Man has always lived in a world of sounds and noise. Sound refers to such mechanical vibrations of the external environment that are perceived by the human hearing aid (from 16 to 20,000 vibrations per second). Vibrations of higher frequencies are called ultrasound, and vibrations of lower frequencies are called infrasound. Noise is loud sounds merged into a discordant sound.

For all living organisms, including humans, sound is one of the environmental influences. In nature, loud sounds are rare, the noise is relatively weak and short-lived. The combination of sound stimuli gives animals and humans the time necessary to assess their character and formulate a response. High-power sounds and noises affect the hearing aid, nerve centers, and can cause pain and shock. This is how noise pollution works.

Noise pollution- this is the sound scourge of our time, apparently the most intolerant of all types of environmental pollution. Along with the problems of air, soil and water pollution, humanity is faced with the problem of dealing with noise. Such concepts as “acoustic ecology”, “noise pollution of the environment”, etc. have appeared and are becoming widespread. All this is due to the fact that the harmful effects of noise on the human body, on the human body, on the animal and plant world are undoubtedly established by science. Man and nature are increasingly suffering from its harmful effects.

According to I. I. Dedy (1990), noise pollution is a form of physical pollution, manifested in an increase in the level of noise above natural and causing anxiety in the short term, and in the long term - damage to the organs that perceive it or the death of organisms.

Normal noise in the human environment varies between 35-60 dB. But new decibels are added to this background, with the result that the noise level often exceeds 100 dB.

A decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit of noise that expresses the degree of sound pressure. 1dB is the lowest noise level that a person can barely detect. Nature has never been silent, it is not silent, but silent. Sound is one of its most ancient manifestations, as ancient as the Earth itself. There were always sounds and even monstrous strength and power. But still, in the natural environment, the sounds of the rustling of leaves, the murmur of a stream, bird voices, the light splash of water and the sound of the surf, which are always pleasant to humans, prevailed. They calm him down and relieve stress. Man created, and more and more new sounds appeared.

After the invention of the wheel, he, according to the fair remark of the famous English acoustician R. Tylor, without realizing it, sowed the first link in the modern problem of noise. With the birth of the wheel, it began to tire and irritate people more and more often. The natural sounds of Nature's voices have become increasingly rare, disappearing completely or are drowned out by industrial transport and other noises. The noise of trams, the roar of jet planes, the screams of loudspeakers and the like are the scourge of humanity.

Airplane and noise

All airplanes make noise, and jets make more noise than most. As a result, noise levels, especially around airports, are constantly increasing as more and more jet aircraft fly on airlines and their power increases. At the same time, public dissatisfaction is growing, so aircraft designers have to work hard on how to make jet aircraft less noisy. The roar of a jet engine is caused mainly by the rapid mixing of exhaust gases with the outside air. Its volume directly depends on the speed of collision of gases with air. It is greatest when the engines are at full power before the aircraft takes off.

One way to reduce noise is to use turbofan engines, in which most of the intake air bypasses the combustion chamber, resulting in a reduced rate of exhaust gas emission. Turbofan engines are now used on most modern passenger airliners.

Typically, the noise level of jet engines is measured in decibels (dB) of actual perceived noise, which takes into account, in addition to the loudness of the sound, its pitch and duration.

Inside the ear

When a jet plane flies above you, it spreads sound waves around itself in the form of fluctuations in air pressure levels. These waves create vibrations in your eardrum, which transmits them through three small bones - the malleus, incus and stapes - into the air-filled middle ear.

From there, the vibrations travel into the fluid-filled inner ear, passing through the semicircular canals, which control your balance, and the cochlea. The auditory nerve responds to fluid vibrations in the cochlea, converting them into coded impulses. The impulses enter the brain, where they are deciphered, and as a result we hear sound.

The effect of noise on organisms

Researchers have found that noise can destroy plant cells. For example, experiments have shown that plants exposed to sound bombardment dry out and die. The cause of death is excessive release of moisture through the leaves: when the noise level exceeds a certain limit, the flowers literally burst into tears. If you place a carnation next to a radio playing at full volume, the flower will wither. Trees in the city die much earlier than in the natural environment. The bee loses its ability to navigate and stops working when exposed to the noise of a jet plane.

A specific example of the impact of noise on living organisms can be considered the following event two years ago. Thousands of unhatched chicks died on the Ptichya spit near the Bystroe branch (Danube delta) as a result of dredging work carried out by the German company Mobius by order of the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine. The noise from the operating equipment spread over 5-7 km, having a negative impact on the adjacent territories of the Danube Biosphere Reserve. Representatives of the Danube Biosphere Reserve and 3 other organizations were forced to painfully acknowledge the death of the entire colony of spotted tern and common tern, which were located on Ptichya Spit.

From the Survey Report of the Ptichya Spit dated July 16, 2004: “As a result of the actual examination of the Ptichya Spit (near the Bystroe branch) at the location of large colonies of the spotted-billed tern (950 nests and 430 nests - according to the results of the census on June 28, 2004) and common tern (120 nests - according to the same records) on an area of ​​approximately 120x130 meters and an area of ​​approximately 30x20 meters, the remains of many hundreds of eggs of the indicated species were found. The nature of their damage clearly indicates that the chicks did not hatch from them. The estimated time for the chicks of this colony to begin hatching was July 20th. The most likely reason for the disappearance of the colony (there are currently no adult birds in its place) is excessive disturbance caused by the dredging equipment operating nearby, as well as the boats serving it.”

After this, a representative of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has the audacity to declare that “The construction of the Danube-Black Sea Canal does not violate the ecological balance of the Danube Delta.” This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Konstantin Grishchenko, in response to calls from representatives of the EU and a number of international environmental organizations to stop the construction of the canal until an environmental assessment is carried out (according to the newspaper “Voice of Ukraine”).

Taking advantage of this position of the Government of Ukraine, the Ministry of Transport, the companies Delta - Pilot and Mobius are absolutely not going to make any efforts to minimize the damage from the construction of the canal.

