Noise: How it Affects Our Lives
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This informative lesson explains the difference between pleasant sound and harmful noise, and how noise pollution damages our health. Any unpleasant sound, the wail of a fire engine, a clap of thunder, the screech of tyres, is noise. Sound is measured scientifically in decibels using a decibel meter: zero decibel is the faintest sound the human ear can hear, a quiet bedroom is about 35 decibels, a quiet classroom about 50, and normal speech ranges between 45 and 75 decibels, which is comfortable. Noise begins to damage the ears at 85 decibels, hearing loss can begin above 100 decibels, and actual pain is felt at 140 decibels. Noise pollutes the environment as much as smoke or dirty water, and the human body never really gets used to it, even in sleep the body reacts to the stress of noise, as with Naseer, who boasted he could sleep through any noise yet suffered headaches because noise makes the blood vessels in the brain expand. Research on a rock band found that all its players had some hearing loss from playing at 105–115 decibels for many hours a week. The lesson urges us to cut down noise ourselves, placing books quietly, walking softly, turning down and not running several gadgets at once, and notes that many cities have passed anti-noise regulations.
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Sound, noise and decibels
Any unpleasant sound is noise, something that makes us cover our ears, like the wail of a fire engine, a clap of thunder or the screech of tyres. Sound is measured scientifically in decibels using a decibel meter. Zero decibel is the faintest sound the human ear can hear; a quiet bedroom reads about 35 decibels and a quiet classroom about 50. Most people speak between 45 and 75 decibels, which is comfortable on the ears.
When sound becomes harmful
Noise damages the ears at 85 decibels. Hearing loss can begin above 100 decibels, and actual pain is felt at 140 decibels, though some people feel pain at a lower level. Noise pollutes the environment just as much as smoke, foul water, dirty air and litter, and it can cause illness and even deafness.
The body never gets used to noise
The human body never truly gets used to noise; it keeps reacting even when a person thinks he has grown used to it. Naseer, who lived on a busy street, boasted he could sleep through any noise, but while he slept his body reacted to the stress. A doctor in West Germany found that sounds heard during sleep can harm the heart and blood vessels, and that noise makes the blood vessels in the brain expand, bringing on pain, which may explain Naseer's headaches. Another doctor found that all the players of a rock band suffered some hearing loss, and two were partly deaf, from playing at 105–115 decibels for over eleven hours a week.
What we can do
It is the length of time spent exposed to loud noise that damages the sensitive inner ear. If we think about the harmful effects of noise, we will become quieter ourselves. At school we can place books down quietly instead of slamming them and walk softly through the halls; at home we can use one machine at a time and turn down stereos, radios and televisions. Many cities have passed strong anti-noise regulations, but real progress towards a quieter world begins with our own quietness.