The risks of exposure to excessive noise levels – most associated with sustaining hearing damage in the workplace – are well known, if not necessarily acted upon as diligently as health and safety regulations would recommend.
Recent research has found that apart from the long term dangers of succumbing to industrial deafness, exposure to severe occupational noise levels may be also linked with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and hypertension, especially amongst young, male smokers.
Previous studies have found that some individuals are more vulnerable to noise exposure than others, citing males and fair-skinned people as being at increased risk of noise induced hearing loss than females and dark-skinned people.
The damaging effects of excessive noise, especially over a continuous time period are known to be a source of stress leading to tiredness, irritability, dizziness or headaches and possibly affecting sense of balance. Temporary ringing in the ears can still be a not an uncommon experience at some loud music concerts.
Even when the offending noise has ceased, unpleasant effects which may persist can often take the form of reduced tolerance or a sense of frustration. Moderate levels of noise can still raise anxiety and increase the risk of antisocial behaviour.
The noise exposure study was based on self-reported exposure to loud noise in the workplace, which showed that subjects chronically exposed to occupational noise had a 2–3 fold increased prevalence of the heart-related conditions of angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, CHD and isolated diastolic hypertension when compared with the non-exposed, control group participants.
The exposure-to-response relationships observed point to clear associations of noise exposure to raised blood pressure and heart attack symptoms, which were particularly marked for participants aged 50 years, male and current smokers. There was no significant increase in levels of cardiovascular biomarkers including blood fats and inflammatory response associated with noise exposure.