Economics and management in the field of ict

4.2. Effects of noise and vibration on human health.

Prolonged or excessive exposure to noise has been proven to cause a range of health problems, from stress, poor concentration, decreased productivity in the workplace, communication difficulties and insomnia fatigue, to serious problems such as cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, tinnitus and hearing loss.

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a report entitled “Disease burden from environmental noise”. This study combined data from various large-scale epidemiological studies on environmental interactions in Western Europe, collected over 10 years.

The research analyzed environmental noise from planes, trains and vehicles, as well as other urban sources, followed by links to health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, sleep disorders, tinnitus, children’s cognitive impairment, and anxiety. rib was removed. The WHO team used this information to calculate years of life adjusted for disability - mostly years of healthy life, lost due to “unwanted” dissonance by a person. Their results can be astonishing.

Prolonged or excessive exposure has been proven to cause a number of health problems.

They estimate that at least one million healthy lives are lost each year in Europe due to noise pollution. The researchers concluded that “there is a great deal of evidence that the effects of environmental noise have a negative impact on public health” and that traffic noise ranked second among environmental threats to public health (the first air pollution). It is also noted that noise pollution is increasing, while other types of pollution are declining.

Interestingly, sounds that we are not even aware of can affect us more, especially when we “hear” when we are asleep. The human ear is extremely sensitive and it never calms down. So even when you’re asleep, your ears are working, raising and transmitting sounds that different parts of the brain filter and interpret. This is a ear canal that is constantly open. So, even if you are not aware of it, the background noise of traffic, airplane or music coming from a neighbor is still being processed and your body is reacting to them differently through nerves that go to different parts of the body and hormones released by the brain have an effect.

The most obvious is impaired sleep due to fatigue, impaired memory and creativity, impaired thinking ability, and impaired psychomotor abilities. Studies have shown that people who live near airports or busy roads are more likely to have headaches, consume more sleeping pills and sedatives, are more likely to have minor side effects, and more prone to psychiatric treatment.

But there is another more serious result. Even if you don’t wake up, the constant noise sets the body’s acute stress response, which raises blood pressure and heart rate, mobilizing a potentially hyperarousal state. It is this response that can lead to cardiovascular disease and other health problems. Constant noise sets the body under acute stress. In a study by Dr. Orfeu Buxton, a sleep specialist at Harvard University, the brain activity of healthy noisy volunteers was observed, with 10-second sound clips of various types of noise being played while they were asleep. As each clip was played, it was found that the waves in the volunteers ’brains resembled uneven, awakening forms of nervous activity. These special studies focused on the noises heard in a hospital setting, including talking, phone ringing, closing doors, washing cars, washing toilets, and city traffic, etc., but most of the sounds tested are also heard in an urban setting.

15-picture. The effect of noise on the human body.

Sound is an important and valuable part of daily life. But when sound becomes noise, it can negatively affect our mental and physical health. The realities of modern life mean that the interactions that occur in our world are not suddenly silent. Instead, we need to understand that noise pollution is a serious health problem that deserves our attention, and find real and sustainable ways to manage and reduce it.