Noise

Published February 2000

A serious environmental impediment to health in the workplace is a high ambient noise level. Distractibility, slight increases in blood pressure, slight arrhythmias and a change in the electrical activity of the brain begin when the sound level is at 75 decibels. This level of ambient noise is found in various common work environments: in facilities built near freeways, typing pools, data processing areas and telephone banks. There is also evidence that workers directly in the takeoff zones of airports experience a 10 to 12 times higher incidence of major and minor cardiovascular disease, including hypertension and heart failure.