Growing Evidence that Noise is Bad for Your Health

How many times have you left a noisy environment, loud concert, or cacophonous restaurant feeling stressed out, exhausted, and irritable? It may not be until you are in a quiet environment that you even notice the noise you’ve been exposed to and how frustrating it had been. Although we know that noise can cause psychological discomfort, the toll of noise pollution does not stop there. There is growing evidence that noise is bad for your health in more ways than one.

Noise Guidelines

In Europe, the World Health Organization recently published its guidelines for noise exposure. These guidelines denote the limits of noise production from several well-known sources: aircraft, road, and rail noise. However, two other sources of noise are new additions to the guidelines. Wind turbines are an incredibly efficient form of alternative energy, yet they also emit a noise that some find frustrating and even psychologically damaging to listen to. At close range, wind turbines can create an uncomfortable sound for nearby residents, as well as workers in the surrounding farmland. One more source may come as a surprise: leisure noise.

Leisure Noise

When it comes to leisure noise, there are two forms of detrimental health effects. In the first place, personal exposure to loud leisure noise can cause health problems in the individual. Yet, those who work in places that produce leisure noise or even those who live nearby these locations can also be affected.

Leisure noise includes any entertainment or voluntary sound source that registers at a very loud or very troublesome level for listeners. For example, earbuds and headphones are the biggest culprit of leisure noise. Those who wear earbuds in public, particularly on transportation, can set the level of music or sound to such a high level that they are damaging their own hearing irreparably. They may not even know they are doing so, because the level is set to a high volume in order to drown out the surrounding sound. On the other hand, the noise of public entertainment venues can be incredibly loud, as well. Dance clubs and live music venues are well-known sources of damaging leisure noise, but the cacophonous sound of voices in a restaurant can be quite damaging, as well. Imagine that you work in one of these loud leisure venues day after day. The toll on your physical health can be immense.

Health Outcomes

Some of the negative health outcomes that have been associated with noise exposure include coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, annoyance, sleep disturbance, and children’s learning and hearing impairment. As you can see, some of these are more worrisome than others. If the detrimental effects of noise stopped at annoyance, then the problems might be more easily contained. Yet, we know that mental health and stress are associated with myriad other health outcomes, including some of those on this list. Even if noise results in slight distress, that constant stress level can contribute to conditions such as coronary heart disease and high blood pressure. And we know that those health conditions can be devastating. The next step after knowing how noise can affect our health is to take steps toward prevention and policy solutions.

Prevention and Policy

Two approaches to solving the noise problem have been suggested. In the first place, individuals can take steps to preventing the effects. Wearing hearing protection, such as noise canceling earmuffs or ear plugs, is an excellent solution to the problem. Those who work in noisy leisure environments should consider wearing hearing protection as a daily habit in the workplace. Beyond personal hearing protection, though, policy solutions may be put in place to avoid the negative health effects of noise exposure. European governments have taken steps already to set limits for the noise produced by transportation, wind turbines, and even leisure venues. These limits can help protect the health of those who consume these services, but even more so they can protect the health and mental wellbeing of those who have to work in these locations or who find themselves living nearby a noise producer. The effect of stress on physical health cannot be underestimated, so policy solutions may be the best way to protect the health of all residents.

Visit Us at Orange County Physicians’ Hearing Services

Are you concerned with your hearing abilities? Have you noticed changes in your hearing? Contact us at Orange County Physicians’ Hearing Services for a comprehensive hearing test and consultation.