On the contrary, on July 17, a representative of Delta-Lotsman announced the imminent start of demolition of trees and the berth of the reserve in the area of ​​​​the Bystroe cordon - that is, in an area that is not deprived of protected status.

Thus, while the President of Ukraine, without a shadow of embarrassment, in negotiations with the European Union speaks about the harmlessness of the canal for the unique nature of the Danube Delta, the Ministry of Transport, Mobius and Delta Pilot are doing everything to ensure that there is nothing to protect in the Ukrainian part of the delta.

To date, about 8,000 letters from all over the world have been sent to various authorities in defense of the Danube Nature Reserve.

The effect of noise on humans

Long-term noise adversely affects the hearing organ, reducing sensitivity to sound. It leads to disruption of the heart and liver, and to depletion and overstrain of nerve cells. Weakened cells of the nervous system cannot clearly coordinate the work of various body systems. This is where disruptions in their activities arise.

As already mentioned, the noise level is measured in units expressing the degree of sound pressure - decibels. This pressure is not perceived infinitely. A noise level of 20-30 decibels (dB) is practically harmless to humans; it is a natural background noise. As for loud sounds, the permissible limit here is approximately 80 decibels, and even at a noise level of 60-90 dB unpleasant sensations arise. A sound of 120-130 decibels already causes pain in a person, and 150 becomes unbearable for him and leads to irreversible hearing loss. It is not for nothing that in the Middle Ages there was execution “by the bell.” The roar of the bells tormented and slowly killed the condemned man. A sound of 180 dB causes metal fatigue, and a sound of 190 dB tears rivets out of structures. The level of industrial noise is also very high. In many jobs and noisy industries it reaches 90-110 decibels or more. It’s not much quieter in our home, where new sources of noise are appearing - the so-called household appliances. It is also known that tree crowns absorb sounds by 10-20 dB.

For a long time, the influence of noise on the human body was not specifically studied, although already in ancient times they knew about its harm and, for example, in ancient cities rules were introduced to limit noise. Currently, scientists in many countries around the world are conducting various studies to determine the effect of noise on human health. Their studies showed that noise causes significant harm to human health.

In the UK, for example, one in four men and one in three women suffer from neuroses due to high noise levels. Austrian scientists have found that noise shortens the life of city residents by 8-12 years. The threat and harm of noise will become clearer if we consider that in large cities it increases annually by about 1 dB. Leading American noise expert Dr. Knudsen stated that “noise is as slow a killer as smog.”

But absolute silence also frightens and depresses him. Thus, employees of one design bureau, which had excellent sound insulation, within a week began to complain about the impossibility of working in conditions of oppressive silence. They were nervous and lost their ability to work. And, conversely, scientists have found that sounds of a certain strength stimulate the thinking process, especially the counting process.

Each person perceives noise differently. Much depends on age, temperament, health, and environmental conditions. Some people lose their hearing even after short exposure to relatively reduced intensity noise. Constant exposure to loud noise can not only negatively affect your hearing, but also cause other harmful effects - ringing in the ears, dizziness, headaches, and increased fatigue. Very noisy modern music also dulls hearing and causes nervous diseases. Interestingly, the American otolaryngologist S. Rosen found that in an African tribe in Sudan, not exposed to civilized noise, the hearing acuity of sixteen-year-old representatives is on average the same as that of thirty-year-old people living in noisy New York. In 20% of boys and girls who often listen to fashionable modern pop music, their hearing turned out to be dulled in the same way as in 85-year-old people.

Noise has an accumulative effect, i.e., acoustic irritation, accumulating in the body, increasingly depresses the nervous system. Therefore, before hearing loss from exposure to noise, a functional disorder of the central nervous system occurs. Noise has a particularly harmful effect on the neuropsychic activity of the body. The process of neuropsychiatric diseases is higher among people working in noisy conditions than among people working in normal sound conditions. Noises cause functional disorders of the cardiovascular system. The famous therapist Academician A. Myasnikov pointed out that noise can be a source of hypertension.

Noise has a harmful effect on the visual and vestibular analyzers, reduces reflex activity, which often causes accidents and injuries. The higher the noise intensity, the worse we see and react to what is happening. This list can be continued. But it is necessary to emphasize that noise is insidious, its harmful effects on the body are completely invisible, imperceptible and have an accumulating nature, moreover, the human body is practically not protected against noise. In harsh light, we close our eyes, the instinct of self-preservation saves us from burns, forcing us to withdraw our hand from hot objects, etc., but a person has no defensive reaction from exposure to noise. Therefore, there is an underestimation of noise control.

Research has shown that inaudible sounds can also have harmful effects on human health. Thus, infrasounds have a special impact on the mental sphere of a person: all types of intellectual activity are affected, mood deteriorates, sometimes there is a feeling of confusion, anxiety, fright, fear, and at high intensity - a feeling of weakness, as after a strong nervous shock. Even weak sounds - infrasounds - can have a significant impact on a person, especially if they are long-lasting. According to scientists, it is infrasounds, silently penetrating through the thickest walls, that cause many nervous diseases in residents of large cities. Ultrasounds, which occupy a prominent place in the range of industrial noise, are also dangerous. The mechanisms of their action on living organisms are extremely diverse. The cells of the nervous system are especially susceptible to their negative effects. Noise is insidious, its harmful effects on the body occur invisibly, imperceptibly. Disorders in the human body are practically defenseless against noise. Currently, doctors are talking about noise disease, which develops as a result of exposure to noise with primary damage to the hearing and nervous system.

Thus, it is necessary to fight the noise rather than try to get used to it. Acoustic ecology is dedicated to the fight against noise, the purpose and meaning of which is the desire to establish an acoustic environment that would correspond or be in tune with the voices of nature, because the noise of technology is unnatural to all living things that have evolved on the planet. It should be remembered that the fight against noise was carried out in ancient times. For example, 2.5 thousand years ago in the famous ancient Greek colony of Sybaris, rules were in effect to protect the sleep and peace of citizens: loud sounds at night were prohibited, and artisans of such noisy professions as blacksmiths and tinsmiths were expelled from the city.

