According to a recent study, long-term exposure to the noise produced by cars, trucks, trains, and airplanes may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
The Harvard-led examination of three decades' worth of data from 114,116 women involved in the Nurses' Health Study was published online by Environmental Health Perspectives on December 4, 2023. Researchers evaluated the relationship between noise levels where participants lived and their incidence of cardiovascular disease using a geospatial noise model developed by the National Park Service. This model estimates noise levels in different locations using data gathered from monitoring sites across the United States.
Researchers discovered that participants' long-term risk of cardiovascular illness increased with the amount of transportation noise they were exposed to. There was a 4% rise in cardiovascular issues such coronary artery disease and stroke for every four dB increase in noise above a baseline level. The authors of the study noted that prior research has similarly connected noise exposure to transient alterations in circulation, such as blood pressure, heart rate, and blood vessel narrowing.
This research it still being watched.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
