Selects: Noise Pollution: Arrrgh! | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hi friends, it's Josh and for this. week's select, I've chosen our October. 2021 episode on noise pollution, which. is actually an overlooked hazard to our. health and it's even been shown to cause. death in some cases. Plus, it guest. stars the worst thing in the world, the. gas powered leaf blower. And we get to. the bottom of why they're so terrible. Plus, there's plenty more amazing. action-packed stuff. So, kick back and. enjoy this episode on Noise Pollution.

[Music]. Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production of iHeart Radio. >> Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm. Josh Clark and there's Charles W. Chuck. Bryant and there's Jerry over there and. this is stuff you should know. the. >> Can I tell people what just happened? >> Sure. >> After what going on 14 years.

>> coming up? Yeah. I guess in April, >> Jerry hit record and you went, "Hey. everybody." Oh, wait. I've been having a lot of trouble with. my brain lately. I think I'm just. >> Hey, I think you're doing great. >> I don't know if I told you. Thank you. I. think you're doing great, too. Um, I. don't know if I told you, but I had. trouble remembering how to um, what six. plus seven added together, too. Did I. tell you that the other day? >> That sounds familiar. >> That really bothered me, man. Yeah. And.

that's like my favorite number. And it's. that like I just couldn't do it. >> Uh, I was putting my daughter to bed the. other night and as she was going to. sleep, literally falling asleep, >> "Daddy, what's 4 + 4?" It's eight. What's 6 plus two? That's also eight. Okay. >> She's learning math and you know that. first stuff you learn is literally just. that simple addition. >> Yeah. >> And it's just funny to think about like. wow that's what's on her mind right now.

>> Yeah. But also she's learning acceptance. too. >> Just unquestioning. >> Yeah. >> Uh can I tell people how you spelled. this uh document that you sent my way. for this noise pollution episode? >> Sure. Boy, you're just laying it all out. there, aren't you? It It was fun because. it looked like uh a heavy metal band. It. was N O I Z E. >> P O I think it was P O L L U S H U N.

>> Yeah. >> And looking at on paper, I was like, "Oh. man, that's that's a good bad band.". Yeah. Name. >> It is. Like that's a that's a good name. for a madeup band in a movie. >> Like Wild Stallions. >> Yes. >> Bill and Ted. >> Yeah. Although that's tough to compete. with, you know. It is. Um, I also think. we should uh we should give a little COA. here. I think it's 100% impossible for. you and I not to turn into old men. >> complaining about like loud music and.

loud mufflers and stuff in this episode. So, it's going to happen. I think. everybody who knows us and saw the title. of this one knew it was going to happen. But, let's just put it on the table now. >> Well, and it's also funny you mentioned. this because I did mention noise. pollution. I introduced that concept uh. to my daughter the other day and said, >> you know, she was like, "Well, what's. that?" And I said, "Well, it's it's as. bad as trash on the road, but. >> it's noise that's doing it.". >> And you should be aware of it. And she. was like, "Oh, okay." Um,

and I guess it never occurred to me that. like loud noises for kids, unless it's. something that really bothers them, is. just part of life. >> Sure. It definitely seems to become more. bothersome the older you get. >> Absolutely. I think I don't know why, but I'm going to hypothesize that it's. because you grow to learn that it. doesn't have to be that way. And it you. come to really resent the things and the. people who are making it so. >> Yeah. And I think that's why people one.

reason people retire to the country or. something like that if they've lived in. the city their whole life. >> Just a little more tranquil. uh perhaps even bucallic lifestyle. Yeah, >> quieter. And there's a lot of science. behind it. It's not just like, oh, I. don't want to hear those noises as you. will see throughout this episode. It is. it's bad for your health. >> Hey, speaking of retirement, have you. seen that documentary on the villages? >> I have. >> It is bonkers.