Fight against noise pollution

In 1959 The International Noise Abatement Organization was created.

Combating noise is a complex, complex problem that requires a lot of effort and resources. Silence costs money, and a lot of it. Sources of noise are very diverse and there is no single way or method of dealing with them. However, acoustic science can offer effective solutions to noise. The general ways to combat noise come down to the legislative, construction and planning, organizational, technical, technological, design and preventive worlds. Preference should be given to measures at the design stage rather than when noise is already being produced.

Sanitary norms and rules establish:

maximum permissible noise levels at workplaces in the premises and on the territory of production enterprises that create noise, and at the border of their territory;
basic measures to reduce noise levels and prevent the impact of noise on humans.

Relevant standards are in place and being created. Failure to comply with them is punishable by law. And although at present it is not always possible to achieve effective results in the fight against noise, steps are still being taken in this direction. Special sound-absorbing suspended ceilings assembled from perforated slabs and mufflers on pneumatic devices and fixtures are installed.

Musicologists have proposed their own means of mitigating noise: skillfully and correctly selected music began to influence the efficiency of work. An active fight against traffic noise has begun. Unfortunately, there is no ban on sounding traffic signals in cities.

Noise maps are created. They provide a detailed description of the noise situation in the city. Undoubtedly, it is possible to develop optimal measures to ensure proper noise protection of the environment. The noise map according to V. Chudnov (1980) is a kind of plan for attacking noise. There are many ways to combat traffic noise: the construction of tunnel junctions, underground passages, highways in tunnels, on overpasses and excavations. It is also possible to reduce the noise of an internal combustion engine. Continuous rails are laid on the railway - a velvet track. The construction of screening structures and planting of forest belts are relevant. Noise standards should be reviewed every 2-3 years in the direction of tightening them. Great hopes for solving this problem are placed on electric vehicles.

Noise level scale

Noise exposure level - Typical noise producers - Noise intensity, dB:

• Hearing threshold - Complete silence - 0
• Acceptable level - Normal breathing noise - 10
• Home comfort - 20
• Sound volume standard - clock sound - 30
• The rustling of leaves in a light wind - 33
• The normal volume during the day is 40
• Quiet whisper at a distance of 1-2 meters - 47
• Quiet street - 50
• Washing machine operation - 60
• Street noise - 70
• Normal speech or noise in a store with many customers - 73
• The hum of voices in a crowded restaurant - 78
• Vacuum cleaner, noise on a busy highway, glass noise - 80
• Dangerous level - sports car, maximum sound volume in the production area - 90
• Loud music player in a large room - 95
• Motorcycle, metro electric train - 100
• The noise of city transport, the roar of a diesel truck at a distance of 8 meters - 105
• The roar of a Boeing 747 taking off directly overhead - 107
• Loud music, powerful mower - 110
• Pain threshold The sound of a running lawn mower or air compressor - 112
• The roar of a Boeing 707 landing at the airport - 118
• The roar of a Concorde taking off right overhead, a powerful clap of thunder - 120
• Air raid siren, ultra-noise fashionable electric music - 130
• Pneumatic riveting - 140
• Lethal level - Atomic bomb explosion - 200

Source:

Today's lifestyle forces people to constantly live in noisy conditions. Working in factories and offices, living in crowded cities with the hum of constantly moving cars and people. Many people do not attach serious importance to this, and then wonder why fatigue sets in so quickly, attention wanders, performance decreases and insomnia plagues them. Everyone has heard about the negative impact of noise on the human body, but few know how unfavorable the consequences can be.

Noise refers to a chaotic system of sound waves of different strengths and amplitudes, randomly changing over time. For a comfortable existence, people need natural sounds: the rustling of leaves, the murmur of water, the singing of birds. This helps a person not to feel isolated from the world around him. However, the development of industry and the increase in the number of vehicles have led to an increase in noise levels in the domestic environment.

One German scientist wrote more than a century ago that, over time, the fight against noise pollution will become as necessary as the treatment of serious diseases

Impact of noise on human health

People constantly hear sounds: alarm clocks in the morning, traffic noise, telephones, televisions, household appliances. A person does not pay attention to most of them, but their impact does not go unnoticed on the body. Today, the impact of noise on human health is being actively studied, as it has become a serious problem.

The researchers concluded that increased noise levels cause the following:

• chronic insomnia;
• heart disease;
• hearing impairment;
• increase in stress hormones in the body;
• decreased immunity;
• neuroses;
• overwork;
• depletion of brain cells and so on.

Needless to say, what consequences all of the listed pathologies can cause for a person. Continuous loud noise provokes headaches, ringing in the ears, and fatigue. The human nervous system is the most sensitive even to quiet sounds, and psychological pressure is exerted on it.

It is worth paying attention to the effect of noise pollution on human hearing. At an elevated level, hearing sensitivity deteriorates within a year and a half, at an average level - after 4-5 years. This happens slowly and imperceptibly. The first indicator is when a person, being in a company, ceases to distinguish voices and does not understand what causes the laughter of his colleagues. It happens that such diseases lead to social isolation, and sometimes cause the development of persecution mania. Workers in factories and industrial enterprises are susceptible to this, despite the fact that, by law, such places must take measures to limit noise pollution.

It is no less harmful to regularly spend time in nightclubs and discos; as a rule, such places have increased noise levels. With constant exposure to high-power sound, there is a high probability of hearing loss and disturbances in the functioning of the central nervous system. Teenagers are most susceptible to the negative effects of noise and loud music on the body, since due to their age they are not aware of the possible consequences.

The immature psyche of children is more susceptible to the negative effects of noise pollution

Noise Pollution: What Level is Safe?

Noise with a power of 20-30 dB is considered comfortable and harmless - a natural background sound. An increase in this indicator has an adverse effect on people's health. For example: the risk of heart disease is caused by a noise level of 50 dB or more - a street with not too much traffic. For a person to become irritable and even aggressive, a volume of 32 dB is enough - a whisper.

