by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
This article in Knowable Magazine describes, in a well written, easy-to-read, and scientifically accurate manner, how transportation noise hurts the heart. Basically, it causes a “fight-or-flight” stress reaction, with autonomic nervous system and neurohormonal responses.
Epidemiology studies show increased heart attacks, strokes, and deaths in people living near airports and highways, compared to those living in quieter places. Even when people think they are accustomed to transportation noise, physiologic studies show that the involuntary stress responses, also including activation of inflammatory pathways in the lining of the arteries, still take place.
Quieter cars, trucks, and motorcycles may be easier to manufacture than quieter airplanes, but these are also possible. To those who say that can’t be done, I advise them to look no further than the Airbus A-380, still flying but no longer in production, or the Airbus A-320 neo.
If enough Americans demand quieter aircraft, Congress will mandate this.
