CBC Marketplace: Noise Pollution

CBC MARKETPLACE: HOME » NOISE POLLUTION
How loud is your house? A look at the dangers of 'noise'
Broadcast: November 7, 2001 | Producer: Carmel Smyth; Researcher: Colman Jones

'Noiseload' is the accumulated noise you are subjected to each day:

too many planes
too much traffic
louder machines
construction
appliances

Noise, the invisible pollutant, has been blamed for everything from hypertension and learning difficulties, to suicide. More than a decade ago, Health Canada labelled noise as a "real and present danger."

Marketplace ran a series of tests on noise levels the average Canadian encounters at home. We discovered the noise problem is not getting any better.

It's only when it stops that you realize how noisy your home can be.

More and more we are being swamped by sound. It's not just the loud noise you know hurts your hearing, but the constant assault of sound that batters you all day long. Scientists now say that chronic low level noise could be hurting your health.

Dr. Arline Bronzaft, environmental psychologist

Freelance writer Ruth Abramson says the incessant noise outside her Vancouver apartment forces her to leave home for long periods. The traffic never stops, there's ongoing construction and music blares from stores.

Leaving her apartment for extended stretches means Abramson can't work and can't relax. She says she's so agitated by all the noise outside her apartment, the only things creative she writes lately are noise complaints.

"I tire more easily. Sometimes I can't sleep," Abramson told Marketplace. "It gives me headaches. I open my window for a breath of air to relax and all of a sudden there will be a power drill in the alley."

Environmental psychologist Dr. Arline Bronzaft says what Abramson is facing can do long term harm.

"Quiet" products

Backup Warning Devices, radar alarm systems that can reduce or eliminate noise from backup beepers, by sensing objects behind a vehicle and alerting the operator to their presence

Baby Muff, a noise reduction garment to be worn by pregnant women to protect their unborn child

Quiet dishwashers include ASKO, 30 per cent of the unit's weight consisting of sound deadening material; Bosch, whose highly advanced, integrated sound reduction system makes it one of the quietest dishwashers available in North America; and Electrolux AEG

There are anti-bark dog collars to stop nuisance barking, like the Citronella Spray Collar, which emits a mild citric acid mist with each bark, or the Electric shock collar, which emits a mild electric shock

One of the quieter garage door openers is the Whisper Drive by Liftmaster, ideal for garages with living space above or directly attached

Noise Cancellation Technologies Inc. makes headphones and earmuffs that use active noise control to cancel rather than muffle low-frequency noise, including Noisebuster Extreme Plantronics PC Headset -- A "lightweight, portable, and private alternative to PC microphones and speakers"

Push lawn mowers, including the Sunlawn, one of the lightest, quietest push reel mowers available, the #1 selling push mower in Europe. There are even quiet electric lawn mowers, like the battery powered RoboMow — "practically silent, with low energy consumption and no pollution"; one made by Toro Carefree Electrics — "Quiet operation improves audio environment — up to 75 per cent quieter than gas mowers"; and two solar-powered mowers, the fully automatic, almost entirely silent Electrolux Solar Mower, the first lawn mover ever to be powered by sunlight only, and the "Almost Soundless" Husqvarna Solar Mower

"Noise has increased tremendously in the last 30 years," Bronzaft says. "It's not just a nuisance, particularily if it intrudes on our daily life."

Bronzaft has made noise her business. She's authored one of many studies linking low level urban noise to health problems, including:

headaches
stress
fatigue
insomnia
high blood pressure
heart and digestive problems
immune system problems
aggressive behaviour
learning problems in children

Noise levels, complaints rising

In Britain, health officials estimate 12 million people suffer from noise-related health problems. In Toronto, noise was blamed after a man was charged with shooting to death two neighbours.

Anti-noise groups across the country are fighting to cut noiseload and stop sound abuse. Bronzaft suggests the number of complaints are not rising rapidly because people may not be aware that they are affected by noise.

"Their tiredness, their stressfulness, may all be due to noise in their lives. And they are not even cognisant of it. And number two, many people think no one is going to listen to them and do anything about it."

A recent study found even the noise in an office can hurt workers' performance. When compared to staff in a quiet room, workers in a noisier office had higher blood pressure, poor concentration and focus - even though they didn't consider the noise a problem.

Children feel it even more. Bronzaft's study suggests children have trouble concentrating and reading when exposed to low level, chronic noise.

"In my study grade six kids were one year behind in reading because of noisy elevated train tracks," Bronzaft told Marketplace.

It's estimated a million Canadian kids could be in similar situations because their schools are too close to busy traffic or airports. New research is finding even noisy homes are hurting children.

NEXT: Marketplace tests noise levels in the home »

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