In this case, the individual characteristics of people should be taken into account. Some people are immediately irritated by the slightest quiet sound, while others can stay in noisy places for a long time without problems. Despite this, it has been proven that living in an urban environment for more than 10 years increases the likelihood of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases.

Noise level constantly audible to a person:

• office work - 50 dB;
• human speech - 45-65 dB, scream - 80 dB;
• highway - 55-85 dB;
• vacuum cleaner - 65-70 dB;
• metro - 100 dB and so on.

It is worth noting that the “tipping point” of noise pollution is 80 dB; anything exceeding this figure causes serious harm to the human body. Today the noise level in cities greatly exceeds permissible standards. Although in developed countries there are serious sanctions for non-compliance with the rules of silence. In Russia, the same law has also been adopted: you cannot make noise from 22.00 to 06.00. However, this does not stop some people from regularly organizing night discos at home, driving their neighbors crazy.

In other states, such violators are dealt with more decisively. Thus, in Spain, the owner of a nightclub received a prison sentence for regularly disturbing the peace of his neighbors. The lawsuit was filed by residents of nearby buildings in which noise pollution exceeded 30 dB. In England, the owner of an amusement park was fined a large sum. A family living 100 meters from the establishment wrote a statement, claiming that the constant noise and screams turned their sleep into a nightmare.

In the Middle Ages, there was execution “under the bell”, in which a person slowly died from too loud a sound

The influence of noise on human performance

In addition to the harmful effects on the human body, the harmful effects of noise on performance have been proven. This issue has become most acute in recent decades. Therefore, standards have been developed for organizations for the level of noise pollution from equipment and devices, since working in such places implies a health hazard. Researchers studying this area concluded that increased background noise reduces performance by 15%, and, on the contrary, increases the incidence of illness by almost 40%. This makes you wonder what is better: creating comfortable, healthy working conditions or regularly paying sick leave.

Since noise affects the cerebral cortex, a person becomes too excited or inhibited. In both cases, this interferes with full-fledged work, distracts attention and causes rapid fatigue. The work becomes overwhelming and the quality of its performance decreases. However, it has been proven that not all sounds have the same effect on work ability. According to neurologists, calm, quiet classical music improves mood and promotes increased concentration and productivity.

If there is an increased noise level at work, you should definitely talk to management: people’s health is at risk

How to protect yourself from the influence of noise and loud sounds?

Today, modern technologies make it possible to reduce the adverse effects of loud sound and noise on the human body. So, you can install soundproofing and double-glazed windows in your apartment - this will save you from noisy neighbors and a busy roadway. Earplugs are useful as a handy tool; you can sleep peacefully in them without being irritated by extraneous sounds. Noise-cancelling headphones will help you concentrate while working or reading a book by blocking out extraneous noise.

At the same time, it is worth knowing that complete silence has no less depressing effect on a person: it increases fears and worries, causes irritating thoughts, and sometimes becomes a cause of depression. Therefore, you should protect yourself from noise in moderation.

The main thing is to constantly monitor your well-being and try to listen to pleasant sounds more often: your favorite music, the crackling of a fire, the melody of the sea and rain. It’s worth assessing the noise level around you and thinking about how to protect yourself from it. Let useful information and recommendations help you remain an efficient, healthy and positive person for as long as possible.

On the street, it is not advisable to turn on the headphones too loudly, since the sound in them will be interfered with by external noise, which will certainly exceed the permissible level

A modern person, especially a resident of a big city, is surrounded by thousands of different sounds around the clock, often turning into noise, which causes great discomfort. Sometimes the state becomes such that a desire involuntarily arises, following the poet A. Voznesensky, to exclaim: “I ask for silence, silence. My nerves are somehow burned...” Depending on its nature, origin, volume and duration, noise can negatively affect a person’s mental, physical and social well-being.

The sound of birches

Until recently, just a century and a half ago, people were surrounded mainly by natural sounds: the voices of animals, the murmur of a stream, the rumble of thunder, the rustling of leaves in the wind. But the more man subjugated nature, the more scientific and technological achievements appeared, the more his life was filled with sounds of a completely different kind.

Man-made noise produced by human creations - transport, all kinds of production units, construction equipment, household appliances - has nothing in common with natural ones. If natural sounds most often have a calming, peaceful effect on a person (everyone knows how sweetly one can sleep to the sound of rain and how pleasant the splashing of waves is to the ear), then man-made noises tire, irritate, interfere with concentration, and reduce performance.

In nature, everything is harmonious, everything is aimed at preservation and self-reproduction, and not at destruction, there is nothing superfluous in it and everything is purposeful. Man is also a part of nature, so natural sounds are useful for him; they differ from man-made sounds, like spring water from muddy and dirty water.

When creating all kinds of mechanisms, a person is looking not for harmony, but for utility. However, at the same time, the person himself does not become “mechanical”; he still remains a part of nature, and the human organ of hearing, accustomed over many millennia to natural noises of a certain frequency and volume, has not yet adapted to new sounds; perhaps this will require another millennium.

What is noise?

Noise is an unwanted sound that disturbs a person, irritates him and causes him significant inconvenience.

From what moment a particular sound is considered noise cannot be established objectively; it largely depends on the state of health and mood of a particular person, his attitude towards the source of noise and the characteristics of the situation.

The hysterical crying of a sick child in the middle of the night is an alarm signal for the mother, but at the same time a disturbance for the neighbors sleeping behind the wall. A suddenly blaring car alarm prompts the owner of the car to take appropriate action, and at the same time makes passers-by flinch and cover their ears. A lover of loud music may be enraged by the barely audible dripping of water from the tap, but delighted by the heartbreaking “singing” of his idol. A tired nurse who has fallen asleep at the bedside of a patient is more likely to be awakened by his quiet groan than by the sound of tram wheels outside the window.

Why is chronic exposure to noise harmful?

