The Subtle Power Of Noise Pollution

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared noise pollution as a leading cause of death and disabilities with over 3,000 deaths per year attributed to the problem.

In partnership with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, the WHO studied the effects of noise pollution among Europeans. Professor Gary Housley, director of the Translational Neuroscience Facility at the University of New South Wales, indicated that noise pollution can negatively affect the heart during times of sleep.

New Scientist reports:

The most dramatic effects are in heart disease, because exposure to noise can kill people. Altogether, Europeans are estimated to lose a total of around 61,000 years of healthy life annually through noise-associated heart disease, and suffer an estimated 3000 deaths, Kim says.

Noise has been shown to raise blood pressure and blood-borne concentrations of stress hormones and fatty materials even when people are asleep. These can accumulate over time to block blood vessels and trigger a heart attack.

Although heart disease is the most serious cause of death from noise, the largest single impact on health is through sleep disturbance, which deprives Europeans of an estimated 903,000 years of healthy living annually.

Next comes annoyance – which impairs people’s well-being even if it has no direct impact on health – with a corresponding figure of 587,000 years, followed by learning deficits among schoolchildren estimated at 45,000, and tinnitus with 22,000.

New Scientist: “Noise kills, and blights lives in Europe”

[via io9]

image by Barbara L. Hanson