Health effects from noise

Noise from traffic, in particular, is considered by the World Health Organization to be one of the worst environmental stressors for humans, second only to air pollution.

[2] Elevated workplace or environmental noise can cause hearing impairment, tinnitus, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, annoyance, and sleep disturbance.

[5] Although age-related health effects (presbycusis) occur naturally with age,[6] in many countries the cumulative impact of noise is sufficient to impair the hearing of a large fraction of the population over the course of a lifetime.

Adverse cardiovascular effects occur from chronic exposure to noise due to the sympathetic nervous system's inability to habituate.

The sympathetic nervous system maintains lighter stages of sleep when the body is exposed to noise, which does not allow blood pressure to follow the normal rise and fall cycle of an undisturbed circadian rhythm.

[3] Stress from time spent around elevated noise levels has been linked with increased workplace accident rates, aggression, and other anti-social behaviors.

[16] Exposure to loud noises, either in a single traumatic experience or over time, can damage the auditory system and result in hearing loss and sometimes tinnitus as well.

[2][20][21][22] Noise levels of 50 dB(A) or greater at night may increase the risk of myocardial infarction by chronically elevating cortisol production.

[2] It has also been shown to increase blood pressure in individuals within the surrounding residential areas, with railways causing the greatest cardiovascular effects.

Long-term exposure to noise is correlated to increase in cortisol and angiotensin-II levels which are respectively associated with oxidative stress and vascular inflammation.

[29][30] A 2021 systematic review on the effect of occupational exposure to noise on ischemic heart disease (IHD), stroke and hypertension, coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) located 17 studies that met the inclusion criteria, comprising a total of 534,688 participants (7.47% females) in 11 countries and in three WHO regions (the Americas, Europe, and the Western Pacific).

They concluded that there is an inadequate evidence of harmfulness for the studied outcomes with the exception for the risk of acquiring IHD, which was 29% higher for those exposed to noise in their workplace.

[2] Noise pollution is an environmental health concern since it is often a risk factor for developing other diseases like tinnitus or impaired speech discrimination.

[38] Research commissioned by Rockwool, a multi-national insulation manufacturer headquartered in Denmark, reveals that in the UK one third (33%) of victims of domestic disturbances claim that loud parties have left them unable to sleep or made them stressed in the last two years.

The impact of noise on health is potentially a significant problem across the UK given that more than 17.5 million Britons (38%) have been disturbed by the inhabitants of neighbouring properties in the last two years.

[39] The extent of the problem of noise pollution for public health is reinforced by figures collated by Rockwool from local authority responses to a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request.

This research reveals in the period April 2008 – 2009 UK councils received 315,838 complaints about noise pollution from private residences.

This resulted in environmental health officers across the UK serving 8,069 noise abatement notices, or citations under the terms of the Anti-Social Behaviour (Scotland) Act.

[5] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency authored a pamphlet in 1978 that suggested a correlation between low-birthweight (using the World Health Organization definition of less than 2,500 grams (88 oz)) and high sound levels, and also high rates of birth defects in places where expectant mothers are exposed to elevated sound levels, such as typical airport environments.

[48] According to Lester W. Sontag of The Fels Research Institute (as presented in the same EPA study): "There is ample evidence that environment has a role in shaping the physique, behavior, and function of animals, including man, from conception and not merely from birth.

The effects of noise exposure are highest when it occurs between 15 and 60 days after conception, a period in which major internal organs and the central nervous system are formed.

[49] In a study conducted by Cornell University in 1993, children exposed to noise in learning environments experienced trouble with word discrimination, as well as various cognitive developmental delays.

For instance, hearing loss could be attributed to a variety of factors including age, rather than solely due to excessive exposure to noise.