Noise
Below are some resources on noise and its effects on health and environment. These and more specific, industry sector resources may be found on the Program pages.
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Noise, an educational flyer from the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (2017) identifies unsafe noise levels and their sources in the environment, including leaf blowers.
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Tips for a Quieter Home (2017). Tips for a quieter home from the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders include reducing outdoor landscape maintenance noise.
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Hearing Loss: A Guide to Prevention and Treatment (2016). In this Special Report from Harvard Medical School, gas leaf blowers and lawn mowers are noted prominently as sources of noise that cause hearing damage.
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Understanding Noise Exposure Limits: Occupational vs General Environmental Noise (2016). This blog by researchers from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health distinguishes between safe environmental noise exposure (70 dB, 24 hr average) from occupational (85 dB, 8 hr/day, during working year). Please note that these levels are limits to prevent hearing loss, not other non-hearing health problems.
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Quick Facts: Environmental Noise Exposure and Hearing Loss from Quiet Communities, May 2016
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Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (2014). This fact sheet from the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders describes noise sources at home that are harmful to children’s hearing, including gas-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers.
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Noise and Its Effects on Children (2009). This educational flyer from the US Environmental Protection Agency describes the dangers of high levels of noise for children’s health and hearing, and includes leaf blowers as a source.
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Ambient Noise Is “The New Secondhand Smoke” (2019). This review by Dr Dan Fink, QC Health Advisor and Founder of The Quiet Coalition, evaluates the evidence on noise levels and their effects on auditory and non-auditory health in the Fall issue of Acoustics Today.
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Environmental Noise and the Cardiovascular System (2018). This review article from the Journal of the American College of Cardiology by cardiologist Thomas Munzel and associates, focuses on the mechanisms and the epidemiology of noise-induced cardiovascular diseases and explains how noise damages the cardiovascular system.
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Too Loud! For Too Long! (2017). This report from the US Centers for Disease Control describes sources of harmful environmental noise, highlighting lawn and garden equipment, and includes a powerful infographic.
- Guidelines for Community Noise. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 1999. Berglund B, Lindvall T, Schwela DH (Eds). Nearly 20 years old but still the most recent guidelines out there. This provide a rich compendium of information on what constitutes safe noise levels in a wide variety of indoor and outdoor settings as well the scientific rationale being them. Well worth a careful read.
- Supporting healthier urban environments with a sound and noise curriculum for students (2019) This article in journal, Cities & Health, introduces readers to the Sound and Noise Module developed in conjunction with New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection.
- The effect of elevated train noise on reading ability (1975). One of the first articles to document the impact of noise on children’s learning, co-authored by environmental psychologist and noise expert, Dr. Arline Bronzaft.
- The effect of a noise abatement program on reading ability (1981). An article by Dr. Arline Bronzaft, on how reduction in noise can positively impact children’s learning.
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What is a Safe Noise Level for the Public? (2016) In this 2016 article by Dr. Dan Fink in the American Journal of Public Health, he dispels the notion that the 85-decibel occupational noise threshold is a safe level for the public. The actual level is much lower.
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Auditory and non-auditory effects of noise on health (2014). A comprehensive scientific review article by Dr. Mathias Basner in The Lancet, a premier medical journal, describing the effects of noise on hearing as well as non-hearing health — for example, blood pressure and heart disease.
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Environmental noise pollution in the United States: Developing an effective public health response. (2014). A scientific article by Monica Hammer and colleagues on the public health problem of environmental noise and the need for effective health policies and prevention. Over 100 Americans are being exposed on a daily basis to noise levels that can cause hearing damage, heart problems, and other adverse health issues. Co-author Dr. Rick Neitzel and colleague’s 2015 article — Valuing Quiet: An Economic Assessment of U.S. Environmental Noise as a Cardiovascular Health Hazard — estimates that the US spends $3.9 billion every year on noise-related cardiac problems.
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Burden of Disease from Environmental Noise (2011). An extensive report from the World Health Organization describing and quantifying the health impact of environmental noise in Western Europe.