>> Yeah, I saw it um actually when I had co. I went on a documentary binge and that. was one of them. Man, it was like one of. the most disturbing documentaries I've. ever seen and I've seen like Dear. Zachary and somehow it was like up there. with it. >> It was good, man. That the I mean, I. don't want to give you anything but the. one guy uh that was, you know, >> the sort of uh disco ste. >> Sure. Yeah, >> that was it's kind of funny at first, but then that got really sad, too. A lot. of lot of layers. >> All of it was incredibly sad. The.

>> highly recommended. >> Yeah. Just bizarre, man. And then I was. watching the credits and I saw Darren. Areronowski was a executive producer. I'm like, "Okay, here we go." Nothing. suddenly clicked a little more. >> I thought a great idea for a movie would. be a setting like that. You couldn't. call it that because it's I'm sure. proprietary, but. >> the town Yeah. A setting just like that. where uh they wake up one day and. there's been a murder. >> and then like you know Kyle Mclofflin is. kind of a Twin Peaksy thing. You know, the stranger from a strange land comes.

in to investigate a murder in a very. unlikely place. and all the sort of. weirdos there. I think that would be a. cool movie. Yeah. >> Or TV show. >> Sure. Well, I mean that is Twin Peaks. basically, >> right? But you could if you said it in a. retirement community in Florida, people. would recognize that. >> You could just walk away dusting your. hands off like job well done. >> There's plenty of things that have done. that. It's not just Twin Peaks. >> Sure. I know. Just nobody did it better. than Twin Peaks, I think. >> Agreed. Um, all right. So, noise. pollution. I think the the fact of the. podcast to me came right up front in.

that I never thought of the fact Mhm. >> That a decibel was a tenth of a bull. >> Mhm. >> Or a bell. >> Mhm. Which is named. >> It's got desi right there. >> Yeah. I know. I'd never thought of it. either because you never hear of any. other variation on it's like one decel, 10 dB, 100 dB, you know. >> Um and apparently a bull or a bell be l. is named after Alexander Graham Bell. too. >> Didn't know that either. And the reason. why we why a decibel is used which is. onetenth of a bell.

um is because a a a decibel a onetenth. of a bell difference in sound is the. lowest the smallest difference that. humans can detect. >> Right? So, we trade in decibb here on. the human level. >> and we trade in an algorithm when we. talk dec. uh 100 dB isn't twice as loud as 50 dB. >> It's spit into an equation that's.

actually 100,000 times as loud. >> Yeah. So, so like uh 10 dB uh the. difference between 10 dB and 20 dB is 20. dB is 10 times louder. The difference. between 10 dB and 30 dB. 30 dB is 100. times louder. It's logarithmic. >> And zero dBs, as we'll call them, >> that is the threshold of human hearing, period. And 140 dB is about where we you. can start to experience literal physical.

pain from a sound. >> Yeah, I saw between 120 and 140. Yeah, it it ranges like uh I mean I've been to. some loud. concerts in small venues. >> Yeah, Dinosaur Jr. at Variety Theater. was it for me. >> I was just about to say Dinosaur Jr. They're one of the legendary loud bands. >> It was insane. >> It It is super loud, but it's not like I. don't remember feeling pain, but I do. remember feeling discomfort at a couple. of these where I was like, geez, this is.

like I like my music loud, but this is a. little much, >> dude. Yeah. Like I don't wear earplugs. cuz I wore earplugs and that and I was. like, I'm saving myself right now. It. was so loud. And I meant to say Variety. Playhouse, not Variety Theater. >> Yeah, cuz we played there before. We. don't want to disrespect. >> No, I know. You know that variety place. >> But all of this to say, um, God bless. Jay Mascus. >> Yeah. No, it was great, but it was. really loud. >> What about this conversation that we're. having? What is that? >> Well, it depends. a normal conversation. something around what 60 def dB and I.

saw that that's people standing about a. meter apart um speaking without raising. their voices that's 60 dB right there. for reference. >> what about a car. >> cars are about 10 times louder to 1000. to a thousand times louder than a normal. conversation depending on the car or the. truck um between 70 and 90 dB. >> What about an airplane or a siren? So. you would think, okay, a normal. conversation is 60 dB. A airplane being. 120 dB is twice as loud. No, my friend.

