Noise pollution can give you CANCER: Loud noises from roads and airports ‘can lead to DNA damage, high blood pressure and could cause tumours’, study on mice claims
- Mice were exposed to loud aircraft noises and their health was assessed
- Constant exposure to loud noises raised blood pressure of the mice
- In mice already with hypertension the noise caused cardiovascular inflammation
Exposure to loud noises can lead to long-term health implications such as high blood pressure and potentially cancer, a new study has found.
High sound levels, from any source, is known to have a wide-ranging impact on human health.
German researchers exposed mice to loud noises, such as those from a passing aircraft, to see how it impacted their health.
They discovered mice exposed to aircraft noise for four days developed high blood pressure.
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German researchers observed mice exposed to loud noises, such as those from a passing aircraft. Four days of aircraft noise led to high blood pressure (stock)
Researchers from the University Medical Centre of Mainz have published various studied on the impact of ambient noise on the health of mice.
One study, published in the journal FASEB, found high levels of sound can lead to high blood pressure and DNA damage that is related to the development of cancer.
Researchers are now calling for better protection from excess sound for people in the most at-risk categories.
Just four days of aircraft noise led to high blood pressure in mice and in the test animals that already had elevated blood pressure, the noise further stress levels and caused cardiovascular inflammation, causing further damage.
The research was due to be presented at a major health conference in the US this week which was cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Researchers from the University Medical Centre of Mainz publish various studied on the impact of ambient noise on the health of mice. One study, published in the journal FASEB, found high levels of sound can lead to high blood pressure and DNA damage that is related to the development of cancer (stock)
Lead researcher, Matthias Oelze, said: ‘Large studies have linked noise exposure to health problems in people.
‘Our new data provides additional mechanistic insights into these adverse health effects, especially high blood pressure and potentially cancer development, both leading causes of global death.
‘These new findings, together with our other work on noise-associated cardiovascular effects, could lead to a better understanding of how noise influences health.
‘This information could help inform policies and regulations that better protect people against diseases related to noise exposure.’
The research is thus far just an observational study on animals and has not established how loud noises damages health.
WHAT IS A DECIBEL?
A decibel is a tenth (deci-) of a bel, named in honour of Alexander Graham Bell – the inventor of the telephone (pictured)
The name is a combination of honouring a scientific great and a Latin prefix.
One decibel is one tenth (deci-) of one bel, named in honour of Alexander Graham Bell – the inventor of the telephone.
Decibel is now widespread, but the bel is seldom used.
A decibel is a ratio between one physical property to another, on a logarithmic scale.
It is most commonly used to denote the volume of sound.
Masurements are often taken for the ‘power’ of a sound.
This means that a change in power by a factor of ten corresponds to a ten dB change in sound level.
Other examples of a logarithmic scale are the Richter-scale and the acidity (pH) of a solution.
It means that a sall increase on the scale requires a large jump to create.
This means that every increment is therefore larger than its predecessor, and this continues infinitely.
At higher numbers, the jumps become enormous.
That is why the difference between two earthquakes that measure 8.0 and 7.0 is far greater than two earthquakes that measured 5.0 and 4.0.
The same applies for sound, with the jump between 90 and 100 decibels far larger than the jump between 50 and 60 decibels.