

Figure 4: Contour map of Noise level in Ten Market in Obio/Akpor LGA Click here to view Figure

Figure 5: Comparison of Noise level in Ten Market in Obio/Akpor LGA Click here to view Figure

A similar work ⁹. on the assessment of Noise Pollution in wurukum and North Bank Areas of Markurdi, Benue State measured Noise level which varied from 50.7 -84.4 dB.  Also, another work ¹⁰ on level of Sound Exposure in Residential and Peace Zones of Kathmandu measured

Noise levels which varied from 62.4-71.88 dB. These measured Noise Levels agree with the Noise Levels measured in this work.

All these measured Noise levels are within the recommended safe limit by WHO of 90.0 dB and 85.0 dB respectively. Therefore, those who do business in these markets may not be in danger of any health hazard from due to exposure to higher Noise level above ambient level.

Conclusion

The KK Moon sound level meter (GM1352) meter was used to obtain the noise levels in the 10 selected markets within Obio/Akpor Local Government Area. It provides a database on the noise level within these markets.

While some readings from some parts of the market has shown significantly low level of noise (63.1dBA – 63.3dBA), some other parts of the markets has shown significantly higher noise levels. However, the mean noise levels obtained for each market are all below the set standards of 85dBA Federal Environmental Protection Agency of Nigeria (FEPA) and 90dBA by the World Health Organization (WHO) ^(11-12).

Acknowledgement

We wish to thank the Obio/Akpor Local Government Council for granting us the permission to our research measurements within the major markets in council area.

Also, we wish to express our profound gratitude to all the market authorities for their cooperation and understanding throughout the period this research work lasted.

We also wish to thank the head of department of Science Laboratory Technology, Port Harcourt Polytechnics for her support and understanding throughout the period we were carrying out this research work.

Funding Sources

The research work is self-funded, there were no aside sources of income.

Conflict of Interest

There are no conflicts of interest in this research work.

Data Availability Statement

All the database produced in this research work are contained in the manuscript.

Ethics Statement

This research work did not involve the experiment on any humans or animals.

Author Contributions

Orlunta Aloysius Ndubisi: provided the theoretical background and carried out the field work

Mamah, Ifeyinwa Miriam: assisted in the data analysis and the interpretation of the results.

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