If you live in the countryside, you might be greeted with soothing bird chirps and the rustling of trees in the wind. On the other hand, living in the city could expose you to loud noises such as busy streets and traffic noises. The Apple Hearing study suggests that one out of three Americans experience this.
Excessive Noise Exposure
With everyone moving around and living their lives, it's inevitable for you to be surrounded by noise pollution, which are unwanted if not harmful sounds that might affect your hearing. These range from hearing people speak to suffering the noise of a lawn mower at six in the morning.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the annual average noise exposure level is 70 decibels, and noise going above that may pose a risk of hearing loss.
Not only that, excessive noise can cause annoyance, and impact your heart, your sleep, and even your mental health, as mentioned in MacRumors. The longer you are exposed to these sounds and at a higher level, the risks will increase as well.
Based on the data collected from 130,000 Apple Hearing Study participants who provided their Apple Watch readings from November 2019 to December 2022, the University of Michigan provided an estimate of 77 million adults in the US being exposed to excessive noise.
The data gathering method is made possible with the Apple Watch's built-in feature that can detect environmental sound levels, which can be found in the Health app. It can collect data and present the average daily environmental sound exposure level of the user.
The feature's acceptable level of noise is 75 decibels. When a user is exposed to noise at 80 decibels with 40 hours of exposure in the span of a week, they may sustain damage. 120 decibels with 14 seconds of exposure in a week can cause problems, reports say.
Noise Exposure Statistics
Some areas in the US are more exposed to excessive and harmful noise than others. For instance, Puerto Rico has the highest number of participants exposed to noise which is mostly above 70 decibels, with 44%.
Other states that have the same are Delaware at 39%, Rhode Island at 38%, Connecticut and Mississippi at 36%, and Louisiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and South Carolina at 35%. States with the largest population like New York, California, Texas, and Florida are exposed to high levels.
With a US average of 30%, Americans between 35 to 44 years old have the highest percentage of participants exposed to high-level noises at 33.9%. Ages between 18 to 24 come in second at 32.9%. Ages 25 to 34 and 45-54 are at 30.6% and 30.9%, respectively.
According to the study, you should move away from noisy locations and take "quiet breaks" so your ears and mind can rest. It's also best to choose the quietest unit when purchasing appliances, equipment, or tools, as well as wearing hearing protection devices like earplugs.