It's. 1000,000. 10,000. It's a 100,000 times louder. An. airplane is a 100,000 times louder than. a normal conversation if it reaches 120. dB. >> All right. If you've ever been on a. tarmac, uh, like a live tarmac and heard a plane. kind of landing or taking off, you. that's some loud stuff. >> Yes. >> And that's why they wear those cans on. their ears. >> Yeah. They and they definitely should.

because we're starting to realize that. there's all sorts of hearing loss. besides the traditional ones that you. can pick up on a regular hearing test. There's something called hidden hearing. loss that we're just starting to get our. eyes or mind around where the structure. of your hearing apparatus in your ear, the little psyia that's almost like a. Venus fly trap trigger hair but for. sound instead. um like those things can. be intact, but the neurons that form the. chain between your ear and your brain.

can be permanently damaged so that the. the sound that gets to your brain is. garbled or or partially missing. And. that's a huge thing and that can happen. at much lower intensity than than we. understood before. And speaking of. intensity, I think we should say real. quick a decibel to us humans, we we. basically talk in decibb as like a. measure of volume because that's what it. appears to like us. Like a an increase. in decibb is an increase in the volume. of the sound. But really what a decibel.

is measuring is the intensity of the. disturbance of an air of the air that. something has made. So if you're really. close to that disturbance, it's going to. be a very intense exposure to your ear. If you're further away, it's going to be. a much less intense exposure because it. kind of dissipates over distances. But to you, it's just registering as a. difference in volume where really it's a. a difference in the intensity of the. wave that's being produced that's. traveling through the air. >> That's right. And uh this is all sound.

>> Yes. >> That's not noise. Noise is different. Noise is what we're talking about. mainly. And noise is classified as. unwanted sound. >> Simple enough. >> Yeah. That can vary depending on who you. are. Obviously, uh, you know, the the sound of your. significant other's voice after 40 years. may be noise to you. >> Asking for some tea. The sound of a. Harley-Davidson motorcycle being revved. up in front of your house might be.

noise. Or those uh those blowers that. that you used to hate and now you you. love and use. >> I still don't love it. And I went. battery powered, but it's still even. while I'm using I'm like I'm a terrible. person. >> But you get it done quickly probably, right? >> So quick. So quick. I'm like mincing and. prancing just getting it done. >> Uh and there's a lot of kinds of. different noise. Um, sometimes like. let's say you work in a in a machine. shop or something. >> and you use a machine like the m this.

the sound the machine makes is like it's. not necessary but it's a byproduct uh. it's a result of the machine working. correctly. It's not like well let's just. make this thing loud. It's like well I'm. sorry a jackhammer is going to be loud. >> because that's just the way it goes. You. can reference our our jackhammer. episode. It was fantastic. Um, so that sound isn't necessarily. noise, but the intensity and repetition. of that sound makes it becomes noise. >> Yeah. Yeah. It's an unwanted intensity.

or it can just the sound existing itself. like you were saying like a leaf blower. just an unwanted existence of sound. So. either way, the the operative thing is. it's unwanted sound. That's the key, right? >> Yeah. And and this is another cool fact. of the episode, I think, is that uh they. think that as late as uh through the. 1940s and into 1950, natural sounds were. still the dominant sounds that you. heard. >> Mh. >> Um and then things really changed.

