In her chapter “Sources of
Noise” in Noise and Health, Annette Zaner[1] writes that sounds have been environmental
pollutants for thousands of years, citing examples of stories of loud music in
the Old Testament and noisy delivery wagons in ancient times. The Industrial
Revolution and urbanization in more recent times raised the decibel levels in
our communities, especially with the growth in transportation on the roads, on
the rails and in the air, as well as the growth of noise polluting products.
The proliferation of boom cars, cell phones and wind turbines during the past
twenty years has made our world even noisier. Studies have been carried out
that have demonstrated the potential impact of these noises on our mental and
physical health, and there have been some efforts to lessen some of the
intrusive sounds, e.g. aircraft and road traffic noise, but there is still too
little attention paid to the deleterious effects of noise. While noise
complaints top the list of complaints in major cities worldwide and noise even
threatens the natural sound systems of our planet, there is no movement
globally to address the noise pollutant. The following paper will examine the
research linking noise to health effects, question why governments have not seriously
attempted to lower noise levels and suggest ways to lessen the din. Doing so
will not only be beneficial to our health and well-being but it would also be
wise economically.
References
[1]
Zaner, A. (1991) Definition and Sources of Noise. In: Fay, T.H., Ed., Noise and Health, The New York Academy of Medicine, New York, 1-14.
[2]
United States Environmental Protection Agency (1978) Noise: A Health Problem. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC.
[3]
Train, R.E. (1976) Aviation Noise: Let’s Get on with the Job. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC.
[4]
Shapiro, S.A. (1991) The Dormant Noise Control Act and Options to Abate Noise Pollution. The Administrative Conference of the United States, Washington DC.
[5]
Reid, A. (2016) Trump’s Presidential Victory Could Stop Flights over His Palm Beach Estate. Sun Sentinel, 11 November 2016.
[6]
Harmon, A. (2017) The Rush to Uncover, and Save “Dark Data”. New York Times, 7 March 2017, D1.
[7]
Herszenhorn, D.M. (2015) Highway Bill Debate Tests New Speaker’s Promise for a More Open House. New York Times, 5 November 2015, A.18.
[8]
Stewart, J.S., Bronzaft, A.L., McManus, F., Rodgers, N, and Weedon, V. (2011) Why Noise Matters. Earthscan, London.
[9]
Correia, A.W., Peters, J.L, Levy, J.L., Melly, S. and Dominici, F. (2013) Residential Exposure to Aircraft Noise and Hospital Admissions for Cardiovascular Diseases: Multi-Airport Retrospective Study. British Medical Journal, 347, f5561. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f5561
[10]
Hansell, A.L., Biangiardo, M., Fortunato, L., Floud, S., De Hoogh, K., Fecht, D., et al. (2013) Aircraft Noise and Cardiovascular Disease near Heathrow Airport in London: Small Area Study. British Medical Journal, 347, f5432. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f5432
[11]
Swift, H. (2010) A Review of the Literature Related to Potential Health Effects of Aircraft Noise. PARTNER Project 19 Final Report.
[12]
Dannenberg, A.L. and Sener, I.N. (2015) Why Public Health and Transportation: Setting the State. TR News, Transportation Research Board, Washington DC, 4-8.
[13]
Hammer, M.S., Swiburn, T.K. and Nietzel, R.L. (2014) Environmental Noise Pollution in the United States: Developing an Effective Public Health Response. Environmental Health Perspectives, 122. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1307272
[14]
Pierpont, N. (2009) Wind Turbine Syndrome. K-Selected Books, Santa Fe.
[15]
Reynolds, G. (2016) Your Brain versus “Harold”. New York Times, 15 December 2016, D8.
[16]
Keizer, G. (2010) The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want. Public Affairs, New York.
[17]
Palen, W. (2017) When Canada Muzzled Science. New York Times, 14 February 2017, A27.
[18]
Bronzaft, A.L. and McCarthy, D. (1975) The Effect of Elevated Train Noise on Reading Ability. Environment and Behavior, 5, 517-528. https://doi.org/10.1177/001391657500700406
[19]
Bronzaft, A.L. (1981) The Effect of a Noise Abatement Program on Reading Ability. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 1, 215-222. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(81)80040-0
[20]
Ray, W. (2017) Danish Municipality Cancels Plans for all Onshore Wind Turbines. http://cphpost.dk/news/danish-municipality-cancels-plans-for-all-onshore-wind-turbines.html
[21]
Sharp, B., Connor, T.L., McLauglin, D., Clark, C., Stansfeld, S.A. and Hervey, J. (2014) Assessing Aircraft Noise Conditions Affecting Student Learning. A.C.R. Program, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies.
[22]
Stewart, J., Rodgers, N., Thoresby, H., Weedon, V. and McManus, F. (2017) http://hacan.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The-Noise-Climate-Post-Brexit-1-1.pdf
[23]
Bronzaft, A.L. (2010) Abating New York City Transit Noise: A Matter of Will, Not Way. Noise and Health, 12, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.4103/1463-1741.59994
[24]
Bronzaft, A.L. (2009) Noise: Its Effects and Control. In: Lippman, M., Ed., Environmental Toxicants: Human Exposures and Their Health Effects, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1071-1087. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470442890.ch28