The hum of electric drills, the roar of cars, the creaking of blackboards, do you feel pain when you hear these?

The hum of electric drills, the roar of cars, and the music played by neighbors in the middle of the night... Whenever you hear these sounds, do you feel the pain of "wanting to escape but not being able to"?

Why does noise affect our emotions? Where does it come from? What harm does it bring? Do you really understand noise?

How loud is the noise that causes hearing loss?

Noise is the sound produced by a sound-emitting body when it vibrates irregularly. Any sound that affects our work, study and daily life can be classified as noise.

Sounds below 60 decibels will not cause hearing loss; when the sound reaches 70 decibels (such as the sound of a washing machine), we will feel slightly irritated; when the sound reaches 80 decibels (such as the sound of horns in the surrounding environment of urban traffic), it will make people anxious; if exposed to a 90-decibel environment (such as the sound of a running lawn mower) for two hours, hearing will be damaged; if we are in a sound environment above 100 decibels for a long time, our hearing may be permanently damaged.

Image source: pexels

The 2021 "China Environmental Noise Pollution Prevention and Control Report" released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment pointed out that the daytime regional sound environment in municipalities, provincial capitals and cities with independent planning status is 65.4% affected by social life noise, 19.7% affected by traffic noise, 11.0% affected by industrial noise, and 3.8% affected by construction noise.

The larger the city, the more noise it naturally has, with Dalian and Xi'an being the noisiest cities.

Proportion of complaints and reports on various types of environmental noise

Source: China Environmental Noise Pollution Prevention and Control Report

As a kind of physical pollution, noise generally only has local impacts and will not cause regional or global pollution. At the same time, noise pollution will not leave any pollution residues. Once the noise source stops making sound, the noise pollution will also disappear.

Although noise only propagates locally and can be stopped artificially, being in a noisy environment for a long time can cause more physical and psychological harm to us than we can imagine.

You can't use music to cover up the noise

Affects children's learning ability. The World Health Organization has found through multiple studies that long-term exposure to noise can have a negative impact on children's academic performance and skill development. Children living near airports, railways and highways perform worse in language and cognitive skills tests, and have lower reading scores.

Reduced work efficiency. Studies have found that noise in open office environments can lead to lower work efficiency. Compared with quiet environments, people need more attention to complete tasks in noisy environments. On the other hand, the noise in large open offices can cause employees to become more stressed, thus reducing work efficiency.

Environmental noise increases the risk of fatal heart disease. In 2011, the World Health Organization found that long-term exposure to severe traffic noise from airplanes, trains, etc., can increase the risk of high blood pressure and fatal heart disease.

In order to drown out the noise, many people sometimes wear headphones to listen to music, but little do they know that this is no less harmful to the ears than the noise. When listening to music at a high volume for a long time, the sound will cause the eardrum and ossicles to vibrate more strongly, and the violent vibration will directly damage the cochlear hair cells. The cochlear hair cells are nerve cells and cannot regenerate.

Image source: pexels

Therefore, when facing noise, you can cover your ears appropriately, and never listen to music.

Rough walls can also reduce noise

As the impact of noise pollution on people's lives continues to increase, the national level has also begun to take action to control it. "Strengthening environmental noise pollution control" was written into the five-year plan for the first time, and the Noise Pollution Prevention and Control Law is also being revised simultaneously.

As of the end of 2020, 13 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen have drawn noise maps on a pilot basis to promote local noise pollution prevention and control. Under the active promotion of the state, my country's noise pollution prevention and control related industries are also developing continuously, and the promotion and application of new technologies and new equipment have greatly alleviated the harm of noise to life.

In addition to national policy factors, we can also take some measures to "actively reduce noise" at home on a daily basis.

Choose rough walls. Too smooth walls will produce echoes in the room, thus increasing the volume of noise. Make the wall surface rougher and match it with wallpaper and other decorative materials with good sound absorption effect to achieve more prominent noise reduction effect.

Image source: pexels

Use more fabric decoration. Using fabric to eliminate noise is also a common and effective way. Tests show that draped and flat fabrics have the same sound absorption effect. Curtains can isolate external sounds, and the soft touch of carpets can eliminate the sound of footsteps, helping to effectively reduce noise.

Image source: pexels

Choose wooden furniture. Wooden furniture has porous fibers and can absorb some noise. In addition to wooden furniture, using cork flooring in decoration is also an effective choice.

Although auxiliary noise reduction is good, there is a more effective and affordable option: reduce the sound of speaking, and start noise reduction from me!

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Tadpole Musical Notation original article, please indicate the source when reprinting

Editor/Xiao Xitushuo