>> Yeah. Because there's a there's a a big. qualifier that a lot of researchers make. that and not everybody does, but that. noise is by definition human caused, >> right? like either we're yelling or. whatever um or one of the machines that. we've created is making noise. But that. you wouldn't say like the sound of that. waterfall is noise. Like we don't think. of like natural sounds typically as. noise. It's just sounds and as we'll see. it's probably because we have been.

living like our species has been living. around those sounds and has definitively. excluded them as threatening so that. they're they don't they don't produce. like an irritation in us. They just are. sound almost regardless of how intense. they are. >> Right? And that and again that. irritation is subjective because that. rock concert that I enjoy someone else. might call that noise. >> that uh that space shuttle launch that. is super loud.

>> might be noise to some people but to. others you know it's the same sound but. they. >> they don't think of it as noise because. they're excited and exhilarated in the. moment to see and hear that thing. >> Yeah. So, you know, the other night uh. the uh Inspiration 4, um crew came back. on the Dragon capsule. Did you watch. that? >> No. Did you Did you see it live? >> Uh we didn't see it because they. splashed down in the Atlantic, but we. heard the sonic boom it made when it. came back into the atmosphere over. Florida. It was astounding.

>> That's awesome. >> Did you see that? A sonic boom? >> No, I didn't. >> Oh, it's really good. It starts out. like, oh god, this is not good. This is. like a terrible corporate ad. and then. it really starts to find its feet. It's. It's crazy how it evolves over like just. the first couple episodes. >> I got to see it. >> It's good. It's definitely worth seeing. >> Um what other kinds of noise? You got. industrial noise, which that's. classified as kind of from the beginning. of the process all the way to the end of.

any kind of industrial process. >> And that's basically called continuous. noise. uh from you know raw materials. all the way to the to the end disposal. of whatever byproducts can usually cause. a lot of racket. >> Yeah. So like you know like um like a. generator humming or something like. that. There's not a lot of variation in. intensity. It's basically this hum or. steam being released or even like a. rhythmic like um like a like a something.

being like hammered. No, not hammered. That's a different. that's called impulsive noise. But um. just something that doesn't really vary. It's just kind of a monotonous sound. That's that's a kind of a subcategory. called continuous sound. And it just so. happens that most industrial processes. are continuous in in in nature, >> right? Whereas a train going by your. house or a plane flying or a car going. by or a siren is intermittent. >> Yeah. And then also you could probably. say like uh if you held the trigger down.

on a backpack leaf blower um which again. is the worst thing that anyone's ever. invented, >> but if you held it down that would be a. continuous sound for the whole time it. was going. But no one does that ever. They just rev in this irriymic pattern. that your brain is just. >> just giving its all to trying to to try. to find a pattern in. Yeah. >> And so you get worn out and irritated. so quickly because of those things. because they don't follow rhyme or.

reason and in conjunction with that it's. an intermittent sound. >> Yeah. >> So, which is from what I can tell one of. the worst sounds for us. >> Right. And then you've also got. community noise which is just people. noise. I think the leaf blowers are. thrown into that lawnmowers uh. you know if you got a a festival in your. neighborhood or fireworks on the 4th of. July or people playing their music in. their cars or their houses. This is all. just sort of people gener generated. community sound.

>> Yep. So those are basically the three. categories that I saw. Industrial. traffic and community. >> Should we take a break? >> I think we should. >> All right, we'll be right back. I got to. go quiet down that racket outside and. I'll be right back. [Music]. [Music].

Okay. Did you finish shaking your fist. at those teenagers on your lawn? >> I'm lucky because we don't have loud. We. don't have one neighbor on one side and. our neighbor beside us is pretty quiet. But. >> I do live near and I've talked about it. before a a pretty main road. >> And you you kind of get used to it, but. I also yearn, you know, to be a few. blocks in, but. >> you know, you can't pick up your house.

and move it. So, what are you going to. do? You get used to it. >> You can, but it's really expensive. >> Well, no, that is true. You can move a. house sometimes. >> Didn't we do an episode on that once? >> How to move a house? >> Yeah. >> I think I don't know if we did one just. on that. It may have been like historic. districts or something. I don't know. >> Okay. And by the way, that episode we. couldn't think of the other day was. Crumple Zones. >> Oh boy. So, we did do a whole episode on. Crumple Zones. >> We did. >> Boy, we were scraping the bottom of the. barrel there. But I remember that being. an interesting episode though, totally.

