Evaluación de la contaminación acústica de las unidades educativa fiscomisionales “Don Bosco y María Auxiliadora” del cantón Morona

Abstract

The objective of the current research was to evaluate the noise pollution of the "Don Bosco" and "María Auxiliadora" Fiscommissioned Educational Units located in the Macas city, in order to establish the noise sources, the levels emitted and evaluate if they exceed the levels allowed in the Ecuadorian environmental legislation. That is why, it applied the non-probabilistic method by convenience, and besides the georeferential data were recorded with the help of a type 1 sound level meter with the purpose of identifying the sound pressure level at each determined point. The data were recorded at 2 times of the day according to the agreement, also used the Minitab statistical software for data tabulation and prepared noise maps, and elaborated a mitigation plan. The results indicate that in both schools, the areas with the highest noise pollution were the one bordering the roads with the highest vehicular traffic where the LAeq values exceeded 70 dB. It was found that both educational units had points considered as critical finding values between 65 and 80 dB. For the two institutions generated noise maps with the critical points that represent less than 10% of the total sampled area. Finally, it designed a mitigation plan to reduce the detrimental effect of disturbing noises based on placing protective barriers to isolate the areas of greatest noise pollution and providing students with protective equipment, especially during critical hours.