With prolonged exposure, man-made noise can lead to the development of “noise disease” - a general disease affecting:

• central nervous system;
• organ of hearing (hearing loss occurs);
• cardiovascular system - the frequency and rhythm of heart contractions changes, blood pressure increases or decreases, which ultimately leads to coronary heart disease;
• digestive system - constant exposure to intense noise (80 dB or more) disrupts the secretory and motor functions of the stomach and provokes gastritis and peptic ulcers.

Noise, being a stress factor, causes headaches, nervousness, increased fatigue, aggression, disruption of sleep and concentration, deterioration of long-term memory, decreased motivation and productivity.

The results of a study by Swedish scientists from Karolinska University indicate that under the influence of noise in the human body, the production of stress hormones, including cortisol, increases. This, in turn, contributes to an increase in fat deposits around the waist and, accordingly, increases the risk of developing a heart attack.

Those who spend their entire working day in constant noise not only suffer from an inability to concentrate, but also experience higher levels of stress and nervous tension. Moreover, this applies both to personnel servicing rattling machines in factory premises, and to representatives of office professions who are forced to listen to loud conversations of their colleagues every day.

If a person is exposed to noise above 85 dB while working for many years, he or she is at risk of hearing loss. The risk is especially high for workers in ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, the textile industry and underground construction, where noise levels often exceed 100 dB.

Hearing impairment also threatens young people who constantly use the player. Those who like to listen to music at a volume of more than 89 dB (which roughly corresponds to the noise of a running motorcycle) without removing the player from their ears for more than 1 hour a day will have to get a hearing aid in three to five years.

Bikers, auto racing enthusiasts, sports fans, and people involved in shooting sports cause irreparable damage to their hearing.

The auditory system is closely connected with the nerve centers; with prolonged exposure to noise, the nerve cells are “overloaded” with information that comes from the auditory analyzer. In the nervous system, the processes of excitation and inhibition must replace each other, then it will work without failures, without illness. If excitation processes predominate, first there is a lack of coordination of nervous processes, and then a failure, manifested by a disease. That is why the outstanding German doctor Robert Koch once wrote: “Someday a person will have to fight noise as stubbornly for the sake of his existence as he is now fighting cholera and plague.”

General indicators of resistance to sound impact

Natural background noise is practically harmless, the level of which is 20-30 dB. But street and household noise created by vehicles and household appliances (45-70 dB), although considered physiologically acceptable, becomes a cause of irritability and fatigue.

80 dB is the upper limit of permissible noise: both constant and variable. If the noise level exceeds 80 dB (for example, the noise of a motorcycle is 86, the noise of a bus is 91), foci of stagnant excitation or inhibition appear in the cerebral cortex, which disrupts the secretory and motor functions of the stomach. Sounds at a rock concert, disco, etc. (115 dB) contribute to the development of hearing loss: every fifth loud music lover hears like an old man.

Noise with an intensity of 130 dB (the sound of an airplane taking off) causes pain, noise above 160 dB can cause ruptured eardrums and barotrauma (acoustic trauma), noise above 200 dB causes death.

Sensitivity threshold

There is a distinction between constant noise (“hum” from air conditioners, fans, compressors) and intermittent noise. Even if the transport is moving in a continuous stream, the noise is considered inconsistent, since car engines operate in different modes, moving objects either approach (the sound intensifies) or move away (the sound weakens). Constant noise - the sound level of which changes over time by no more than 5 dB. The perception of noise by each individual can vary greatly - from complete ignorance to severe irritation. This is determined by:

type of nervous system. There are people who are very balanced and calm, while others are easily excitable and emotional;

age. In adulthood, nerve centers react more sharply to noise, since the period of recovery and rest of the nervous system after exposure to noise increases;

presence of chronic diseases. With chronic diseases, especially endocrine and cardiovascular diseases, the nervous system becomes more labile, that is, a person is more quickly “turned on” by any stimuli, including sound;

personal characteristics. One person is indifferent to the monotonous hum of traffic coming from an open window, but cannot stand the sounds of a piano or the barking of a dog from a neighboring apartment, another - on the contrary.

In a sleeping person, the threshold of auditory perception decreases by 10-15 dB. However, sudden short-term noises with a volume of 40 dB to 50 dB (the sound of a passing car, a barking dog, slamming doors, loud conversation, etc.) can wake up a sleeper. Sleep is especially easily disrupted by noise in older people and women.

"Silent" noise

The human ear is capable of perceiving sounds in the frequency range of 16-20 thousand Hz. But “silent” noises are just as dangerous as audible ones.

A resident of one of the houses, located far from highways and industrial facilities, complained of strange discomfort at night. Experts from an independent environmental assessment found that the street lighting transformer emitted infrasound (sound with a frequency of 15-20 Hz), which is capable of spreading over long distances and penetrating through the thickest walls, causing nervous and mental disorders, such as feelings of fear, increased anxiety, neurosis .

Infrasound is present in the subway noise, causing many passengers to experience
feeling of nervous tension, anxiety, deterioration in general well-being.

Who to turn to for silence

If noise greatly bothers you at home or at work, you can contact the territorial office of Rospotrebnadzor with a request to measure the noise level using a special device - a sound level meter.

Experts issue a conclusion. But it is extremely important that the device used to take measurements passes state inspection and has a certificate of compliance with state standards. True, Rospotrebnadzor employees will only deal with man-made noise arising from equipment built into residential buildings or compressors, fans, refrigeration units, etc. located in close proximity to apartment windows. In the fight against neighbors who move furniture at night or regularly organize noisy parties, Rospotrebnadzor not a helper. Such conflicts are “resolved” by the local police officer.

If permissible levels of man-made noise are detected, employees of the territorial office of Rospotrebnadzor must take action. You can go to court to eliminate the source of noise or punish the perpetrators (fine, closure of the facility - at the discretion of the court) based on the examination. Commercial organizations can also measure the noise level in an apartment or office, but you should know that the protocols of government services have an advantage if the measurement readings of a government service and a commercial organization turn out to be different. If, according to Rospotrebnadzor estimates
noise is within normal limits, and the data of a commercial company indicates that the standards are exceeded; when going to court, the data of Rospotrebnadzor will be considered more reliable.

