Noise and Stress Noise Pollution

Noise and Stress Noise pollution is the name given to noise that has permeated our environment and continues to cause additional psychological stress. This problem is most prominently encountered by people in urban areas where noise from cars, railroads, construction and aircrafts pollute the environment on regular basis. In this paper, we shall focus specifically on Environmental noise and its effects. Suter (1991 a) in a report to the Administrative Conference of the United States found that noise levels in America have increased up to 11% in one decade.

But research on environmental noise is not something new; it started way back in 1970s. Even in those days, noise was found to have an adverse effect on health. WHO working group reported in 1971: "Noise must be recognized as a major threat to human well-being" (Suess, 1973). Suter also predicted a steady increase in noise levels in the environment in proportion with growth of population. She also claimed that noise from air traffic will increase more rapidly.

Because of air traffic rerouting, many areas have protested against a dramatic increase in noise. It is found that air traffic noise is four times louder than other noises (Wesler, 1989). The noise polluted environment is found to be a threat to health and adds to psychological stress. It is also claimed that air traffic noise leads to many problems from which are indicated by increase in the use of medicine and health care services and increase in stress-related hormones (Schulte & Otten, 1993).

Aircraft traffic which plays the most pivotal role in damaging the environment and leading to psychological stress has also seen a sudden increase because of aircraft shows at national parks. Almost 60 plans fly over Hawaii volcanoes each day and close to 10,000 fly over the Grand Canyon every month. Complaints about noise pollution from surrounding areas now equal number of complaints received at busy airports. (Lee, 1994).

While on the one hand, it is important to expand airport area to accommodate the growing air traffic, on the other, increasing levels of noise have put government under pressure. The Noise Control Act of 1972 was developed to maintain "an environment for all Americans free from noise that jeopardized their health and welfare" (4901 [b]). However no serious or concrete effort has yet been made to control the increasing levels of noise. It is believed that stress caused by noise is indicated by annoyed behavior.

In 1970s, when noise research was still in its infancy, some studies showed that people reacted differently to same levels of noise and attributed their reaction to various factors including personality traits such as anxiety (Stephens, 1970) and annoyance which is general in nature (Thomas & Jones, 1982) and to attitudes that foster the belief that noise is controllable (Fields, 1990). These findings were thought not properly tested; they were widely accepted by the academia.

While there are many perceived stress-related effects of prolonged exposure to noise, it has been found that people who are most accustomed to noise are not likely to perceive it as a distraction. Expounding on the reaction theory, it can be claimed that noise levels don't necessarily cause psychological stress if people have grown accustomed to it.

In a test conducted in a classroom situated close to the railroads, it was found that: "The noise level in these classrooms reaches approximately 100 dB's every five minutes when trains pass...On one of the tests...administered, Hambrick-Dixon found that children performed differently based on their accustomed level of noise, but in an unexpected way.

When the children were given two minutes to match line drawings of animals with colored disks, those from the noisy classrooms did much better if the test room was also noisy than if it was quiet. In contrast, the children from the quiet day-care centers did better on the same test if the room was kept quiet. "On this task, it is possible that the children had become used to a certain level of arousal generated by noise and performed best under this condition,' Hambrick-Dixon says.

'Most of the time we assume that stress, some of which is generated by noise, is bad, but perhaps certain levels of stress are desirable.'" (Meer, 1986) But there are still many misleading and conflicting findings that affect Congress' efforts in noise control. While some feel that noise is not a distraction if you are used to it, there are other studies that vehemently oppose such claims. "Noise affects more than our health and quality of life; it even influences social behavior and cognitive development.

In 1997, a Cornell University study found that children exposed to frequent airplane noise don't learn to read as well as other children. Excessive background noise caused the children to tune out human voices and interfered with their language acquisition. The psychologists who conducted the study speculated that as a result of noise pollution, parents and teachers were also less willing to speak or read aloud." (Blanchard, 1998) Noise research has been suffering from some serious drawbacks which have caused many to question the veracity of claims made by various studies.

While some maintain that noise is a distraction and causes stress, others feel it is only about habituation. The more accustomed you grow, the lesser the impact of noise. However it is also found that degree of sensitively may also vary. Not every person responds to noise levels in the same manner. Some people are more sensitive to noise than others. But even within this group, it is likely that not everyone's reaction would be similar. Within the noise-sensitive group, some noises are found more distracting and disturbing than others.

(Watson & Clark, 1984). Similarly it was found that people who are sensitive to noise are more concerned about deteriorating quality of life and potential impact on noise on stress levels (Langdon, 1976.) Americans are now regularly being exposed to high levels of environmental noise. This increase is believed to have had a negative impact on work performance, health, ability to learn and read etc. Increase in stress-related health problems are also attributed to high level of noise.

Public policy in connection with noise control has failed to have any considerable positive impact on reduction of noise levels. The research done in the area is not being properly used to identify the various possible health effects and stress-related conditions caused by prolonged exposure to excessive noise. It is important to understand that noise when it crosses a limit, which varies from person to person, adds to psychological stress.

A person living in urban areas is therefore much more at risk of becoming a victim of noise-related stress than someone in the countryside. Government.