Hearing problems are routinely associated with consistent exposure to loud noises, so it's not surprising that researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, who recently published their findings in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, found many individuals working in noisy environments had an increased rate of hearing difficulties.
But they also discovered a link between noisy workplaces and conditions that may be contributing risk factors for heart disease.
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"A significant percentage of the workers we studied have hearing difficulty, high blood pressure and high cholesterol that could be attributed to noise at work," study co-author Elizabeth Masterson of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Cincinnati, Ohio, told Reuters.
Masterson said that approximately 22 million Americans – especially those who work in mining, construction and manufacturing – regularly deal with loud noises on the job.
"If noise could be reduced to safer levels in the workplace, more than 5 million cases of hearing difficulty among noise-exposed workers could be prevented," she said. "This study also provides further evidence of an association between occupational noise exposure and high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and the potential to prevent these conditions if noise is reduced.”
For their study, researchers examined national survey data from 22,906 adults who were working in 2014. About one quarter – or 25 percent – reported exposure to occupational noise in the past. Out of those, 14 percent said they had faced loud work conditions during the previous year.
Overall, 24 percent of participants had high blood pressure, 28 percent had high cholesterol and 4 percent experienced a major cardiovascular problem such as a stroke or heart attack. Another 12 percent had hearing difficulties.
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Researchers attributed 14 percent of the cases of high blood pressure and 9 percent of the elevated cholesterol cases to noisy work environments, even after taking participants' outside risk factors into consideration. They also linked 58 percent of the instances of hearing difficulties to loud workplaces.
While the study pointed to clear links between high blood pressure and high cholesterol, both of which are factors that increase the risk of heart disease, the researchers did not establish a clear connection between loud workplaces and major cardiovascular problems. Masterson said there weren’t enough participants involved with the specific medical conditions to determine a correlation.
Study authors suggest workers should take steps to reduce their exposure to noise, such as wearing hearing protection. Workers can also consciously use quieter equipment whenever possible and keep noisy machinery well-maintained and lubricated.
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Although their research established strong correlations, some other experts caution about jumping to conclusions.
"The study itself does not establish a cause and effect relationship between noise exposure and the coronary heart disease outcomes," John Dement, an occupational health researcher and professor emeritus at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, said. "I think it's premature to draw too many conclusions about implications for patients beyond what we already know about preventing noise exposures and managing cardiovascular disease risk factors."
Noise pollution, although not as prominently discussed as air or water pollution, is also regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. In 1972, the Noise Control Act established a national policy to promote an environment for all Americans free from noise that "jeopardizes their health and welfare."
"Inadequately controlled noise presents a growing danger to the health and welfare of the nation's population, particularly in urban areas," the EPA warned last year.
Read the full study at Wiley.com.
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