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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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How Is Traffic Noise Linked To Heart Attack? Noise pollution, like air pollution, can have profound negative impact on people’s health. High levels of noise can cause hearing impairment and create annoyance, stress and possibly interrupt sleep. People exposed to excessive noise over a long period of time can have health hazards including hypertension (high blood pressure) and heart disease. Some experts even link noise pollution to changes in immune system and birth defects. The main causes of noise pollution are vehicles and aircraft noise, prolonged exposure to loud music and industrial noise. In Norway, road traffic accounts for almost 80 percent of noise annoyances. Every year, the social cost of traffic noise in European Union (EU) are over €40 billion. Traffic noise is estimated to harm the health of almost 33 percent of people in EU. Every 1 in 5 Europeans is regularly exposed to sound levels at night that could significantly damage health. In addition, noise is also a posing threat to marine and terrestrial ecosystems. A study by Danish researchers indicated that people who were exposed to high sound levels of traffic near their home had a higher risk of heart attack. In a paper published on June 20, 2012 in ‘PLoS One’ journal, researchers from Danish Cancer Society reported that there was 12 percent higher risk of heart attack for every 10-decibel (dB) increase in traffic noise, starting from around 40 dB. Past studies showed that the risk started to increase only at noise levels above 60 dB.
How loud is 40 dB? According to scientists, it is just about as loud as a birdcall. In comparison, the noise of a vacuum cleaner is 70 dB, and a passenger car travelling at 65 miles per hour measures 77 dB from 25 feet away. To interrupt a conversation, a 10 dB of noise is sufficient but 85 dB is the minimum level at which hearing protection is required in a workplace. Researchers followed 50,614 people between the ages of 50 and 64, who lived in Copenhagen and Aarhus, 2 of Denmark’s largest cities. These participants reported their lifestyle behaviors including diet, physical activity, and the place they lived over a 10-year period. Over the course of the study, researchers monitored and compared these participants’ health to the geographic location of their homes, and determined how much traffic noise each person had been exposed to by analyzing traffic patterns around the participants’ homes. Results showed that 1,600 people had a first heart attack and the louder the traffic noise, the higher the risk. Even after taking into account of other factors such as air pollution exposure, gender, smoking, fruit and vegetable intake, and body mass index (BMI), the link between noise and heart attack still held. It was estimated that 4 percent of all heart attacks in Denmark are related to traffic noise. While previous studies have already indicated noise pollution was linked to heart attack risk, this study was the first to demonstrate an incremental correlation between increasing noise exposure to increasing heart attack risk. There are a few factors that might explain how noise can lead to heart attack. People living in hectic urban centers tend to have more stress than people living in quieter places, and stress has long been linked to heart attack. Noise is likely to cause stress to rise and levels of stress hormones like adrenaline and blood pressure to increase too. Traffic noise, especially during the night, can cause sleep disturbances that are also associated with heart attack. What worries the researchers is most people do not realize they are experiencing noise pollution. They recommended that people, who live near high traffic areas, should sleep in a quieter interior room or a room with a low exposure to traffic noise. If this is not possible, they should consider insulating their house against noise. Meanwhile, officials handling traffic matter should pave highways with low-noise asphalt.
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