Noise and You

Why worry about noise? n Of all the pollution concerns: –Air,water,land, and noise; noise pollution is the one that has the potential for the most damage to humans and wildlife. –It is a hidden health hazard that impacts our physical, psychological and intellectual well being. –Our ears never shut down, even while we are sleeping, so the input is constant.

Noise Pollution Noise Pollution n Noise pollution has a broad effect. – It can excite us – Warn us of danger – Soothe us – Inspire us – Keep us in touch with our surroundings. – And, harm our well being.

Noise is Everywhere

Hearing n Our ability to hear is one of our great senses that connects us with the world around us. n Without it, the world becomes a lonely, frightening place.

Our Magical Ears

Those Handles on Our Heads n Our ears aren’t there for decoration! –They are amazing neurotransmitters that gather and process sound, sending the input off to our brain where fascinating things happen.

The Ear and Our Brain –Our brain processes the sound waves received via our ears and makes determinations that effect: speech, balance, and hearing. –Excess stimulation from sound can overload our nervous system resulting in many negative health symptoms.

What does our ear drum do? –Sound waves are collected by our ear canal and passed to the ear drum, which vibrates. The sound waves are then picked up by fluid in the inner ear and passed to the inner ear structures where the acoustic nerve connects to the brain.

The Mighty Decibel n Decibels measure the intensity of sound. n Hearing loss can occur from a single exposure to a loud noise or from repeated exposures. n The Environmental Protection Agency has set a standard of 70 db in a 24 hour period as safe.

The Numbers –Rustling leaves- 10db –whisper - 30 db –normal speech - 60 db –television - 70 db –traffic db –blow dryer - 85 db –noisy hall - 85 db –classroom - 85 db –Stereo - 90 db –bagpipes db –power saw db –fire cracker db –rock concert db –gunshot/train/jet - –150 db

Physical Effects n Examples: hearing loss, digestive disorders, birth defects, arthritis, cancer, heart disease, fatigue, headaches, asthma, hypertension, insomnia, sexual dysfunction, altered immune system.

Psychological Effects n Examples: depression, anger, aggression, anxiety, increased violence, alcohol and drug use, fatigue, increase in suicide, decreased social skills, personality disorders

Communicative Effects n Examples: decreased learning capacity, memory loss, poor language skills, decreased speech development, decreased academic performance, decreased cognitive ability

How much is too much? –Damage to health begins at 75 db. –Hearing damage begins at 90 db and can be permanent with one exposure of 120 db or more. –The average decibel levels at Montpelier High School are ; where damage to physical, psychological and communicative health begins.

n As a bagpiper I am acutely aware of the impact of noise on my well being. The average bagpipe generates db. n It is important in any of our health arena’s that we make deliberate choices about how to protect ourselves. Music To Your Ears?

Shhhhhh n How can we stop the constant bombardment to our ears and protect our over all health?

Stopping the Noise n It cannot be done! – Even during sleep our ears are absorbing sound waves that are then processed by our brain. –What we can do is seek practical ways to diminish the noise OR protect our ears from receiving too much damaging input, i.e. decibels.

Know Thyself n Respecting sounds and how they can impact your health involves knowing yourself. We all have different thresholds of what we can handle. –What kinds of sounds stimulate you, soothe you, irritate you? –Do you find you have ringing in your ears after certain sound exposures? –Is there a family history of hearing loss?

So, Now What? n How do you balance what you enjoy with what is healthy?

Controlling the noise in your life is not hopeless, but does require determination on your part to respect and alter the level of noise. n Wear ear plugs in very loud places. Filtered ear plugs, such as Sonic II can be purchased in any music or gun shop. They reduce the damaging decibels, whereas foam plugs will muffle sound but still allow too high a decibel range to enter your ears. n Carpeting, pictures and plants will absorb sound. n Increase trees and shrubs around property. n Be aware of your surroundings and do whatever you can to reduce the noise level. n Find quiet time daily. n Limit your time in a noisy environment

The End