2023-09-28 20:10:40
You know you live in the future when you are in a bar in Madrid with your friends and, after a while, your smart watch notifies you (with a powerful vibration) that you have exceeded the threshold for exposure to daily noise, that ambient noise exceeds 90 decibels and, if it continues like this, your health may suffer.
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A decade ago, a WHO report declared Spain the noisiest country in Europe and the second in the world, only behind Japan. Since then, it has lost its position of dubious leadership in favor of Malta, but it is still present in the league of countries of unbearable noise. The consequences are more serious than you might think. In accordance with INE data As of 2020, 21% of people in Spain suffer from noise problems in their homes.
Of course, loud, long-lasting noises, such as an explosion or unprotected factory work, are known causes of ear damage and hearing loss. But ambient noise can also be very harmful. According to The OMStraffic noise alone is responsible for more than a million years of healthy life lost annually in Western European countries due to poor health, disability or premature death, second only in disease burden to air pollution.
Noise causes or contributes to sleep disturbances and disturbances, which in themselves have very negative impacts on health. But in addition, various studies confirm that environmental noise increases the risk of myocardial infarctions and strokes, especially among older people.
How is it possible that noise affects cardiovascular health? It has been proven that acute exposure to noise activates the sympathetic nervous system (which puts us on alert) and the endocrine system responsible for the stress response. Even though we think we’re used to it, noise triggers the fight-or-flight response, increasing blood pressure, heart rate, and the release of stress hormones like cortisol.
Noise triggers the fight-or-flight response, increasing blood pressure, heart rate, and the release of stress hormones like cortisol.
If the noise is loud and constant, we do not suffer ‘scares’, but it has been seen that even so, cortisol levels decrease. remain elevated above normal, something that has been measured in children who live near areas with a lot of traffic noise. Chronically elevated cortisol, in addition to hypertension, causes blood sugar levels to rise, which can cause insulin resistance which, in the long run, can also end up causing type 2 diabetes.
Added to this is oxidative stress. The immune system also becomes alert to noise and increases the levels of cytokines, inflammatory chemical messengers, and free radicals in the blood. This oxidative response can damage the arteries, which in the long term and together with the previously mentioned factors of hypertension and insulin resistance, also leads to a potential increase of the risk of heart attacks. Noise is the perfect storm for our health.
The noise in the brain
Exposure to noise can also make us less intelligent. It has been proven that the noise makes it harder for children to learn. In adults, experiments show apparently contradictory data.
On the one hand, it has been seen that a certain type and level of environmental noise can increase concentration and cognitive performance, enhance creativity, improve memory retention and even improve mood. These are sounds from nature, such as waves, running water, wind in tree branches, and artificially produced sounds that have similar characteristics, such as White noise and the called pink noise and brown noise. These sounds can also help improve sleep.
The conclusion is that these noises allow us to mask other environmental sounds and, therefore, reduce their negative effects. These sounds also help people who suffer from attention deficit disorder (ADD) concentrate. In these cases, noise increases dopamine levels, neurotransmitter that these people lackin a similar way to how the drugs used in its treatment act, which are derivatives of amphetamine and have a stimulating effect on other people.
However, environmental noise is negative and can affect brain function and concentration and, by extension, productivity. In general, whether you are a misophone (you reject noise), an introvert or an extrovert, different research has revealed that the brain of Most people function better in complete silence.. That said, there are variations in response depending on the type of noise.
Constant, low-level sounds (such as a fan or distant traffic noise) have milder effects on concentration than unexpected, high-volume noises, such as an ambulance passing by on the street. In a study published in The British Journal of Psychology, researchers found that exposure to just one close conversation reduced productivity by an alarming 66%. This is partly because when words are understandable, our brain is ‘forced’ to pay attention to them. The effect is not that important when it comes to conversations in which we do not understand the wordsand this explains how many journalists can concentrate on their work in an open newsroom where everyone talks at the same time.
Different research has revealed that most people’s brains function better in total silence. Although there are variations in the response depending on the type of noise
Silence as a luxury
In an increasingly noisy world, silence has become a luxury. Data from the European Environment Agency indicate that exposure to noise and other environmental risk factors, such as pollution and high temperatures, has a clear socioeconomic component. Poorer regions in southern Europe suffer much higher noise levels than their richer neighbors to the north. Within cities, the poorest neighborhoods generally register much higher noise levels than the richest ones. Although there are places where this relationship does not hold, such as the center of Madrid, due to the lack of regulation of leisure centers such as bars and restaurants.
For Eulalia Peris, the author of the report Environmental Noise in Europe 2020, carried out by the European Environment Agency, “current data allow us to deduce that environmental noise is one of the causes that cause 48,000 new cases of ischemic heart disease per year, as well as 12,000 premature deaths. It is also estimated that 22 million people suffer from significant chronic discomfort and that 6.5 million people suffer from severe and chronic sleep disturbances. As a result of aircraft noise, we estimate that 12,500 school-age children have reading problems.”
According to statements by Peris to Europa.eu (official video channel of the European Union), “the number of people exposed to environmental noise is unlikely to decrease in 2030 due to increased mobility. Even with a 50% electrification of the vehicle fleet, noise will increase. Above 50 km/h the noise is caused by the tires rubbing on the asphalt.” According to the report, among the measures available to European governments are the application of absorbent asphalt on roads that reduces noise, the use of silent tires on public transport vehicles, the expansion of infrastructure for cars electric vehicles in cities and the promotion of active mobility, whether on foot or by bicycle, along with the pedestrianization of streets.
Tricks to combat environmental noise and concentrate better
If we do not have the ability to move, insulate our home from noise, or are in a very noisy work environment, we must take personal protection measures against this health-damaging pollutant seriously. These are some of the simplest:
Sound-absorbing panels: Noise reflected from smooth, hard surfaces such as the walls of your home is one of the most harmful. The foam panels, which youtubers have become fashionable as the background of the rooms where they record, it is a very economical solution that can help absorb sound. Sealing windows and doors: sound is like water, it transmits through any crack or crevice. Door and window weather stripping is another cheap and effective solution to prevent outside noise from entering. Noise Canceling Headphones: Active noise canceling headphones neutralize outside noise with the reverse of the incoming wave. Designed to make airplane flights more pleasant, they are very effective against constant sounds, such as traffic. White noise machines: Their usefulness is limited, as they can mask background noise, creating a calmer environment, but they do not eliminate it. Anti-noise earplugs: the cheapest foam earplugs available in any pharmacy can offer a significant reduction in outside noise, enough to improve our concentration. Additionally, you can find silicone earplugs with a more effective seal and are also more comfortable to wear for long periods of time, for example, overnight.
Although they can help improve our situation, any of these options are just a patch for a huge social problem that governments must solve through strict regulations on traffic, leisure venues and urban planning. Let’s not allow noise to make our lives bitter.
*Darío Pescador is editor and director of the Quo magazine and author of the book your best self published by Oberon.
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