An update of CCIR business and residential noise levels

The results of a major survey of business, residential and rural man-made noise levels carried out in the Continental United States between 1966 and 1971 formed the basis of the CCIR model for man-made noise (CCIR Report 258-5). With the vast increase in electronic equipment over the past decade, there is a general feeling that there has been a significant increase in background noise levels, in urban areas. In 1993, measurements of the man-made noise levels were made in business areas of Montreal and Ottawa and in residential Ottawa. The results of these measurements tend to show that there has been no significant increase, and in fact, they tend to show a decrease in noise level, caused in part by the practice of using buried powerlines rather than overhead powerlines.<>