II. Extra-auditory effects in short-term exposure to aircraft and traffic noise

Abstract

Summary A series of human studies was performed in 12 young healthy male subjects to investigate extra-auditory effects of short-term ( 15 min) exposure to aircraft noise ( 84-91 d B(A)), to traffic noise (Leq 83 5 d B(A)), to mental load, and to combined load (noise + mental load) Exposure to noise caused increase of diastolic blood pressure and respiratory rate, decrease of pulse pressure and quotient of heart rate/respiratory rate and also decrease of performance in a mental task Aircarft and traffic noise generally induce similar effects, which go into the same direction as induced by mental performance alone Combined exposure induces a stronger (but not additive) effect on diastolic blood pressure and respiratory rate than each condition alone There is suggestive evidence that exposure to noise and performance of an information processing task both induce simultaneous increase of sympathic and parasympathic tone.

Circulatory Effects of Noise

“…Chronic stress including noise has been found to accelerate the development of structural vascular changes in the precapillary resistance vessels and also hypertension in animals (26). This and other studies have shown that shorttime exposure to noise causes a temporary increase in blood pressure (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). Repeated exposure to noise could then explain the increased prevalence of hypertension observed in humans exposed to severe noise for many years (5-8).…”

Associations between hyperacusis and psychosocial work factors in the general population

“…Since stress causes vigilance and alerted attention (Liston et al 2009), it is not unlikely that persons who perceive stress also may respond with alertness to sound. The other way around, thus sensitivity to sound increasing sensitivity to stress, is also be possibly, since unwanted sounds by definition are classified as noise, and noise is a strong stressor (Carter and Beh 1989; Mosskov and Ettema 1977). …”

Noise as a Public Health Problem: Proceedings of the International Congress (4th) Held at Turin (Italy) on June 21-25, 1983. Volume 2.

“…We found some different effects of exposure to noise. For example, no influence or even a decrease of the systolic blood pressure was found in our laboratory (Mosskov et al 1977), an increase…”