Traffic noise exceeds legal limits in most sampled Brazilian urban park points.

Evidence

The acoustic assessment in green areas inside urban cores is particularly important because of the extensive use of these areas for recreational and therapeutic use. Often the traffic noise of urban areas is not buffered from the green areas and noise invades such areas, nullifying the recreational effect expected. Evidences of this widespread phenomenon have been collected in a recent study by Szeremeta and Zannin (2009) in a Brazilian city where from the acoustic survey of four urban parks more than 65 % of sampled points had a sound level above the 55 dB(A) that is the local limit fixed by the municipal law. … The unpleasant reaction of the interviewees places the soundscape in secondary importance compared with water pollution and social problems (prostitution and vagrancy). The low level of reaction from people to heavy acoustic pollution, shifting the attention on other “visual” factors, exposes the park visitor to a high level of sound with negative health effects. — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 1127