Evaluation and Analysis of Noise Levels at High – Traffic Locations in Gusau, Nigeria

The measurement of noise levels at high-traffic intersections of Gusau town is reported in this work. Five high-traffic locations tagged LOC-A, LOC-B, LOC-C, LOC-D and LOC-E were selected and evaluated at different periods of the day using an MS6700 IEC 651, ANSI.Si.4 Type-2 Sound Level meter. Result analyses indicates that LOC-C has the highest noise level with LNP = 95 and TNI = 94, while LOC-B has the lowest noise level with LNP = 82 and TNI = 67. These noise levels imply that Gusau metropolis has an unacceptable noise level, well above the globally recommended levels of 60-65 dB(A) and the national recommended level of 82 dB(A). The paper therefore makes recommendations on minimizing these intolerable noise levels with consequences for environmental and human health in the study location.

Keywords: Noise, noise pollution, noise level, Traffic noise, Gusau