by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just reported that the smoking rate in the U.S. is the lowest ever reported since this information started being collected. Only 13.9% of American adults are smoking. Unfortunately, this still means that there are 30 million smokers in the U.S., but this is great progress since the first Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health was issued in 1964.
Recent reports also indicate that efforts to educate the public about the dangers of soda consumption, combined in some cities with taxes on sugary beverages like soda, have also led to reductions in soda consumption.
Will noise be next? In 2016, the CDC recognized that noise exposure was a hazard for the public, not just for workers exposed to noise. There still is no federal recommendation, guideline, or standard for noise exposure for the public, unlike National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommendations, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations, for noise exposure for workers.
But at least CDC is looking at the issue, after research showed that noise-induced hearing loss is occurring in people without occupational noise exposure, and we hope some specific guidance about noise will be issued soon. And we hope that this advice–as with smoking and soda consumption–will lead to decreased noise exposure, and decreased hearing loss, in the not too distant future.
In the meantime, remember: If it sounds too loud, it IS too loud.
