Our federal government attempted to help reduce known health hazards due to harmful noise in the 1970s, however little to nothing has been done since the organization was defunded in the 1980s. Education about and understanding how noise may hurt you is our best defense against its harmful effects writes Dr. Laura Sinnott, Tuned’s head of product.

Most people equate noise with something that’s annoying. However, mountains of evidence tell us that noise can also be harmful. Yes, noise can hurt us, and in more ways than hearing loss and tinnitus. Evidence suggests that noise is linked to stress and cardiovascular issues. Advocates for a quieter world are out there and their work culminated in the early 1970s with the creation of the Office of Noise Abatement and Control, a part of the EPA whose role it was to control excessive noise through research, implementation, and enforcement. It was defunded in the early 1980s, however, even though the former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. William Stewart said in the 1970s:

Noise must be considered a hazard to the health of people everywhere. (EPA, 1978)

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Hearsay is that this was due to corporate lobbyists who didn’t want to comply with these regulations. Whatever the reason, still, 50 years later, little effort has been made by our government to educate or help with the effects of noise on our bodies and well-being. Why?

Sound takes a backseat to many other parts of our bodies or sensory organs partially because injury to the ears tends to be gradual and painless. However, it is also due to our collective society (perhaps musicians, composers, and sound engineers aside) not understanding the power of sound.

The power of noise. Noise is powerful. Noise can hurt us.

Daniel Fink (2019) re-asserts Mindy Fetterman’s statement that noise is the “new secondhand smoke.” He describes the history of understanding the harmful effects of smoking and second-hand smoke on people, including children, and the time it took for most states and cities to ban smoking in public places. He then argues for a new definition of noise that includes the word “harmful” and not only “nuisance.” Then, he reviews some health conditions linked to noise exposure from hearing disorders due to loud sound to lower level sound affecting cardiovascular health. Finally, he suggests regulations in some public places for sound level limits and raising awareness by defining noise as: “harmful sound.”

The analogy with cigarette smoking works in many ways. However, regulating sound levels is extremely complicated. Compared to smoke, it is more difficult to predict which individuals will be affected by noise exposure and when the issues will manifest. And unlike cigarette smoking, it is difficult, legally and practically, to point the finger at any one company or source as the culprit.

Raising awareness and education about noise is the most feasible way to help prevent health conditions due to noise. Talk to an audiologist with Tuned to learn how to take care of your ears and your overall health.

Citations:

Environmental Protection Agency. Noise: a health problem. Washington, D.C. (1978). https://www.nonoise.org/library/epahlth/epahlth.htm

Fink, D. (2019, December). A new definition of noise: noise is unwanted and/or harmful sound. Noise is the new ‘secondhand smoke. In Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics 178ASA (Vol. 39, №1, p. 050002). Acoustical Society of America.