Does noise pollution affect human health to an extent that it’s dangerous for real?
In today’s world, people everywhere face pollution on a regular basis.
Out of all types of pollution, noise pollution is both irritating and damaging.
There are lots of health dangers of noise pollution. Some may be fatal, which can even lead to extreme deafness and discomfort.
So, the question is how does noise pollution affect human health? Is it really dangerous that can lead to fatal health diseases?
Let’s know about what is noise pollution and its effects on human health.
What Is Noise Pollution: An Overview
The term noise refers to an unpleasant sound.
Notably, not all sound is considered noise pollution.
According to WHO, noise above 65 Decibels is noise pollution.
To be precise, noise between 75 DB is dangerous and above 120db is considered painful and causes potential health effects that include increased stress levels and even hearing damage.
It’s important to know how does noise pollution affect human health.
What Are The Health Effects Of Noise Pollution?
Unwanted sounds can lead to a lot of health problems. It makes you feel irritated and leaves adverse effects on the mind.
The physical health effects can give rise to noise exposure directly or indirectly.
So, how does noise pollution affect human health?
How Does Noise Pollution Affect Human Health?
In severe cases, loud noises can directly cause the following issues.
#1. Hearing Impairment
High-intensity sound waves can destroy tiny hair follicles that send signals to the brain whenever sound occurs. Hearing issues start to take place when 50% of these hairs are gone.
Some forms of hearing impairment due to loud noise includes:
- Abnormal loudness perception
- Tinnitus
- Paracusis
#2. Increases Cardiovascular Disease
Exposure to noise pollution for 10 years and more increases the chances of cardiovascular diseases by 300%.
Moreover, high noise levels increase high blood pressure and also increase the pulse rates making him/her vulnerable to heart attacks.
#3. Impact On Mental Health
Effects of noise pollution not only include disturbed sleep but also disturbed mental health. Unnecessary sounds can have a wide range of mental health effects.
Some of the psychological effects of noise pollution are:
- Creates a lot of stress
- Waking too early
- Loss of peace and mind
- Getting irritating more frequently
- Anxiety and depression
#4. Poor Sleep
Sleep is the foremost thing that gets affected when it comes to noise pollution. A noisy neighborhood irritates and hampers mental stability and sleep pattern.
And the dangers of not sleeping well it not hidden anymore. After a tiring day at work, a noisy neighborhood is of no help in reducing stress.
As a result, it leads to many health issues including cardiovascular diseases.
#5. Low Memory And Focus
The fact that noise pollution affects your sleep makes memory and concentration issues are inevitable.
Noise pollution affects people’s ability to focus and leads to low performance.
There are many sources of noise pollution that have negative effects on humans.
Sources Of Noise Pollution That Affects Human Health
Noise pollution is everywhere. Some of the sources that add to the noise pollution that affects human health are:
- The gathering of people in large numbers often gives rise to noise pollution.
- Loud music and playing songs at a louder volume.
- In most developing countries, poor urban planning plays a vital role in aggravating atmospheric pollution.
- Construction activities like mining, construction of dams, are also some of the factors that produce a lot of sounds.
- A large number of motorized vehicles on roads, trains produce heavy sounds.
- Apart from air pollution, the intensity of crackers’ sounds creates noise pollution.
Noise pollution severely affects human health. From physical to mental health, noise pollution could be severely damaging.
Because one cannot entirely keep themselves away from the noise, it’s better to reduce it.
Doing so can help with dodging the effects of noise pollution on human health.
Ways Of Reducing Noise Pollution For Better Health
Noise pollution is not only annoying but also badly affects your health. So, it is important to know the ways that can help reduce noise pollution.
Here are some of the ways to prevent noise pollution for better human health are:
- Keep your doors and windows shut
- Stop burning fireworks
- Plant more and more trees
- Lower the volume of television or music system
- Reduce workplace noise
Noise pollution will continue to grow and its sources will continue to become obnoxious.
Hence, it’s important to develop effective strategies to limit the adverse effects of noise pollution on human health.
Bottom Line
Noise pollution leads to significant health issues like mental stress, cardiovascular diseases, hearing loss, cognitive impairment, and elevated blood pressure.
Effects of noise pollution are growing worse with every passing year and it’s important to control it for sake of proper health.
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