Noise pollution at night riles restless residents

Residents in 308 major cities last year experienced increased noise levels at night compared with daytime, with those living by major roads suffering the most, an annual report on noise pollution found. 

The Ministry of Environmental Protection released the report on Wednesday, saying that among the 308 cities with monitoring stations, 92.4 percent of daytime readings met national standards. 

However, that percentage fell to 74.3 percent at night, according to the report on the prevention and control of environmental noise pollution. 

The 31 capital cities recorded a poorer performance at night, with only 61.8 percent of readings meeting national standards, the report said. 

Among the 31 capitals, Guiyang in Southwest China’s Guizhou province topped the readings with 58.9 decibels, followed by Harbin in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province. 

A large number of buildings under construction is the reason for noise pollution in Guiyang, while in Harbin, people’s living habits are to blame, said Wen Xiangcai, a researcher from the China National Environmental Monitoring Center, the People’s Daily reported.

The ministry’s report said Beijing ranked 24th and Shanghai ranked 29th among the 31 capitals last year. 

Noise monitoring stations by major roads recorded an increase in the number of readings failing to meet national standards, it added. 

A report by the World Health Organization showed that noise pollution can affect people’s mental health and increase the risk of suffering cardiovascular diseases, thus making it a growing concern for people. 

Residents voiced their concerns about noise pollution last year, with environmental protection bureaus nationwide receiving more than 354,000 complaints, accounting for 35.3 percent of the total complaints related to environmental pollution in China. 

Out of the total number of complaints, 50.1 percent were related to building construction and 21 percent were related to social activities, followed by protests about industrial production and traffic noise, the report said. 

The ministry approved environmental impact assessments of 159 construction projects, of which 131 were responsible for noise pollution, the report said. 

These projects have invested 4.22 billion yuan ($632 million) in reducing and controlling noise pollution, the report added. 

“Different from air and water pollution, noise pollution usually lasts for a shorter period of time, making it difficult to investigate after a public complaint,” Liang Yunping, an official with the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center, told China Daily.

Beijing has issued strict regulations targeting noise produced by industrial production, social activities and other sources to control noise pollution, she said.