Methods for protecting the city from noise

On the streets along the roadsides, tall bushes and trees are planted, which remarkably dampen not only sound waves, but also vibration from passing cars.

To combat noise, noise barriers are placed along the overpasses. But they isolate only the lower floors of residential buildings from noise, and sound waves, which are able to bend around obstacles, reach the upper floors almost unhindered.

Unfortunately, it is not yet used in our country. Spanish engineers from Valencia discovered that metal tubes stuck into the ground at regular intervals can dampen sound waves. Along the highway they built a fence made of hollow plastic tubes 3 m long and 16 cm in diameter in the form of a lattice, similar to a honeycomb. To dissipate noise, four rows of such tubes were enough.

Such a fence is much more pleasing to the eye than a solid wall, it looks very original, but most importantly, it dampens sound waves, completely absorbing them. Research has also shown that by creating various types of hollow tube gratings, it is possible to achieve the absorption of sound waves of a certain length and thus combat one particular noise without interfering with the passage of other sounds.

Absolute - “deathly” - silence is also harmful to health, as is an increased noise level. When sounds stop coming at all, this is a signal to the brain: something is wrong in the body or you are in a dangerous place from which you urgently need to get out.

external noise

It is caused primarily by transport (cars, buses, trolleybuses, railway trains, proximity to the airport, car alarms and sirens, road construction equipment, etc.). If your plans do not include moving to a remote area and you still want to live next to a metro station and not a forest park, protect your apartment with special insulating windows - preferably with a triple sealing circuit and an anti-noise double-glazed window. This, of course, is not cheap, but completely justified. Otherwise, the money saved on soundproofing double-glazed windows will have to be spent on restoring your health.

internal noise

It occurs when neighbors stomp loudly, move furniture, slam doors, often listen to loud music, etc. In this case, take care of additional soundproofing of your apartment. They will save you from internal noise:

1. Carpeting on the floor and carpeting on the walls. However, this product is not suitable for allergy sufferers (if there is a reaction to household dust, it is contraindicated), and not everyone likes to decorate their apartment with carpets.

2. Covering the walls adjacent to the neighboring apartment with 2 layers of plasterboard. The space between them is filled with insulation, for example, polystyrene foam. The thickness of such a layer will be approximately 12 cm. But having received almost perfect sound insulation, you will inevitably have to part with part of the usable area of ​​the rooms. To make use of the lost area, you can come up with interesting design solutions, for example, placing niches with lamps, built-in shelves for books, equipment, etc. in the thickness of the “additional” walls.

3. To protect yourself from noise, use ear protectors: plugs made of soft material intended for one-time use, hygienic earplugs made of fiber material or special plastic plugs with good sound-proofing properties. External ear protectors, or headphones that fit tightly to the ears, protect against noise even more effectively.

4. Use special relaxation techniques: to relieve stress associated with many annoying sounds, it is sometimes useful to disconnect from the outside world and listen to a recording of natural noises (surf, forest, rain, birdsong).

Many experts believe that of all the influences on a person’s senses, sounds are the most powerful.

The perception of sounds by humans begins from the embryonic period of development. Numerous domestic and foreign observations convincingly indicate that the fetus, especially in recent months, does not remain indifferent to the sounds of the external environment.

Professor B.S. Preobrazhensky, a full member of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, pointed out that people are very sensitive to sounds of even low intensity, and therefore suffer very seriously from noise.

The human hearing organ is an extremely complex system. There are about 25 thousand cells in the inner ear that respond to sound. After passing through the external auditory canal, sound waves vibrate the eardrum, the auditory ossicles and the air in the tympanic cavity. Then, through the oval window, these vibrations are transmitted to the inner ear, where the primary irritation of the nerve elements occurs, which is transmitted along the auditory nerve to the brain.

For a long time it was believed that noise affects only the hearing organs. Therefore, for many years the effects of noise on humans have been studied from the point of view of its impact only on the hearing organs. Indeed, the human auditory organ is extremely sensitive to prolonged and strong sound effects. As a result, pathological changes occur in the auditory nerve, as well as in the sensitive cells of the inner ear. As a result, various types of hearing disorders occur, hearing loss develops, and deafness may occur.

The effect of noise on the human body as a whole has not been the subject of systematic study until recently. Nevertheless, numerous and varied results of observations both in our country and, especially, abroad, show that in no case should its importance be underestimated.

Permanent or temporary increase in blood pressure, increased irritability, decreased ability to concentrate thoughts, mental depression - this is not a complete list of the consequences of exposure to noise.

Noise is the cause and primary source of many serious diseases. Under the destructive influence of noise, diseases of the heart and blood vessels develop.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the most “loaded” system in the human body is the nervous system. And it is she who is primarily affected by noise in the most negative way!

Noise is the cause of numerous nervous diseases, chronic fatigue, premature fatigue, weakening of attention and memory, and an obstacle to normal rest and recuperation.

Noises have a profound irritating effect on the entire human body: they slow down mental reactions, cause irritability, accelerate the process of fatigue, change the speed of breathing and pulse, and disrupt metabolism.

Soviet doctors established, What:

• Noise leads to dysfunction of the gastrointestinal tract.
• Under the influence of noise, the secretion of gastric juice decreases, acidity drops, contractions of the stomach and intestines become more sluggish and rare, food is poorly digested and retained, and the body becomes clogged.
• Gastritis, an ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, most often occurs in people living or working in noisy environments.

Research by English scientists convincingly proven, What:

• Under the influence of noise, the functioning of the cells of the cerebral cortex is disrupted, and signs of their exhaustion develop.
• A noise of 50-60 dB causes a focus of sharp excitation to appear in the cerebral cortex.
• High-frequency noise of 85 dB causes inhibition of the cerebral cortex and excitation of subcortical formations.
• In addition to disorders in the brain, shifts in the autonomic nervous system were discovered when exposed to noise on the human body.