interesting. Yeah. >> Well, that's the stuff you should know. way, isn't it, Chuck? >> Uh, it is indeed. Should we talk about. hearing damage? >> Yeah. So, like I was saying, there's. that that kind of new type of hearing. damage that we're wrapping our minds. around that is like the death of the. neurons that are supposed to transmit. the electrical impulse to the brain. And. so, we don't hear very well. Our our. communication is garbled and yet you can. pass a traditional hearing test, no. problem. Um but other research is really.

starting to unfold like less um less. predictable ways that that noise and. noise pollution actually affects our. health. And it's like our entire system. is negatively affected by noise and. noise exposure. >> It is and it it basically at the. beginning uh of the whole process is. triggering the same exact thing that. triggers your fight orflight response. Mhm. >> Uh like you're going to have the same. reaction to, you know, if you hear a a a siren go by,

the same thing is happening in your as. far as your brain knows than what. happens if like a bear walks up to you. and roars, >> right? Yeah. So like our our hearing is. always on and it's always on the lookout. for um a potential threat. And one of. the ways that a potential threat can. give itself away is by making a sound. Right? It was like I was saying earlier. like we've been around waterfalls and. the sound of waves in our evolutionary. history for so long that basically it.

seems like when you're born you come. equipped with this don't worry about. that sound. Actually you can be soothed. by it. It's not something that should. stimulate your fight orflight response. But we've lived around industrial. machinery and the sound of a text. message or a leaf blower. the stupid. leafblowers for such a little amount of. our evolutionary history that our minds. are not at all attuned to those things. or or um we haven't kind of adopted this.

idea that a leaf blower is. non-threatening and so it stimulates the. fight orflight response in us when we. hear it. >> That's right. So, you're going to hear. that sound. Uh, your amygdala, which. we've talked about plenty, uh, is. contributes to emotional processing, is. going to send that same distress signal. to the hypothalamus again that gets if. you are in a fight orflight response, >> which is why you probably want to run. screaming if you. >> hear too many sirens or hear too many. leaf blowers. >> Sure. And then that's going to signal.

your adrenal glands uh to get your. adrenaline going and I believe uh. cortisol gets going as well. >> Yes. >> It's like literally mimicking fight or. flight. >> Yeah. And so they figured out that like. people who are continuously chronically. exposed to sound like say people who. live like really close to an airport or. really close to the subway tracks or um. people who work in a really noisy. factory. They have all sorts of crazy. random health problems like their kids.

sometimes have low birth weight. Obviously, they can develop tonitis. Um. heart disease, obesity, diabetes, uh. their their children who are exposed to. to chronic noise can have um cognitive. impairments, um high blood pressure, like all sorts of crazy stuff. And so. you think, well, okay, that's that's. like that's terrible. anybody who has to. live near noise or work near noise, like. we should do something about that. But. it's even worse than that. Like noise. pollution is even more insidious than.

that because you don't have to be. chronically exposed to it. You don't. have to live in a place where you're. like, "This is an objectively noisy. place that I live or work in to still. suffer from the effects of noise. pollution.". >> Yeah. I mean, it it can affect you when. you're sleep because like you said, your. ears are always on. And it's not like. you go to sleep. >> and the ears say, "Well, I'm going to. take a nice break." That would be a. fantastic evolutionary adaptation, actually. Yeah. Well, actually, it would. be terrible. >> It would these days. It wouldn't It.

would be great. >> The mountain lion saber-tooth tiger. days. >> Yeah. It'd be nice if there was a switch. and you could kind of control that. >> Oh, it'd be so nice. I think the switch. is the um white noise wave machine is. that switch. >> Yeah. Which I've gotten uh addicted to. such that I have to travel with them. now. >> Yeah. everywhere I go. Basically, >> I've heard that. Yeah. Basically, once. you start, you can't go back. >> Yeah. I like it though. I do brown noise. is my drug of choice. >> It sounds so gross, though. >> Brown.

