CHILDREN can be stressed out by everyday noise at levels too low to damage
their hearing, according to research in the US and Austria. Chronic exposure to
nearby sounds such as roads and train lines could also create problems with
motivation.
The study, commissioned by the Austrian Ministry of Health, found that
children living in relatively noisy neighbourhoods had raised blood pressure,
heart rates and levels of stress hormones. “Non-auditory effects of noise appear
to occur at levels far below those required to damage hearing,” says Peter
Lercher of the Institute of Social Medicine at the University of Innsbruck,
Sonnenburgstrasse,…