According to Austrian scientists, noise is the cause of premature aging in 30 cases out of 100 and shortens the lives of people in large cities by 8-12 years!

Sudden loud noise (such as explosions) can cause permanent damage to the hearing system. There are numerous cases where a short-term unexpected noise brought people (mainly children) to blindness and stuttering, caused epileptic seizures.

Noise phenomena have the property of cumulation, i.e. accumulating in the body, they depress the nervous system more and more!

In this regard, one more circumstance is of great importance: vague noises that do not reach consciousness. Such noises, however, cause the expenditure of nervous energy, as a result of which they can cause disturbances in the body that are imperceptible for the time being.

If rare individual noises are repeated at regular intervals and the perceiver involuntarily waits for their repetition, then he may fall into a state of painful nervous excitement (excitement of anticipation), regardless of whether the noise is strong or not

“Someday a person will have to fight noise just as hard for the sake of his existence as he now fights cholera or the plague.” This catchphrase belongs to Robert Koch (1843-1910), the greatest bacteriologist and Nobel Prize winner.

Unfortunately, only recently have people begun to understand how justified the need for silence is for human health. Many even leave cities for the countryside in search of peace and quiet!

However, there are still many examples of how some immoral people completely ignore the fact that citizens living next to them are tired and in need of rest.

“Noise awakens in the ignorant the idea of ​​power”. This is what James Watt (1736-1819), the inventor of the steam engine, said about the owner of a steam engine who did not allow his machine to be adjusted to eliminate the noise it produced.

As for the direct and indirect culprits of noise, they usually do not have to suffer from it. After all, if they wish, they always have the opportunity at any moment, to one degree or another, to eliminate it! Conversely, persons exposed to noise without the ability to escape may suffer serious harm. Especially if they are engaged in mental work or relaxing after work.

The same can be said about workers and engineers employed in noisy production. Despite the apparent habit, noise can cause great harm to their health, undermine their physical strength and mental abilities. Proper noise protection increases labor productivity and product quality, and reduces occupational injuries.

The absence of noise is a factor that reduces fatigue and improves a person’s overall well-being. A protection from noise is, first of all, an affirmation of the value of the human person!

If earlier it was said that “cleanliness is the key to health,” now another truth is no less pressing: “Silence is the key to health!”

The more a person needs to relieve nervous tension and relax, the more he has to concentrate his creative abilities and strength to solve the problems of modern life.

Practice shows that household noise has the greatest impact on a person, i.e. so-called “neighbor noise”. The only solution to this problem is the installation of proper sound insulation, performed at a high professional level using highly effective sound-proofing and sound-absorbing modern materials. For example, ThermoZvukoIzol® and its modifications.

How to protect yourself from extraneous noise?

Noise pollution has become an environmental problem in large cities.
Excessive sound pollution in the city is destructive for humans.
Acoustic irritation accumulates and sometimes causes irreversible consequences:

Neurological diseases;
- dizziness;
- stunning;
- absent-mindedness.

Unpleasant? Of course!

Myths about plastic windows

Myth 1. Plastic windows block the opening and “don’t breathe”

Modern designs are equipped with high-quality fittings and rubber seals around the perimeter of the sash and frame, which prevents drafts from entering the room. For a user who is not accustomed to such tightness, at first it seems that the apartment has become stuffy. Compared to old wooden frames, which “breathed” thanks to cracks and dried wood, plastic windows really do not allow air to pass through. To avoid stuffiness and ensure access to fresh air, it is necessary to ventilate the room at least 2 times a day for 15 minutes. New wooden windows also do not “breathe” naturally. The surface of the frame is treated with special impregnations and varnishes, through the pores of which wind does not pass. Wood products require daily ventilation for a comfortable indoor microclimate.

Myth 2. Plastic windows are not environmentally friendly

There is a widespread belief that plastic structures are hazardous to health. Most often, the buyer reacts to the mention of lead in the PVC profile. For rigidity, strength, increased service life, beautiful appearance, and reliable protection against moisture absorption, various stabilizers are added to the plastic. These additives may be lead based or calcium and zinc compounds. Only the material does not contain lead itself, but its compound, which has absolutely no effect on human health. The same table salt is sodium chloride. If we said that salt consists of chlorine, would we eat it? But the compound is strikingly different from the chemical element itself. The same goes for profile additions. The safety of plastic has long been studied and proven. We use this material every day for things such as a toothbrush, glasses, and dishes. Baby bottles are made of plastic and even in medicine you cannot do without it; the same vessels for donor blood are made of PVC.

It has an adverse effect on our lives. In this case, the word noise refers to its hygienic meaning, namely a set of sounds that are undesirable for us, that is, those sounds that do not carry any useful information for us, but only pollute the information background in which we find ourselves.

At the same time, not everyone knows exactly what effect noise has on the human body and what consequences should be expected, for example, for those working in conditions of exposure to high noise levels.

It has now been proven that noise is a general biological irritant.
, that is, it affects not only the organ of hearing, but also the entire body as a whole. First of all, the influence of noise affects the structures of the brain, which causes unfavorable changes in the functions of various organs and systems.

Thus, the effect of noise can be divided into specific and nonspecific. The specific effect of noise is manifested in changes that occur in the auditory analyzer, and the nonspecific effect is manifested in changes that occur in other human organs and systems.

Specific effect of noise

The influence of noise on the auditory analyzer is manifested in aural effects, which mainly consist of a slowly progressive hearing loss of the type of auditory neuritis (cochlear neuritis). In this case, pathological changes affect both ears equally.

Occupational hearing loss develops with more or less long work experience in conditions of high noise levels. The timing of the onset of hearing loss depends on many factors, for example, on the individual sensitivity of the hearing analyzer, the duration of exposure to noise during a work shift, the intensity of industrial noise, as well as its frequency and time characteristics.