Hey, I make a brown noise every morning. You know what I mean? >> Wow. I was not expecting Dangerfield to. make an appearance. >> Well, that's what you meant, right? Poop. or no? >> Yeah. I mean, I guess anytime I hear. brown, I think it's it's poop. You know, >> you think of that or you think of Wean, the band. >> Did they have a brown song or album? >> They talk about the brown thing, the. brown sound. And. >> brown is just sort of their color and. how they used to talk about sound. And. I've heard other groups talk about brown. sounds. >> So, what does brown sound sound like?

>> Well, brown noise, you know, if white. noise is. >> Mhm. >> brown noise is. >> Okay. That's the best way I can describe. middle. >> Yeah. It's sort of a lower lower end. And if you actually play it through a. speaker, >> like if you put it on your phone and. play it through a little Bluetooth, you. can get some good bass and it it just it. really works wonders for me. >> I should try brown noise or even white. noise. I've been using um chrome noise. where it's like. and it's really not helping me sleep at.

all. >> You're like I have the sound of a early. internet connection being made on a. >> on a constant. Um, did they ever name that? They should. have named that. Uh, >> it'd be great to. >> Yeah. I don't know. I don't. >> just call it whatever it was. >> They called it the um tickety widget, >> right? Um, interrupted sleep though, that's that's the big problem or one of. the big problems because your ears are. always on. If you have un interrupted. sleep or or poor sleep overall, you're.

going to be tired obviously. >> Sure. >> Your creativity, your memory can uh get. impaired. Your creativity is going to be. low. You're going to have impaired. judgment. uh your psychoot motor skills. might be impacted. You might have more. headaches. They've done studies. If you. live near airports and stuff like that. or uh you know next to like a railard, you're going to have more headaches. You. might take more sleeping pills as a. result. >> Um you might be more prone to minor. accidents and you are going to be more. prone to seek uh psychiatric treatment.

in your life. They like studies have. shown this. >> Yeah. There's a a study of uh people. living near European airports. They. found a 10 decel increase in aircraft. noise was associated with a 28% increase. in anxiety medication and that people um. were also likelier to have like 25% more. likely to have symptoms of depression. So again, all this is just from like. having not good sleep, which is bad. enough, but apparently Chuck, it even. gets worse because even if your sleep.

isn't disturbed where you're waking up. and not getting sleep because of noise, >> right? like you get used to it sort of. >> Uhhuh. The the noise is still affecting. you while you're sleeping because again. your ear never turns off. It's always on. the the listen out for some sort of. threat creeping up on you. And so if. you're exposed to noise while you're. sleeping, it still has that stress. effect on you. And what they figured out. is that one of the problems of just. being chronically stressed through.

something like noise and I think stress. in general is that it um it affects I. think it's called the endothelium. which is the lining of your blood. vessels and and they respond to. chemicals that tell them to constrict to. relax. Um and they get constricted when. they get stressed when they're exposed. to stress like cortisol or something. like that comes along and says. constrict. And when they do that, you. get high blood pressure. You can end up. with heart disease. You can end up uh.

suffering from heart attacks. And what's. insane is they figured out that after. one night of being exposed while you're. sleeping to something like train sounds, um your endothelium. starts suffering. Like it doesn't. function as well after just one night of. that, >> right? Like isn't the idea that you can. have no other sort of poor health. markers and it can actually be brought. on because of this noise, right? >> Yes. While you're sleeping, you're still.

getting sleep, but it's still happening. to you while you're sleeping. and not. only like high blood pressure um or um. uh like a heart attack or something like. that coming down the road, but also like. diabetes, obesity, there's a lot of. things that we're figuring out are are. tied to the lining of the blood vessels. and whether they're healthy or not. It's. a huge predictor of a whole range of. diseases. And when you hear noise, that's your stressors trigger your.

