US lockdowns cut personal noise exposure by nearly half, study finds:
The new analysis of data from the Apple Hearing Study reveals a similar trend concerning another type of pollution, in the volume of sounds the typical person is exposed to. The study is designed to gauge exposures to environmental sound at a national level and build a clearer picture of hearing health among Americans, and the pandemic threw up an interesting curveball.
The researchers gathered data from almost 6,000 participants in Texas, Florida, California and New York, amounting to more than 500,000 daily noise level readings. These were collected from Apple Watches and iPhones and cover the period before the pandemic as well as once the stay-at-home and social distancing orders were implemented.
[...] "When sound exposures are described using the decibel scale, a 10-dB change is equivalent to a 10-fold increase or decrease in sound energy, and a 3-dB change is equivalent to a halving or doubling or sound energy," he tells New Atlas. "The average daily sound exposure we observed prior to the COVID-19 lockdowns was 73.2 decibels, and the average sound exposure post-lockdown was 70.6 decibels, for a reduction of roughly three decibels. This roughly 3-dB reduction in sound exposure is equivalent to a halving, or 50 percent reduction, in average daily sound energy among our participants."
The noise exposure was halved. Does it make a difference for human health?
(Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Saturday October 17 2020, @12:29AM (9 children)
Massive. Now I can hear the tinnitus caused by the exposure to higher volume of noise during my lifetime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 4, Interesting) by richtopia on Saturday October 17 2020, @12:46AM (3 children)
My biggest shock is the numbers. The average used to be 73dB, that is appliance level noise (vacuum or dishwasher). With that said, the average dropped to 70dB, so a quiet vacuum or dishwasher.
I glanced through the article and it appears to be the average level from the entire sample group of 6000 people. Average means half of the participants are in a louder environment! As I type this I'm sitting in my house with music on at 50dB, and will go to sleep in a 38dB room tonight. I've worked in loud environments and always had ear plugs.
So, I guess my conclusion is that I'm sensitive to noise. If anyone is interested I've been very happy with the BAFX3370 meter for around the house: https://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products-Pressure-30-130dBA-Warranty/dp/B00ECCZWWI/ [amazon.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Saturday October 17 2020, @01:15AM (1 child)
<pedantic mode='on'>actually, it is the median [wikipedia.org]</pedantic>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 17 2020, @04:44AM
Not so pedantic a point. These CI from another study are not the raw data, but do indicate a skewed distribution.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4337395/ [nih.gov]
Nb. RR = Relative Risk.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 17 2020, @08:07PM
Wow, that's inexpensive. I've thought a lot about home made directional tools, since I find my quality of life very strongly impacted by noise and sound, but at that kind of price I almost think I should just get a few of those and build acoustic baffles (directional, notch filtering) for the frequency bands I care about.
I wish it had a frequency/power output and not just a peak power output. Hmm.
You seem to have put time and energy into this as well. If you ever write a journal entry about your experiments with sound measurement etc. please add it to the queue for general interest techies - I personally would hope it hits mainpage, and would love a peek at your results and process.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Saturday October 17 2020, @05:16AM (4 children)
Workplaces tend to be loud. I'm still working so no noise reduction for me.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday October 17 2020, @06:01AM (2 children)
I'm still working too. From home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Saturday October 17 2020, @06:45AM (1 child)
I keep asking, but they won't let me bring the machine shop home with me.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday October 17 2020, @06:53AM
Hint: buy a halon fire suppression system and industrial A/C for your garage. And learn sign language to argue with your significant other.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 17 2020, @05:06PM
The noise level from my boss prattling on about whatever has reduced substantially. +1
(Score: 5, Informative) by SomeGuy on Saturday October 17 2020, @12:42AM (1 child)
Might not say that if everyone else had my downstairs neighbor. :P
I guess I'm the only one totally creeped out about that. That's why I don't buy that kind of shit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 17 2020, @05:08PM
You wait til you see their data on the frequency of masturbation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 17 2020, @12:43AM (3 children)
"The noise exposure was halved. Does it make a difference for human health?"
You get better night's sleep, but countered by reduced physical activity hindering the very thing.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 17 2020, @01:26AM (2 children)
Oh, you're one of those gym rats that has no idea how to do a pushup at home or run around the neighborhood while keeping away from other people? Yeesh, the US is worse off than I thought.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 17 2020, @02:17AM (1 child)
But, I thought the police were gunning down anyone running around the 'hood.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 17 2020, @02:57AM
Cops shoot only blacks and browns. OK,, occasionally yellow and sometimes whites.
Uhm... ok, maybe you are right.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by corey on Saturday October 17 2020, @08:54AM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by looorg on Saturday October 17 2020, @02:14PM
From the papers Method section. They volunteered to have Apple snoop on their headphone sounds, exactly how or how much or how often is not mentioned as far as I can tell but it might be in the enclosed link somewhere.
But it can't exactly be shocking news that when you are not sitting in traffic or in your open office landscape hellpit with phones and people making noice all the time things become more quiet and relaxing. Nor that people that live in metropolitan areas getting a larger decresease then people that live out in the sticks is not that strange either, since their levels wasn't as high to begin with. But it's always nice to have data, even for obviously trivial things that more or less anyone could have guessed just by having a bit of a think about it.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 17 2020, @01:13PM (2 children)
All those noisy pickup and truck engines soon to be replaced .
Now what to do about the guys who drive with the stereo cranked up for the whole block to hear?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 17 2020, @02:54PM (1 child)
Pay them for the music you heard. The MPAA doesn't look kindly on freeloaders who try to listen to music that other people paid for.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 18 2020, @03:06AM
If I refuse to pay, will they install DRM in my brain that will block out his stereo?