Photo credit: Peter Dutton licensed under CC By 2.0
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
Noise pollution isn’t just annoying, it’s harmful. That’s the headline on a commentary in the Orlando Sentinel by David Vaina, PhD. We couldn’t agree more. Noise isn’t just a nuisance, it’s harmful to people, animals, birds, fish, and marine mammals.
Vaina quotes writer D. H. Lawrence who wrote, “Noise has become a narcotic to the brain.” I’m not sure that ‘narcotic’ is the right word–narcotics aren’t annoying–but agree with both Vaina and Lawrence that noise is a problem, whether desired noise as at rock concert or from personal listening devices, or unwanted noise pollution from leaf blowers, planes, trains, and automobiles.
One of our colleagues who also saw this article commented that “noise is taking center stage lately.” She’s right. Noise appears to be getting a lot more attention in the media.
We hope that when people become aware of the hazards of noise, they will turn down the volume in their personal lives and join The Quiet Coalition and our parent organization, Quiet Communities, Inc., in advocating for quiet.
A quieter world will be a better and healthier world for all.
