Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 383, Issue 9925, 12–18 April 2014, Pages 1325-1332
The Lancet

Review
Auditory and non-auditory effects of noise on health

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61613-XGet rights and content

Summary

Noise is pervasive in everyday life and can cause both auditory and non-auditory health effects. Noise-induced hearing loss remains highly prevalent in occupational settings, and is increasingly caused by social noise exposure (eg, through personal music players). Our understanding of molecular mechanisms involved in noise-induced hair-cell and nerve damage has substantially increased, and preventive and therapeutic drugs will probably become available within 10 years. Evidence of the non-auditory effects of environmental noise exposure on public health is growing. Observational and experimental studies have shown that noise exposure leads to annoyance, disturbs sleep and causes daytime sleepiness, affects patient outcomes and staff performance in hospitals, increases the occurrence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, and impairs cognitive performance in schoolchildren. In this Review, we stress the importance of adequate noise prevention and mitigation strategies for public health.

Introduction

Evolution has programmed human beings to be aware of sounds as possible sources of danger.1 Noise, defined as unwanted sound, is a pollutant whose effects on health have been neglected, despite the ability to precisely measure or calculate exposure from peak levels or energy averaged over time (panel 1, figure 1). Although people tend to habituate to noise exposure, degree of habituation differs for individuals and is rarely complete.2 If exposure to noise is chronic and exceeds certain levels, then negative health outcomes can be seen. Health effects were first recognised in occupational settings, such as weaving mills, where high levels of noise were associated with noise-induced hearing loss.3 Occupational noise is the most frequently studied type of noise exposure. Research focus has broadened to social noise (eg, heard in bars or through personal music players) and environmental noise (eg, noise from road, rail, and air traffic, and industrial construction). These noise exposures have been linked to a range of non-auditory health effects including annoyance,4 sleep disturbance,5 cardiovascular disease,6, 7 and impairment of cognitive performance in children.8 The health effects of noise from entertainment venues and from neighbours are elusive, but nevertheless, cause many complaints to local authorities. The meaning attributed to sounds might affect our response to them—eg, the response to aircraft noise might differ between an airport employee and a resident who fears long-term health consequences due to the noise exposure. Noise is pervasive in urban environments and the availability of quiet places is decreasing. In the European Union, about 56 million people (54%) living in areas with more than 250 000 inhabitants are exposed to road traffic noise of more than average LDEN 55 dB per year, which is thought to be risky to health.9 Thus, understanding of occupational and environmental noise is important for public health. In this Review, we summarise knowledge and research related to noise exposure and both auditory and non-auditory health effects.

Section snippets

Noise-induced hearing loss

Noise is the major preventable cause of hearing loss. Noise-induced hearing loss can be caused by a one-time exposure to an intense impulse sound (such as gunfire), or by steady state long-term exposure with sound pressure levels higher than LA 75–85 dB—eg, in industrial settings. The characteristic pathological feature of noise-induced hearing loss is the loss of auditory sensory cells in the cochlea. Because these hair cells cannot regenerate in mammals, no remission can occur; prevention of

Annoyance

Annoyance is the most prevalent community response in a

Conclusions

Hearing loss caused by occupational or recreational noise exposure is highly prevalent and constitutes a public health threat needing preventive and therapeutic strategies. In this Review, we emphasise that non-auditory health effects of environmental noise are manifold, serious and, because of the widespread exposure, very prevalent. These factors stress the need to regulate and reduce environmental noise exposure (ideally at the source) and to enforce exposure limits to mitigate negative

Search strategy and selection criteria

We searched PubMed, Science Citation Index Expanded, and Social Sciences Citation Index, and references from relevant articles for English language articles from Jan 1, 1980, to Feb 1, 2013, using the search terms: “hearing loss”, “tinnitus”, “annoyance”, “cardiovascular disease”, “hypertension”, “high blood pressure”, “myocardial infarction”, “stroke”, “sleep”, “cognitive performance”, “reading ability”, and “hospital”, in combination with “noise”. Each author did their own search, and is also

References (81)

  • AL Bronzaft

    The effect of a noise abatement program on reading ability

    J Environ Psychol

    (1981)
  • SA Stansfeld et al.

