Loud Noises: Hazardous Effects on Health

Introduction

As the civilization evolved, the uses of machines increased significantly. Besides pushing humanity to the mountaintop of success, these machines cursed us with numerous health hazards. One of those prominent curses is sound pollution. In the present world, almost everywhere, we are surrounded by hoarse sounds. In the following article, we’ll be discussing the poisonous effects of loud noises on our bodies. 

Overview

Our ear is the primary organ that is sensitive to sound. However, it has a limit to enduring the sounds due to its structure. If the ear is exposed to high intensity of sound for a significant amount of time, the internal network can severely damage. And when the network gets damaged, it brings out various problems due to lack of connectivity. The negative impact often causes severe health and mental problems. According to WHO, regular and repeated exposure to sounds exceeding 50 decibels may cause severe damage to the body. Sadly, today’s average noise level that a person is exposed to every day is 98 decibels. Which is much higher than the safety level.

Causes of Noise Pollution

Anything can cause loud noises. From a human scream to a motor engine, nothing is above it. However, a human cannot scream for long, while the machines can continuously make loud noises. In the cities, the vehicles, loudspeakers, Industrial coolers, everything constantly hums loud noise. In the residential area, leaf blowers, snow plungers, construction equipment initiate the scream. The agricultural pieces of equipment have made the production increase significantly and reduced physical hardship. However, it has snatched away the rural area’s peace and calm. In essence, nowhere is safe from the curse of sound pollution.

Effects of Sound Pollution

Numerous studies have addressed the adverse effects of loud sounds. Not only loudness of sounds creates discomfort to our bodies, but also the type plays a crucial part. Here we are going to briefly describe some of those effects.

Impacts Your Hearing

The first and foremost damage a loud sound can cause is to flatten your hearing. It damages the eardrum and associated hearing organs week. It destroys the hair cells lying in your cochlea. And thus, you start to face noise-induced hearing-loss. Prolonged and/or repeated exposure to sounds above 85 decibels promotes this condition. In the English language, the consonants we use consist of higher frequency. Due to hearing difficulties, one may struggle to hear those letters. This impacts a person significantly during a conversation. Moreover, this may push a person to isolate himself from others. It can introduce severe depression in one’s life. In a nutshell, loud noise promotes a serious effect on one’s physical & mental health. If you live in an area with noise pollution, consider taking a hearing test.  

Brain Inflammation

The primary hearing cells (also known as hair cells) transmit an electric signal to one’s brain, which results in hearing sounds. When these cells are exposed to loud and harsh noises, the brain receives harmful signals, making the brain inflamed. Many researchers have come to an agreement that dementia is associated with hearing loss. And both of them can derive from loud noise.

Bad Moods

Our body is programmed to receive danger signs through hearing. When you are continuously exposed to loud noises, this trigger often goes off. That introduces anxiety and irritability. As our physical triggers are often in use, we can continue to have a bad mood all day long. This phenomenon can also occur when we are fast asleep. Our brain stays awake even when we are in a deep sleep. And when a loud noise occurs during that time, our brain considers it as a danger sign. It triggers poor quality of sleep. It can result in major mood swings.

The Weakening of The Immune System

Exposure to loud noises increases your stress level. And your body starts producing stress hormones. Furthermore, this hormone increases your blood pressure and blood sugar. It drastically reduces your body’s ability to defend itself from various diseases. 

Lack of Concentration

Our brains tend to cancel background noise to concentrate on a subject. If our brain is exposed to constant noise, it cannot pay the proper attention that it needs.

Sleep Deprivation

A calm environment is required to grab a good night’s sleep. However, a space with loud noise prevents the environment from being relaxing. It distracts the brain and prevents it from falling asleep. Even if you can grab some sleep, it is of low quality. It can make you sleep for the whole day and triggers permanent health conditions.

Conclusion

To have a healthy life, a noise-free environment plays a vital role. It reduces our anxiety and helps us keep a sound mind. Also, it benefits our physical health. A healthy mind lies in a healthy body. And a noise-free environment helps greatly in the benefit of our health.