endothelium to constrict. And that is a. really bad thing. >> It is. Um here in the United States, we. kind of started studying this stuff in. earnest in the 70s. Uh that was when uh. pollution was a big deal just all around. in the United States. And we started to. say things like, "Hey, maybe you. shouldn't just um have a family picnic. and then just uh pick up your blanket. and dump all the trash on the ground, right?" like they did on that episode of. Mad Men. >> and on Anchor Man where they're all.

eating McDonald's and they just throw it. on the ground in the park window. >> I saw a guy throw a fully. >> My god like McDonald's thing out the. window the other day and smashed on the. sidewalk. >> Oh my god. >> And I was just like who who does that. still? >> Yeah, that's the problem is we're at a. place in in our country's history where. if you confront people like that, there's a chance you're going to get. shot for confronting someone like that. But I don't confront. >> But that's like that is the kind of. behavior you should under normal.

circumstances, non-shooting. circumstances, feel perfectly fine. confronting somebody about and being. like, "What what is wrong with you?". Like we're so far beyond that. Like. everyone knows you shouldn't do that. >> It's just Oh, it drives me insane. >> Oh, I got into a good fight with him in. my brain. >> Yes, I know. Like what? Like where's the. solution? Where's the answer? >> I don't know, man. I think the zen path. is you go pick up that McDonald's cup. and throw it away. >> Totally. >> And and say a a prayer for that person. Good luck.

>> Uh so yeah, New York uh is where they. started studying this stuff in the 70s. because it was kind of wrapped up, like. I said, folded into larger pollution. studies. They're like, "Well, we might. as well talk about noise pollution. >> Sure. >> New York is the place to do it." And. they did there were a couple of studies. in the 1970s about subway noise. >> that really sort of gave uh put the. whole thing on some terrairma as far as. the health effects and and and learning. effects in the case of kids at PS98 in. Manhattan.

>> Uh it was very close to uh the train. tracks there, the subway train tracks, >> like real close. >> Yeah. Like 220 ft away. And they found, and this is this is pretty startling, they found that the kids that were. closest to the train tracks. >> were 11 months behind their classmates. that were on the other side of the. school. >> Yeah. On like not in another school, just on the other side of the school. >> Yeah. Almost a full. Well, I mean, that is basically a full. school year. >> Yeah. >> Uh because you know, with summers off.

and stuff, that's a academic year plus. >> Yeah. that they were behind and they. installed acoustic tiles in the. classroom and some dampening uh devices. and they did a follow-up study and the. gap had closed basically. So it I mean. there's proof right there like your kids. are not learning as well if they're near. that subway noise. >> Mhm. There's another um kind of landmark. study in the 70s in New York that. established the concept of noise. pollution at a place called the Bridges,

apartment high-rise or a cluster of them. in Manhattan that I believe 95 maybe. drives under or really really close. Um, and the the traffic noise is so bad that. even as high up as the eighth floor, the. traffic sound is about the level of a. vacuum cleaner. And like just sitting in. your apartment, you have to raise your. voice to to be heard. >> Um, which I mean just the stress of. that. I can't imagine like that's an.

inhabitable uninhabitable place. I. believe people are still living there as. well. Um but the the this this study. found that children living there were um. far behind at reading comprehension, at. listening comprehension, uh and just. weren't learning as as quickly as other. kids their age who did not live in the. bridges. So those two studies together. from New York kind of established this. idea like, okay, there's a there's a. real problem with noise pollution. Um,

and then it just went away for many, many years until about 2011. when the WHO, there was a bunch of other. studies. A lot of the other ones that. we've referenced so far came out around. 2010, 2011, 2013. I'm not sure what. exactly kicked it off, but there was a. big spade of them. But then the WHO. released a really big report. Not The. Who, the Band, the World Health. Organization. >> They're another loud band, actually. And. um yeah, they felt terribly guilty about. causing hearing loss in their their um.

fans. So they launched this study of um. uh basically all of Western Europe. Um. they looked at um I think something like. 500 different studies and did a meta. analysis of them to calculate what's. called the disability adjusted life. years or dailies that were lost in. Europe every year to noise pollution. >> Yeah. Yeah. And the idea of a daily is. they kept they basically say it's like. the healthy years of your life.