    Aircraft and road traffic noise and children's cognition and health: a cross-national study

    Lancet

    (2005)
  • TT Dang-Vu et al.

    Spontaneous brain rhythms predict sleep stability in the face of noise

    Curr Biol

    (2010)
  • M Basner et al.

    Practical guidance for risk assessment of traffic noise effects on sleep

    Appl Acoust

    (2010)
  • I Hagerman et al.

    Influence of intensive coronary care acoustics on the quality of care and physiological state of patients

    Int J Cardiol

    (2005)
  • RW Hughes et al.

    Indispensable benefits and unavoidable costs of unattended sound for cognitive functioning

    Noise Health

    (2003)
  • M Basner et al.

    Single and combined effects of air, road, and rail traffic noise on sleep and recuperation

    Sleep

    (2011)
  • S Stansfeld et al.

    Noise and health in the urban environment

    Rev Environ Health

    (2000)
  • HME Miedema et al.

    Annoyance from transportation noise: relationships with exposure metrics DNL and DENL and their confidence intervals

    Environ Health Perspect

    (2001)
  • E van Kempen et al.

    The quantitative relationship between road traffic noise and hypertension: a meta-analysis

    J Hypertens

    (2012)
  • M Sørensen et al.

    Road traffic noise and incident myocardial infarction: a prospective cohort study

    PLoS One

    (2012)
  • SA Stansfeld et al.

    Noise pollution: non-auditory effects on health

    Br Med Bull

    (2003)
  • W Babisch

    Exposure to environmental noise: risks for health and the environment. Workshop on “sound level of motor vehicles”, Directorate General for Internal Policies of the European Parliament, Brussels

  • A Fuente et al.

    Noise-induced hearing loss in Asia

    Int J Audiol

    (2011)
  • N Oishi et al.

    Emerging treatments for noise-induced hearing loss

    Expert Opin Emerg Drugs

    (2011)
  • A Davis et al.

    The epidemiology of tinnitus

  • National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH): noise and hearing loss prevention

  • JH Verbeek et al.

    Interventions to prevent occupational noise-induced hearing loss

    Cochrane Database Syst Rev

    (2012)
  • The Control of Noise at Work Regulations

  • ME Lutman et al.

    Epidemiological evidence for the effectiveness of the noise at work regulations

  • JH Schmidt et al.

    Sound exposure of symphony orchestra musicians

    Ann Occup Hyg

    (2011)
  • EJM Jansen et al.

    Noise induced hearing loss and other hearing complaints among musicians of symphony orchestras

    Int Arch Occup Environ Health

    (2009)
  • P Muhr et al.

    The influence of military service on auditory health and the efficacy of a Hearing Conservation Program

    Noise Health

    (2011)
  • PA Smith et al.

    The prevalence and type of social noise exposure in young adults in England

    Noise Health

    (2000)
  • Potential health risks of exposure to noise from personal music players and mobile phones including a music playing function

  • D Twardella et al.

    Hearing loss in adolescents due to leisure noise. The OHRKAN study

    Bundesgesundheitsbla

    (2011)
  • MJ Liang et al.

    Characteristics of noise-canceling headphones to reduce the hearing hazard for MP3 users

    J Acoust Soc Am

    (2012)
  • R Ecob et al.

    BMI over the lifecourse and hearing ability at age 45 years: a population based study

    Longit Life Course Stud

    (2011)
  • A Davis et al.

    Acceptability, benefit and costs of early screening for hearing disability: a study of potential screening tests and models

    Health Technol Assess

    (2007)
  • Cited by (1481)

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text