Sound overload effects everyone at some time by intruding on privacy and shattering serenity. It can produce impaired communication and social relationships, irritability, chronic headache, depression, fatigue, and tension, in addition to hearing loss. Recent research reports indicate that less obvious physiological changes can also occur.
These changes include involuntary responses in the digestive, cardiovascular, endocrine, and nervouus systems. They can produce blood vessel constriction, pallor, dilated pupils and visual disturbance, increased and irregular heart rate, hypertension, headache , gastrointestinal spasm with nausea and diarrhea and eventual peptic ulcer, hyperactive reflexes, and muscle tenseness. These responses do not subside immediately but continue up to five times longer than the actual noise. Noise has also been associated with elevated blood cholesterol levels, atherosclerosis, and accident proneness.
We do not adapt to excessive sound, as was once thought; we learn to tolerate it. Even when a person is asleep, noise cannot be shut out completely. We are exhausted by our efforts to remain asleep in the midst of this external stimuli. Perhaps being aware of these environmental stress factors can aid in reducing or coping with them.
Although not every harmful from of sound can be avoided, measures such as wearing protective ear coverings, shortening exposure time, having regular hearing examinations, and seeking immediate medical attention for any ear injury or infection will decrease the possibility of permanent damage or hearing loss. Noise can be brought under control without excessive cost. You can educate the public about the hazards of excess noise and ways to reduce noise in the home environment. Some suggestions to reduce noise are; hang heeavy drapes over windows closest to outside noise sources, use foam pads under blenders and mixers, use carpeting in areas of heavy foot traffic, use upholstered instead of hard surfaced furniture, and install sound absorbing ceiling tile in the kitchen.
The hospital, considered a place to recuperate and rest, may actually contribute to symptoms because of the noise levels in certain areas. In one study, noise levels in infant incubators, the recovery room, and acute units were high enough to act as a stressor and stimulate the hypophyseal-adrenocortical axis. Peripheral vasoconstriction affecting blood pressure and pulse, threats to hearing loss in patients reeceiving aminoglycosidic antibiotics, and sleep deprivation were noted. Noise pollution in the operating room, causing vasoconstriction, pupil dilation, fatigue, and impaired speech communication, has also been found.
References :
Goldsmith, John and Earland Jonnson, “Health Effects of Community Noise”, American Journal of Public Health, 1973.
Saltonstall, Richard, Your Environment and What You Can Do About It : A Citizen`s Guide. New York : Walker and Company, 1970.
Van Sickle, Derek, The Ecological Citizen, New York : Harper & Row, Publishers, 1971.
World Health Organization, Health Hazards of the Human Environment. Geneva : Office of Publications and Translation, World Health Organization, 1972.
Shapiro, R., and T. Berland, “ Noise in the Operating Room”, New England Journal of Medicine, December 14, 1972.
