Acousti-Board
World Health Organization’s Perspective on Acoustics and Noise Pollution
The World Health Organization (WHO) was founded by the United Nations (UN) in 1948 to promote health and serve vulnerable populations across the globe. It’s focused on alleviating various social and medical issues, including diseases, malnutrition, and environmental noise pollution.1
Noise pollution is an epidemic problem that leads to millions of health issues in every corner of our planet. On an annual basis in Europe alone, environmental noise pollution is responsible for2:
- 48,000 diagnoses of ischaemic heart disease
- 12,000 premature deaths
- 22 million cases of chronic annoyance
- Persistent disturbed sleep for over 6.5 million individuals
To help mitigate the deleterious effects of noise exposure, WHO noise pollution standards place caps on how loud the sounds you hear can be, how long you can listen to them for, and offer other, similar health-related guidelines. So let’s explore everything WHO on noise—including the specific noise standards they set, the potential adverse health effects of not following them, and some noise management techniques you can use to mitigate excessive noise in your daily life.
Key WHO Recommendations on Acoustics and Noise
Sound—or more accurately, volume—is measured in terms of decibels (dB). The dB scale runs from zero (imperceptible to the human ear) to (theoretically) infinity—however, any sound past 140 dB has the potential to cause immediate hearing loss.3
The dB scale is logarithmic—meaning it doesn’t go up in even increments like a linear scale. Instead, a 10 dB sound is one-tenth as loud as one of 20 dB, one one-hundredth as loud as a sound of 30 dB, and so on.4 To better illustrate this idea, let’s examine some everyday noises and their corresponding dB levels4:
- Whispers or a hushed library – 30 dB
- A quiet room – 40 dB
- Moderate rainfall – 50 dB
- Average conversation – 60 dB
- Group conversation – 70 dB
- Passing subway trains or motorcycles – 91 dB
- A tractor or cranked-up earphones – 100 dB
- Rock concerts and chainsaws – 112 dB
- Jet takeoff – 120 dB
- Jackhammers – 130 dB
- A gunshot – 140 dB
- Fireworks, firecrackers, or a shotgun from three feet away – 150 dB
Unfortunately, you don’t have to hear a sound above 140 dB to damage your ears. Persistent exposure to quieter noises can likewise result in auricular (ear-based) distress and hearing loss. Identifying the noise source and understanding the impact of loud noise is essential for protecting your hearing health.
WHO Standards for Safe Noise Levels
The WHO sets standards for safe noise levels in terms of annual exposure. They take the general dB level you hear on a daily basis and average it out across a year-long period. So, for instance, if you’re exposed to 60 dB for half of the year and 40 dB for the rest, your yearly average would be 50 dB.
To determine safe exposure levels, WHO breaks noise down by the kind of activity and the time of day it occurs. Its recommendations for daytime annual average exposure are as follows5:
- Road traffic – Under 53 dB
- Railway noise – Under 54 dB
- Aircraft – Under 45 dB
- Wind turbines – Under 45 dB
- Leisure activities – Under 70 dB
For nighttime, WHO recommends even lower exposure levels as excess noise disrupts sleep patterns—which, in turn, can lead to various health issues. During the moonlight hours, average annual exposure should be5:
- Less than 45 dB for road traffic
- Under 44 dB for railway noise
- Lower than 40 dB from overhead aircraft sounds
Other organizations—such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)—likewise set standards for how much noise we can experience. Their limit is an 85 dB average over the course of an eight-hour shift.6 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) similarly says that prolonged exposure to noises above 70 dB can cause permanent hearing damage.7
With a single jet takeoff clocking in at 120 dB and jackhammers firing away at 130 dB, however, it’s evident that many people routinely hear sounds outside of the safe range. That begs the question: what are the medical consequences of noise overexposure?
Impact of Noise Pollution on Health
As mentioned, noise pollution leads to nearly 50,000 new cases of ischaemic heart disease annually. But, unfortunately, that’s just the start of sound’s relationship with cardiovascular problems.
WHO studies, alongside other medical research, have linked excess noise exposure to a host of other heart issues, including9:
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Myocardial infarctions (AKA heart attacks)
- Elevated heart rates
- Vasoconstriction (the narrowing of blood vessels)
Sadly, cardiovascular issues aren’t the only problem that arises from prolonged noise exposure. It can likewise cause cognitive delays in developing children—such as reading comprehension issues and reductions in long-term memory.9
Unsurprisingly, listening to excessively loud noises for long periods of time also has negative effects on our sleep cycles. We’ve all tried to fall asleep at night only to be thwarted by a nearby neighbor’s sound system or blaring sirens. It doesn’t take sounds that loud to disturb our slumber, however, and WHO has found that9:
- Under 30 dB of noise is optimal for bedtime as it causes no disruptions to the sleeper.
