Exposure to Excessive Sound Volume: A Major Challenge in the South-Western Nigeria Church Auditoria

Abstract

The study examines the exposure to excessive sound volume as a major challenge to grapple with in church auditoria in South-western Nigeria. This exposure to excessive sound has become a source of noise pollution and it is dangerous to human health. Data for this paper were gathered through participant observation of musical acoustics in worship auditoria using a Virtual Instrument; a Sound Pressure Level mobile application installed on a mobile phone for sound volume measurement. The equivalent noise level using A-weighting was taken for twenty minutes per day, this was observed for the three different worship services at different dates and time in each of the selected church auditoria during each worship service. The LAeq, T, of each musical session was calculated. Findings show that the worshippers are exposed to average noise levels of 90.29 dB (Threshold of Pain) at every worship service which is higher than the recommended 60dB for normal human ear by World Health Organization (WHO). It was also observed that all the selected church auditoria lack appropriate acoustic treatment which led to sound reflections and severe echo. The paper concludes that the culture of noise pollution has become a social phenomenon in the Nigerian society especially, in church auditoria where loud musical sound is arrogated to power and domination of space. This paper recommends that acceptable optimal standards for sound production either in enclosures or in open spaces be emphasized by the Nigerian local, state and federal governments to effectively control noise for human and societal wellbeing.