Improve Public Health

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Q: What can parents do to prevent hearing loss in their children?

A: Inform themselves about Noise-Induced Hearing Loss and do something about it. It is believed that continued exposure to train horns may result in permanent hearing damage. The implementation of a railroad crossing "Quiet Zone" would have the potential to improve public health in this regard.

Since 2006, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has required trains to sound a horn between 96 decibels and 110 decibels four times (two long, one short, and one short) at each non-Quiet Zone railroad crossing. Source: 49 CFR 222.21 .

Noise-Induced Hearing Loss

"Long or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 decibels can cause hearing loss. The louder the sound, the shorter the time period before NIHL can occur. Sounds of less than 75 decibels, even after long exposure, are unlikely to cause hearing loss.

Although being aware of decibel levels is an important factor in protecting one’s hearing, distance from the source of the sound and duration of exposure to the sound are equally important. A good rule of thumb is to avoid noises that are “too loud” and “too close” or that last “too long.”

Source: www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/pages/noise.aspx

Preventing Noise-Induced Hearing Loss

Hearing loss caused by exposure to loud sound is preventable. To reduce their risk of noise-induced hearing loss, adults and children can do the following:

• Understand that noise-induced hearing loss can lead to communication difficulties, learning difficulties, pain or ringing in the ears (tinnitus), distorted or muffled hearing, and an inability to hear some environmental sounds and warning signals

• Identify sources of loud sounds that can contribute to hearing loss and try to reduce exposure

• Avoid or limit exposure to excessively loud sounds

Source: www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/noise/

Source: www.itap.purdue.edu/images/candy/hearingChart.jpg

Q: In addition to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) references provided above, has there been much research on how railroad noise impacts health?

A: Yes; there have been many articles published in peer-reviewed academic journals such as the following:

• Sleep disturbance and mood related to railroad noise: Ouis D. Exposure to nocturnal road traffic noise: Sleep disturbance its after effects. Noise Health 1999;1:11-36

• “Self-reported sleep disturbances due to railway noise: exposure-response relationships for nighttime equivalent and maximum noise levels.” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 2008 Jul;124(1):257-68

• “Noise can have auditory and non-auditory effects on children”. “Bistrup ML. Prevention of adverse effects of noise on children. Noise Health 2003;5:59-64

• “association between transportation noise and cardiovascular risk.” Noise & Health, Jan-March 2006, Volume 8

• memory impact: Noise & Health 2005 7;27, 11-26

• “Associations between self-reported sleep disturbance and environmental noise based on reanalyses of pooled data from 24 studies. Behav Sleep Med. 2007

• Sleep changes produced by environmental noise. Gac Sanit. 1989

• Chronic Cortisol Increases in the First Half of the Night Caused by Road Traffic Noise. Noise Health. 2002

• The effects of noise on sleep and their possible repercussions on health. Med Sci (Paris). 2006

• “Solving Noise Hazards of railroads” 1: Occup Health Saf. 2008 Jun;77(6):100, 102, 104

Q: Is interruption of sleep a health issue?

A: Yes. Many people who live even a mile from railroad crossings have been denied a good quality of sleep. In some cases residents are constantly woken up by the load train whistles. This can cause sleep deprivation, which is a side effect from the constant train horns that pass us by at night and early morning. Below are some links outlining the negative effects on our health from sleep deprivation.

Below are some links to the negative effects of sleep deprivation

1) Memory Loss www.learnmem.org/cgi/reprint/10/3/168.pdf

2) Interfere with memory, energy levels, mental & emotional abilities www.sleep-deprivation.com

3) Teen Health www.apa.org/monitor/oct01/sleepteen.html

4) As bad as alcohol impairment archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/09/20/sleep.deprivation

5) Causes and Consequences www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d000701-d000800/d000705/d000705.html

Source: www.fairfieldquietzone.com