Noise pollution is considered to be the third most hazardous pollution after air and water pollution by the World Health Organization (WHO). Short as well as long-term exposure to noise pollution has several adverse effects on humans, ranging from psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression, hypertension, hormonal dysfunction, and blood pressure rise leading to cardiovascular disease. One of the major sources of noise pollution is road traffic and the WHO reports that around 40 % of Europe’s population are currently exposed to high noise/sound levels. This study investigates sound levels in Dublin, Ireland before and after the lockdown imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis was performed using measured hourly data from 12 noise monitoring stations between January and May, 2020. More than 80 % of the stations recorded high sound levels for more that 60 % of the time before the lockdown in Dublin. However, a significant reduction in hourly average equivalent sound and hourly minimum sound levels was observed at all stations during the lockdown period and this can be attributed to reductions in both road and air traffic movements.

世界卫生组织（WHO）认为噪声污染是仅次于空气和水污染的第三大危害性污染。短期和长期接触噪声污染会对人类产生多种不良影响，包括焦虑症和抑郁症等精神疾病，高血压，荷尔蒙功能障碍以及导致心血管疾病的血压升高。噪声污染的主要来源之一是道路交通，世界卫生组织报告说，目前欧洲约40％的人口处于高噪声/高声压级。这项研究调查了由于COVID-19大流行而导致的封锁之前和之后爱尔兰都柏林的声音水平。该分析是使用2020年1月至2020年5月之间12个噪声监测站的每小时小时数据进行的。在都柏林锁定之前，超过60％的时间中，超过80％的电台记录了高声级。但是，在锁定期间内，所有站点的每小时平均等效声音和每小时最小声音水平均显着下降，这可归因于道路和空中交通的减少。