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MEDIA BAKERY
The sounds
of silence
Noise pollution has
lasting health effects
By Penny Musco
THE WORD “NOISE” is derived from the
Latin word nausea, and little wonder: The
World Health Organization’s “Guidelines for
Community Noise” says noise literally is
making us sick. Hearing loss, cardiovascular
disease, impaired task performance and sleep
disturbances are among its numerous adverse
health effects, making noise a pervasive public health problem.
Unfortunately, the cacophony that bombards us daily—from jet planes down to our
iPods—often goes unnoticed. “Our nervous
system evolved as a way to alert us to threats in
the environment, so when we hear sound, our
brains interpret it as the possibility of a threat,”
explains Costco member Dr. Louis Hagler,
whose 2007 report, published in the Southern
Medical Journal, summarized scientific studies
on the subject. Although our bodies still
respond in harmful ways, “we’ve become so
surrounded by noise that we basically don’t
even recognize it anymore,” he says.
Know your noises
“Noise-caused hearing loss is the most
common preventable hearing loss,” says
Gordon Hughes, an ear, nose and throat doc-
tor. He says the loss is invisible, cumulative and
gradual. “It’s like sun: Skin cancers from sun
don’t appear for decades, and usually the result
of noise damage doesn’t appear for decades.”
Hughes gives everyday examples of how
the combination of sound intensity and dura-
tion of contact wreaks havoc on our ears. A
hair dryer, for instance, can reach 120 decibels
(dB). But since it’s usually held away from the
head and for only a few minutes, repeated use
is most likely not a problem (but he does rec-
The Costco Connection
Costco members will find noise-cancelling
headphones in Costco locations across
Canada. Custom earplugs are available in
select locations with Hearing Aid Centres.
