As defined by Merriam Webster’s dictionary, noise is a loud, harsh, or unharmonious sound. Noise engulfs the human population every second of the day. The traffic in the streets, popular songs on the radio, and the sound of our own breath are all producers of noise. Sounds can be relaxing and calming, like a waterfall or a quiet song. On the contrary, sounds can also be harsh, annoying, and even painful. With the ever growing population, and most noise being human-generated, the amount of noise is ever growing. The inescapable reaches of background noise are more commonly known as noise pollution. As reported by conserveenergyfuture.com, noise pollution is defined as, “excessive amount of noise or an unwanted sound that causes temporary disruption in the natural balance.” All unwanted noise can take annoy or distract people, but it could even negatively impact a person’s physical and/or mental health.
To understand what noise pollution is, people need to know where it comes from. Noise pollution comes from multiple sources in the surrounding environment. Noise pollution also comes at different volumes and different amounts, which change the effects it has on humans. The causes of noise pollution can be traced back to multiple categories that can further be broken down into more precise causes. These categories include: Industrialization, poor urban planning, social events, transportation, construction activities, and household chores. Industrialization includes factories and the machines used there. Equipment such as generators, exhaust fans, and other machines tend to be loud. Some machines may be so loud, that workers have to wear earplugs or muffs to keep the sound at a safe level. In big cities, there is little space for new houses to be built to accommodate the ever-growing population. Poor urban planning leads to houses being built closer together, near more populated areas, and closer to busy streets and businesses, where noise pollution is more present. Marriages, parties, and all social events are always filled with laughter, loud music, and dancing until late times. Switching on the vacuum, turning on your microwave, and even a simple mixer are all known as possible sources of noise pollution. The most common sources however, and most problem inducing sources are transportation and construction. Big cities can prove to be a difficult area to reduce noise pollution for these two categories alone.
When thinking of the effects that unwanted sound could have on a person, at first glance, hearing impairment is often the first effect to come to one’s mind. Auditory effects such as hearing impairment can be caused by noise pollution. A sound at 85 decibels or above is an unsafe sound, which can cause hearing damage. Inside of our ears we have hair cells that, when hit by the vibrations of objects, send signals to the brain, which converts it into the sound we hear. When exposed to sounds above the safe amount these hairs can get damaged. After they are damaged, the hair cells are unable to heal. This leads to permanent damage, which if exposed to loud sounds frequently, continues to cause damage. Studies have concluded that people who work around louder environments tend to have more of the symptoms of noise pollution due to regular exposure to noise.
Noise can cause more than auditory damage. Mental health is negatively impacted when exposed to noise pollution. When trying to concentrate just the sound of another person talking can have a negative impact on productivity up to 66%. Noise can also “slow rehearsal in memory, influence processes of selectivity in memory, and choice of strategies for carrying out tasks.”() Another side affect of noise pollution is annoyance. This may not seem like such a big deal, but there are behaviors that come with annoyance. As the World Health Organization reports, “People annoyed by noise may experience a variety of negative responses, such as anger, disappointment, dissatisfaction, withdrawal, helplessness, depression, anxiety, distraction, agitation or exhaustion.”(Burden of Disease from Environmental Noise) Noise pollution also tends to cause people to stress. Stress is not good for the human body and can also hurt one’s physical and mental health.
Not only can noise at nighttime be an annoyance, it can effect the amount of sleep you get, how many times you wake up in a night, and even the quality of sleep that you get. This could attribute to direct effects the next day such as diminished reaction times and unfavorable performance. Nighttime noise can have effects on cardiovascular health too. According to the European heart journal:
A sustained decrease in blood pressure during the night (so-called dripping) seems to be important for resetting cardiovascular health. Repeated nocturnal autonomic arousals may prevent blood pressure dipping and contribute to the risk for developing hypertension in those exposed to relevant levels of environment noise for prolonged periods of time. (Münzel, Gori, Babisch, Basner)
The reason that noise affects blood pressure is more clearly understood when explaining how humans interpret sounds. As mentioned earlier, the hair cells transfer signals to your brain. The brain has a never-ending process of processing that information. Different sounds, depending on the volume and type of sound, induce the nervous and endocrine system, as the body tries to adapt to the environment. It in turn causes stress, which causes higher blood pressure. High blood pressure put people at higher risk for cardiovascular diseases including hypertension, stroke, and ischaemic heart disease.
Many studies have been conducted on the effects of noise pollution in adults and also children. Due to undeveloped brains, children could stand as a particularly susceptible group of the population to non-auditory effects of noise. Noise pollution: non-auditory effects on health says, “…according to teachers’ reports, noise-exposed children have difficulties in concentrating in comparison with children from quieter schools.” (Stansfeld, Matheson)
The studies performed while trying to understand the effects aren’t always conclusive. There needs to be further research done to completely understand all of the effects. Based on current knowledge however, there is enough evidence to support the fact that people are being affected by noise in a negative way. With a growing population, increased transportation, and more urbanization noise will keep continuing to grow unless something is done about it. While there are ways to combat noise, they aren’t 100% curing. Simple tasks as turning radios down, better urban planning, and getting rid of loudspeakers could help. With an ever-increasing knowledge of the effects of noise pollution, it is hard to ignore the facts and negative impact it has on the human body. From decreased productivity to cardiovascular disease, noise causes many more problem than hearing loss.
Works Cited
Babisch, Wolfgang. “Burden of Disease from Environmental Noise.” Euro.who.int, 2011, www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/136466/e94888.pdf.
“Causes and Effects of Noise Pollution.” Conserve Energy Future, 25 Dec. 2016, www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-noise-pollution.php.
Kruppa. “Health Effects Caused by Noise : Evidence in the Literature from the Past 25 Years.” Noise and Health, Medknow Publications, www.noiseandhealth.org/article.asp?issn=1463-1741&year=2004&volume=6&issue=22&spage=5&epage=13&aulast=Ising.
Sound Fighter Systems. “5 Surprising Facts About Noise Pollution and Noise Complaints.” Sound Fighter Systems, 29 June 2018, www.soundfighter.com/5-surprising-facts-about-noise-pollution/.
A, Stephen, et al. “Noise Pollution: Non-Auditory Effects on Health.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 Dec. 2003, academic.oup.com/bmb/article/68/1/243/421340.
Thomas, et al. “Cardiovascular Effects of Environmental Noise Exposure.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 Apr. 2014, academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/35/13/829/634015.
“What Is Noise Pollution?” What Is Soil Pollution | Environmental Pollution Centers, Environmental Pollution Centers, www.environmentalpollutioncenters.org/noise-pollution/.