Noise in schools of São Paulo: characterization and potential determinants

Noise in schools can affect both teachers and students, leading to psychological and physiological damage. Our aim was to characterize the noise exposure in a sample of schools in São Paulo and to investigate the potential determinants of noise levels. Seven schools participated. Noise was measured during a week, every second. LAeq was calculate per day for each school day. This created a panel data structure. During school days, we have a median of 70.3 dB (LAeq7-19h) and 94.2 dB (LAFmax). School 3 is exposed to higher levels, while schools 1 and 4 are the exposed to the lowest levels. Every increase in 50 students in a school was associated on average with an increase of 3.63 dB (LAeq7-19h). Regarding the external sources, the commercial ones have a trend with increasing noise levels following the increase in the number of exposure sources. Analysis show an average increase of 2.17 dB in schools with one source when compared to no traffic source. Having other schools or parks in the nearby area seems to be protective, with lower levels of noise. Factors such as the number of students and traffic near schools are important variables that increase the noise level.