Written by Noise Pollution Expert Witness
Spreading dirt on the cobblestone street in front of the State House in Philadelphia in 1787 protected the men inside from the noises of passing carriages and carts which would have intruded upon their deliberations as they worked on the http://www.barefootsworld.net/consti15.html document that would set down the principles by which our country would be governed. In 1972, 185 years after the writers of our Constitution recognized the intrusiveness of noise, the United States passed the Noise Control Act, designed to protect citizens from the dangers of noise. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was charged with carrying out the mandate of the Act and in 1978 stated in its “Noise: A Health Problem” booklet: “It is finally clear that noise is a significant hazard to public health.” Unfortunately, EPA’s noise division was essentially dismantled IN 1981 and today EPA is minimally involved in lessening the din of overhead planes, the loud blasts of railroad horns, and the myriad of noises engulfing millions of citizens daily.
Our federal government is essentially “out of the noise abatement” business, leaving the control of noise to cities and states. While New York City has recently updated its 1970s Noise Code and other cities across the country have passed anti-noise legislation, our country has regressed with respect to noise control and abatement. This, at a time when a review of the growing number of noise studies, many of which we cite in our soon to be published book Why Noise Matters (Earthscan, 2011), makes it abundantly clear that noise is indeed hazardous to our mental and physical well-being. Children are especially vulnerable as demonstrated by the many published articles on the adverse impacts of noise to their cognitive, language and learning skills.
Health and education costs are rising in this country and one way to reduce these costs is to abate noise which we know adversely impacts our health. What to do? Learn about the hazards of noise and urge your public officials in Washington to enforce the Noise Control Act.
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