Noise is not just aggravating, it can damage your health

It is a nice spring day and you go outside to enjoy the deck. The tulips and trees are in bloom. Ah, this is the life.

All of a sudden your neighbor, Pete, starts up his power mower, which starts the dogs across the street barking. Not to be outdone, your back-fence neighbor starts cleaning up the yard with his turbo-powered leaf blower, and Little Eddie down the street drives by with his windows open and stereo blaring.

Your nerves are shattered. Your eardrums actually hurt, and your day is ruined. How soon we forget that one of the blessings of winter is that the most of the noise stays outside, while we enjoy the quiet indoors.

Loud equipment doesn''''''''t just annoy next-door neighbors. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the sound from mowing a typical suburban lot with a riding lawnmower (90 to 95 decibels) can be heard 1/4 mile away and pollutes 100 acres with noise.

Louis Hagler, M.D., and Lisa Goines, R.N., called noise pollution a plague in their March 2007 Southern Medical Journal article. The entire article is posted in the Library sections of Noise Off, www.noiseoff.org, and the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse (www.noise.org).

The article pointed out that environmental-noise pollution is not just an aggravation; it is a constantly increasing threat to health. The National Library of Medicine database lists more than 5,000 citations on the adverse health effects of noise pollution.

Thirty percent of Americans complained about the noise in the 2000 U.S. Census. Forty percent found it so bothersome they wanted to move. Way back in 1974, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that nearly 100 million Americans lived in areas where daily average noise levels were above safety limits.

Sound is measured in decibels (dB). A totally isolated place such as the Grand Canyon at night has an average sound level of 10 dB. That''''''''s also the sound level of a normal person''''''''s breathing. A whisper is 30 dB, and normal conversation is between 55 and 65 dB. Just sitting quietly in the living room or a library, the average sound level is 40 dB.

Contrast this with a gas-powered lawnmower (88-94 dB), a weed whacker (94-96 dB) or a leaf blower (95-105 dB). A baby crying tops the charts at 110 dB. A loud squeaky toy can register between 110 and 135 dB. Junior''''''''s stereo puts out between 100 and 110 dB.

I am going to attach a listing of the average noise ratings of many common sounds to this article''''''''s listing on my Web site, www.master handyman.com.

Hagler says that exposure to sound levels below 70 dB won''''''''t cause any harm, but exposure to more than 8 hours of sound at levels above 85 dB is potentially hazardous.

Vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, electric razors, coffee grinders, lawn mowers, air compressors, weed whackers, leaf blowers are all around this level. Oh, by the way, there is evidence that noise sensitivity is like mold in that the damage is cumulative and once you go over the threshold, permanent damage is done.

WHO has seven categories of adverse health effects caused by noise pollution: hearing impairment, interference with spoken communication, sleep disturbances, cardiovascular disturbances, disturbances in mental health, impaired task performance including cognitive and language development, and negative social behavior and annoyance reactions.

Noise levels don''''''''t have to be extremely high to cause permanent damage. Cardiovascular damage starts with long-term exposure of sound levels above 65 dB and ramps up alarmingly with levels above 80 to 85 dB, according to recent WHO studies. Noise levels higher than 80 dB are associated with increases in aggressive behavior. As with almost everything, children and older people are the most sensitive.

According to the EPA, the average healthy outdoor sound level is below 55 dB. Indoor sound levels should be less than 45 dB (about the sound of a refrigerator). Anything above these levels adds stress to our already hectic lives.

The Federal Government passed the Noise Control Act in 1972, but then dropped the ball when it stopped funding enforcement in 1982. If we can''''''''t rely on the government, what can we do about it?

First, admit that the enemy is "us." You, me and especially that guy across the street are noise polluters. We have to stop shopping for equipment just by price and power and start adding sound intrusion to the calculation. As a general rule, electric powered equipment is quieter than gas powered equipment.

If you need the extra "oomph" of a gas-powered lawnmower engine, the Noise Pollution Clearing House says that Honda has the quietest engines. Consumer Reports usually has articles on mower performance in its May and June issues.

If you want to protect your own little patch of paradise, earth mounding and high, thick evergreen hedges and fences deaden sound.