MMDA supports NIH study into effects of traffic on enforcers’ hearing

Field personnel of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will take part in a study intended to determine the association of chronic traffic exposure with hearing loss.

MMDA Officer-in-Charge Director Baltazar Melgar welcomed the University of the Philippines' National Institute of Health’s initiative, adding that it will be assisted by the MMDA Medical Clinic.

Melgar said that traffic enforcers work under “punishing” weather conditions, exposed to health hazards including traffic noise and air pollution.

“It must be noted that MMDA traffic enforcers, classified as civilian uniformed personnel, are exposed to health hazards while performing their duties," he said in a statement released on Wednesday.

The MMDA OIC director said selected field personnel assigned on EDSA will undergo a screening process, including a hearing test and in-depth interview.

“The screening process is expected to be done on the second week of August. Based on the criteria set by the UP-NIH, traffic enforcers must have a five-year field exposure experience, regardless of their employment status,” Melgar said.

According to Melgar, there are at least 600 traffic enforcers assigned to EDSA.

A 2017 study compiled by the World Health Organization and Norwegian-based technology research group SINTEF showed a tight statistical link between urban noise pollution and hearing loss. Using data from that study, researchers in Germany also found that on average, people in the loudest cities were ten years "older" in terms of hearing loss than those in the quietest cities. — Richa Noriega/BM, GMA News