| This study represent an assessment on the levels of noise pollution and its health impacts at selected schools in Basra City, Southern Iraq. Noise levels were measured during 2012 with calibrated sound level meter, Lutron SL-4013 Model, at classrooms, playgrounds, and surroundings of a 12 selected schools. As well, it was randomly distributed 240 questionnaires, 25 per school, on a sample of students and teaching staff, assessing the environmental noise impacts on their health and learning-related outcomes. The present study concluded that the measured levels of noise, whether at indoor or outdoor of the surveyed schools, were higher than the WHO recommended levels, and that majority of respondents reported a variety of medical disorders, such as stress, lack of concentration, headache, annoyance, and even loss of hearing. This may be due to the effects of environmental noise emitted from sources like vehicular traffic, industrial workshops, and the most important is student louds inside the selected schools. This study recommended that more rigorous researches should be carried out, to improve the health of learning environments. |