Retired research physician and anti-noise activist Dr. Louis Hagler discusses his groundbreaking article about the health effects of noise pollution.

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SHOW INTRODUCTION Sound becomes noise when it’s an annoyance. While music is healing, noise can damage our hearing and cause stress-related disease. While what’s considered noise is individual, the range at which it damages our hearing and even our health is not. According to WHO, exposures in excess of 85 dB for more than 8 hours is potentially hazardous. 85 dB is equivalent to the sound of heavy truck traffic. Children are most at risk: as many as 80% of elementary school children use iPod-like music players for long periods at high volumes. Additionally, even if noise doesn’t wake you from sleep, sleeping with noise in excess of only 30 dB causes sleep disturbances, high blood pressure, elevated heart rate and pulse, changes in respiration, cardiac arrhythmia’s, and body movements. Since a typical daytime quiet neighborhood is about 45 dB, it isn’t hard to imagine that many neighborhoods exceed 30 dB at night. So where does that place noise on the list of exposures that contribute to illness? Stay tuned for a discussion about Noise Pollution and Health.