In the first years, workers working in noisy industries exhibit nonspecific symptoms that characterize the reaction of the central nervous system to noise: they complain of headaches, increased fatigue, tinnitus, etc. The subjective sensation of hearing loss usually occurs much later, and audiological signs of damage to the hearing organ can be detected long before the moment when a person notices that he has begun to hear worse.

Modern research methods, which can and should be carried out in relation to workers exposed to noise during medical examinations, make it possible not only to establish the first signs of noise pathology in the early stages of its occurrence, but also to predict the individual timing of hearing loss.

It is known that

Noise accompanied by vibration is more unfavorable for the auditory analyzer than isolated noise.

Nonspecific effect of noise

The nonspecific influence of noise manifests itself in the form of extraaural effects.

People exposed to noise most often complain of headaches, which can have varying intensity and localization, dizziness when changing body position, memory loss, increased fatigue, drowsiness, sleep disturbances, emotional instability, loss of appetite, sweating, pain in the heart.

The influence of noise can manifest itself in the form of dysfunction of the cardiovascular system, for example, broadband noise with a level above 90 dBA, in which high frequencies predominate, can provoke the development of arterial hypertension, in addition, broadband noise causes significant changes in the peripheral circulation.

It should be remembered that

You can get used to the subjective perception of noise and it will no longer be so noticeable to you, but adaptation to nonspecific autonomic reactions is impossible. That is, in a physiological sense, adaptation to noise is not observed; the frequency and severity of nonspecific changes increase with increasing time of contact with noise, for example, with increasing work experience in noisy production.

If exposed to noise with an intensity higher than 95 dBA, then disturbances in vitamin, protein, carbohydrate, cholesterol and water-salt metabolism can be detected.

Noise is one of the most powerful stressors. The influence of noise affects the functions of the body’s endocrine and immune systems, in particular this can manifest itself in the form of three main biological effects:

• Decreased immunity to infectious diseases;
• Decreased immunity against the development of tumor processes;
• The emergence of favorable conditions for the emergence and development of allergic and autoimmune processes.

It has been proven that along with hearing loss, changes occur that contribute to a decrease in the resistance of the human body, for example, with an increase in industrial noise by 10 dBA, the overall morbidity of workers increases by 1.2-1.3 times.

At the same time, it has been established that the rate of development of hearing loss is almost 3 times higher than the rate of growth of neurovascular disorders, which corresponds to 1.5 and 0.5% per 1 dBA, that is, with an increase in noise by 1 dBA, hearing loss will increase by 1 .5%, and neurovascular disorders - by 0.5%. For every 1 dBA of noise exposure above 85 dBA, neurovascular damage develops six months earlier than at lower levels.

As you can see, the influence of noise on the body is quite multifaceted and its harmful effects should be avoided, therefore measures to improve the health of your personal space in terms of protecting it from the noise factor are quite relevant for modern technogenic and urbanized society.

Noise and its impact on health. Noise is a chaotic combination of sounds of varying strength and frequency. Household noise is understood as any unpleasant, unwanted sound or set of sounds that disturbs the silence and has an irritating or pathological effect on the human body.

Sound as a physical phenomenon is a mechanical vibration of an elastic medium (air, liquid and solid) in the range of audible frequencies. The human ear perceives vibrations with a frequency of 16,000 to 20,000 Hertz (Hz). Sound waves traveling in the air are called airborne sound. Vibrations of sound frequencies propagating in solids are called structural sound or sound vibration.

Noise has a specific frequency, or spectrum, expressed in hertz, and an intensity sound pressure level, measured in decibels (dBA). By type, noise spectra can be divided into low-frequency from 16 to 400 Hz, mid-frequency from 400 to 800 Hz and high-frequency over 800 Hz. Noises are divided into constant, the sound level of which changes over time by no more than 5 dBA, and non-constant, or intermittent, the sound level of which changes over time by more than 5 dBA. There may also be impulse noise. Constant noise in residential areas is the sound of a clock or the sound of rain coming from the street. Non-constant noise includes traffic noise, the noise of the refrigerator unit turning on, and impulse noise includes the slamming of doors.

The effect of noise on the human body. Human reactions to noise vary. Some people are tolerant of noise, while for others it causes irritation and a desire to get away from the source of the noise. The psychological assessment of noise is mainly based on the concept of perception, and internal attunement to the noise source is of great importance. It determines whether the noise will be perceived as disturbing. Often noise produced by the person himself does not bother him, while small noise caused by neighbors or some other source has a strong irritating effect. The nature of the noise and its frequency play a big role.

The degree of psychological and physiological sensitivity to noise is influenced by the type of higher nervous activity, the nature of sleep, the level of physical activity, the degree of nervous and physical stress, and bad habits (alcohol and smoking). Sound stimuli create the prerequisites for the appearance of foci of stagnant excitation or inhibition in the cerebral cortex. This leads to a decrease in performance, primarily mental, as concentration decreases, the number of errors increases, and fatigue develops.

This condition has an adverse effect on the cardiovascular system: the heart rate changes, blood pressure increases or decreases, the tone increases and the blood supply to the blood vessels of the brain decreases. There is a relationship between the incidence of central nervous system and cardiovascular diseases, noise levels and length of residence in noisy urban environments. An increase in the general morbidity of the population is observed after 10 years of living with constant noise exposure with an intensity of 70 dBA and higher.

Consequently, city noise can be considered a risk factor for hypertension and coronary heart disease. When exposed to noise, such an important body function as sleep is most vulnerable. The threshold for the influence of noise on sleepers for different people lies in the spectrum region from 30 to 60 dBA. Constant exposure to intense noise (80 dBA or more) can cause gastritis and even peptic ulcers, since the secretory and motor functions of the stomach can be impaired.

Loud music (on radio, television, reproduced by special equipment) can reach 100 dBA, and at concerts using electro-acoustic equipment up to 115 dBA. Prolonged exposure to high intensity and high frequency sound can cause permanent hearing loss (hearing loss). To prevent the adverse effects of noise on human health, measures to develop hygienic standards for acceptable noise levels and to eliminate noise are crucial.