- Between 30 dB and 40 dB of noise can cause involuntary movements, awakenings, and other sleep disturbances.
- Sound between 40 dB and 55 dB causes negative medical effects with regular exposure, and although many people have learned to live with this sound level, it can lead to adverse health.
- Noises above 55 dB are extremely deleterious for public health, cause routine medical issues, and can increase your chances of developing cardiovascular illnesses.
Sleep loss and deprivation are no joke. Aside from cardiovascular issues, routinely missing out on a solid night’s rest can lead to:8
- Kidney disease
- Diabetes
- Strokes
- Obesity
- Depression
Unfortunately, sound doesn’t stop at ruining your sleep quality. There’s one much more obvious issue that arises from excess noise: tinnitus.
Medically, tinnitus is the inability to perceive silence. It most often manifests as an annoying (or even painful) ringing of the ears, and unsurprisingly, overexposure to loud noise is its leading cause. Besides being bothersome, tinnitus can lead to health issues such as8:
- Psychological distress
- Depression
- Sleep disturbance
- Attention and concentration deficits
- Anxiety
- An inability to work
- Inefficiency
- Social withdrawal
- Hearing problems
- Frustration, irritability, and interpersonal tension
All in all, WHO estimates that over 1,000,000 healthy years of life are lost annually just due to traffic noise in Western Europe alone.9 When you factor in every noise source from every corner of the globe, that statistic climbs horrifyingly higher. This highlights the significant health effects of noise pollution on populations worldwide.
Hence, that raises the question: what can be done to manage noise pollution and mitigate the negative effects it has on our physical and mental health?
WHO’s Best Practices for Managing Noise Pollution
To prevent the creation of excess noise and make more livable, quiet cities, WHO has some key recommendations for reducing environmental noise. There are a wide variety of steps they recommend to minimize our society’s collective creation of ambient noise pollution, but some of the highlights include5:
- Choosing better tires and improving road surfaces to reduce frictional sound
- Reducing traffic density and restricting trucks from entering certain areas
- Constructing more tunnels in urban centers
- Grinding off any deformations and corrosion warping railroad tracks
- Closing runways at certain hours to reduce airplane sounds
- Rearranging flight paths to avoid populated areas
- Limiting dB levels within nightclubs and other entertainment venues
- Ensuring all personal listening devices such as cellphones and tablets have parental controls to limit volume
Besides these bigger-picture fixes targeting sounds within our external environment, we can also take steps to ensure we’re at least protected against intrusive sounds in the sanctity of our own homes.
WHO recommends architects and city planners insulate dwellings and construct a noise barrier next to major sources of sound. They also suggest creating a quiet side of every dwelling located next to open green space.5
These are excellent recommendations for new construction, but what about those of us who already live, work, or study in noisy neighborhoods and want to protect our bodies from the ill effects of noise?
To insulate yourself against excessive external noise level, you can install sound-blocking and echo-reducing materials such as acoustic panels within your home, business, or workplace. These materials help reduce reverberation, making your space quieter and more comfortable. Not sure how to get started? Don’t fret—Acoustical Surfaces can sort everything out for you.
Protect Yourself From Sound with Acoustical Surfaces
From rerouting flight paths to fixing train tracks and setting standards for new construction, WHO certainly offers a plethora of viable solutions for how, as a society, we can come together to fight noise pollution. When it comes to personally insulating yourself against excessive noise, however, they offer few practical ideas.
Luckily, you’re not alone in the struggle against sound—you’ve got Acoustical Surfaces to assist you with all your soundproofing and noise-reducing needs.
From traffic to airplanes, neighbors, sirens, trains, and every other source of sound, there’s no shortage of noise pollution affecting our world. Thankfully, there are equally as many ways to mitigate superfluous sound and achieve peace and quiet.
With over 35 years of noise control experience, we’ve seen every sound source and solution there is going. Contact us about your sound issues and we’ll be happy to get back to you with a viable fix to protect your ears and health from the hazards of noise pollution.
Sources:
- World Health Organization. About WHO. https://www.who.int/
- European Environment Agency. Noise pollution is a major problem, both for human health and the environment. https://www.eea.europa.eu/
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Loud Noise Dangers. https://www.asha.org
- United States Department of Transportation. What’s a Decibel?. https://data.bts.gov/
- World Health Organization. Chapter 11. Environmental noise. https://cdn.who.int/
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Occupational Noise Exposure. https://www.osha.gov/
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What Noises Cause Hearing Loss?. https://www.cdc.gov/
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. What Are Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency?. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/
- World Health Organization. Burden of disease from environmental noise – Quantification of healthy life years lost in Europe. https://www.who.int/
