Abstract

Noise affects people’s health, but there is a lack of public policies on noise control in Chile, applicable to kindergartens and nursing homes. A noise policy contributes to a sustainable environment because it can reduce noise pollution and health problems. The research demonstrates this lack through a quantitative measurement, analysis of legal documentation, local and foreign regulations. In Chile, the national legislation considers protection to workers from the point of view of occupational health and industrial hygiene. However, no legislation can be categorical against the exposure of this physical agent and its consequences on the cognitive and developmental abilities of children and the elderly. A low-cost technological infrastructure is presented, which allows monitoring noise in this type of environment. According to the literature review, Santiago’s noise map is insufficient compared to Milan, Curitiba, Konya, and Tehran. This work demonstrates that the ten noise measurement points are insufficient to construct a noise map of the city of Santiago.