Background: Tens of millions of Americans suffer from a range of adverse health outcomes due to noise exposure, including heart disease and hearing loss. Reducing environmental noise pollution is achievable and consistent with national prevention goals, yet there is no national plan to reduce environmental noise pollution.
Objectives: We aimed to describe some of the most serious health effects associated with noise, summarize exposures from several highly prevalent noise sources based on published estimates as well as extrapolations made using these estimates, and lay out proven mechanisms and strategies to reduce noise by incorporating scientific insight and technological innovations into existing public health infrastructure.
Discussion: We estimated that 104 million individuals had annual LEQ(24) levels > 70 dBA (equivalent to a continuous average exposure level of >70 dBA over 24 hr) in 2013 and were at risk of noise-induced hearing loss. Tens of millions more may be at risk of heart disease, and other noise-related health effects. Direct regulation, altering the informational environment, and altering the built environment are the least costly, most logistically feasible, and most effective noise reduction interventions.
Conclusion: Significant public health benefit can be achieved by integrating interventions that reduce environmental noise levels and exposures into the federal public health agenda.
1The Network for Public Health Law鈥擬id-States Region, The University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; 2The Risk Science Center, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; 3The Department of Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Recommended Citation:
Monica S. Hammer,1 Tracy K. Swinburn,2,et al. Environmental Noise Pollution in the United States: Developing an Effective Public Health Response[J]. Environmental Health Perspectives,2014-01-01,Volume 122(Issue 2):115