Photo credit: wp paarz licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
Is noise pollution harming your health? That’s the question Prof. Richard Neitzel, PhD, asks in this article for the BottomLineInc. Prof. Neitzel is associate chair and associate professor of environmental health sciences and global public health at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
Noise pollution is similar to air pollution, except that both the public and health professionals are generally unaware of the non-auditory health effects of noise. These include cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and increased mortality.
And of course, noise can cause hearing loss. Prof. Neitzel’s research has shown that everyday noise exposure is great enough to cause hearing loss.
Personal hearing protection, i.e., earplugs, can help prevent hearing loss, but making the environment quieter will require government action.
