![]() ![]() More recently, a 2018 World Health Organization analysis of 34 studies linked noise exposure to poorer reading comprehension, standardized test scores, and long-term memory. The scientists found that children who lived on lower, noisier floors closer to the highway scored worse on reading tests than those who lived on higher, quieter floors. In one classic study conducted in 1978 (PDF), researchers evaluated children living in a middle-income housing project constructed over a busy highway in New York City. A number of studies have found a link between increased noise exposure and poorer cognitive abilities among children. Other studies have found that higher music volume may lead to more alcohol consumption in bars and restaurants.Ĭhildren may be particularly vulnerable to loud noise. In one 2018 study published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, scientists found that people in restaurants and supermarkets purchased healthier foods when music and noise were low, and chose unhealthy foods when the volume was turned up louder. And insufficient sleep has been linked with obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, among other health issues.įinally, spending time in noisy environments could lead you to make poor food and drink choices. Noise in your environment may also get in the way of needed rest. "The prevailing thought is if you're living in a noisy community, noise, of course, disrupts sleep," according to Richard Neitzel, Ph.D., associate professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan. In a 2018 study published in the International Journal of Cardiology, for example, German researchers found that people who reported being annoyed by sounds such as the rumble of car and construction vehicle engines and horns in their neighborhood had a higher risk of atrial fibrillation-an irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots and stroke. ![]() The irritating effect of loud noise in your community may also affect health. "The body responds to stress in a variety of ways, including increasing heart rate, increasing blood pressure," she says. The researchers concluded that as many as 14 percent of cases of hypertension and 9 percent of cases of high cholesterol were potentially a result of noise exposure-possibly due to the stress of a loud working environment. For instance, one CDC study she co-wrote, published in The American Journal of Industrial Medicine in 2018, found higher rates of hypertension and high cholesterol in people who were regularly exposed to loud noises at work-meaning that for 4 or more hours a day, several days a week, they needed to raise their voice or shout to be heard by someone standing a few feet away. One should be aware that just a slight turn of the volume dial means a much shorter time in which one can listen to music if one is to avoid the risk of damage.Regular exposure to loud noise has been associated with cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure in a number of studies, according to Liz Masterson, Ph.D., an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). In other words, the sound level doubles between 85db and 88db and therefore halves the time in which one should listen to music. 120db is equal to the jet engine of a large plane taking off. This means that your ears can be damaged after only eight seconds. On maximum volume, many portable music devices will reach a level of 120db. If you turn the volume up to 88db, the ears can only tolerate such a level for around four hours. If you put the volume on your MP3 player on a medium setting, that is the same as around 85db, which the ears can tolerate for around eight hours. This also means that just a few more decibels dramatically shortens the time in which one can listen to a sound without it leading to hearing damage. The sound level actually doubles with every three decibels. This means that one more decibel is equal to a much higher sound level. They are measured in decibels on a logarithmic scale. But what is perhaps not so clear is the way in which sounds are measured. ![]() To many, the idea that listening to loud noises for a long period of time can cause hearing damage sounds like simple, common sense. ![]()
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