>> that end up being lost to this. human-made noise that you're living. with. >> Right. >> And it it's kind of a sort of an. esoteric way to think about it. Uh but. once you wrap your head around it, it. makes a little bit more sense. >> Yeah. >> But but they found that at least 1. million healthy years of life are lost. every single year. Mhm. >> Only in just in Europe due to noise. pollution, a million healthy years of. people's lives, >> right, >> annually. >> Yeah. And that that means because of all.

of the disease burden that noise. pollution produces in humans that that's. how much of our our healthy lifespan is. shaved off every year collectively or. how much Europe is. And they did a. follow-up study in 2018, Chuck, and. found that actually no, we got it wrong. It's 1.8 eight million dailies are lost. in Western Europe alone each year. So. they definitely established through. these this these couple of WHO studies. like no noise pollution is still a thing.

and we should probably do something. about it. And there was another study. that was released this past year that. said, "Yes, dailies are significant, but. we may have found a link that shows that. noise pollution can actually straight up. kill you under some circumstances. potentially.". >> Yeah. And this one was this is pretty. startling because they looked at heart. uh well, not necessarily heart attack, but nighttime deaths. No, I guess it was. heart attacks. But if you die o.

overnight, die in your sleep, quote. unquote, from heart attacks, uh, and the. link to commercial aircraft flying over. your house. >> And I guess they had a way to sort of. cancel out all the other factors. >> And they got down to the nitty-gritty. that 3% of all nighttime deaths from. heart attacks can be attributed to the. sound of aircraft flying overhead while. you're sleeping. >> Yep. That is just like that was it. that. was the last stress response that your.

body could handle and you had a heart. attack and died from that sound. And. they they said like, "Okay, we found a. definite correlation." But if there is. causation here, then we can chalk up. about 3% of those. That's astounding. >> It is astounding. Uh we're going to take. a break. That's the the human grossness. And we'll talk about the awful things. that we're doing to our animal friends. and nature right after this.

[Music]. All right. Uh we talked about a lot of. studies that basically all added up to. noise pollution very bad for human. beings. >> Mhm. >> Like literally bad for their health. >> Mhm. >> And and I know we've talked about a few.

of these before over the years, especially when it comes to whales. >> Uh but all manner of uh mother nature. are impacted by this noise. Uh they did. a study in the early 2000s about stress. hormones. um for uh what kind of whales were they? >> Write whales. the. >> yeah right whales in the Bay of. >> Fundy. >> and they saw and this is remarkable they. saw a really weird unexplained decline. in the stress hormone concentrations. that went away and then came back up.

again and they eventually realized it. was uh a halt in the shipping in the bay. after 9/11 happened. >> Yeah. Because shipping is probably. humans noisiest marine endeavor that we. do all the time constantly. And the idea. of a a break in that having being. connected to a huge decline in stress. hormones and in whale poop, that's. that's significant. But it was an. accidental discovery and I think it led. other people to start studying stuff.

like that, like the effects of noise on. wildlife. And there was this I think. University of Idaho, I'm sorry if it's. Idaho State, please don't be mad. >> I think it's Idaho. >> Okay. um a study from 2012 where. researchers set up like a what they. called a phantom road, which is. basically they affixed a line of. loudspeakers to some trees out in the. wilderness that stretched about a half a. mile in length and um they just played. road and traffic noise and not like city.

stuff, just like the kind of stuff that. possibly a remote through the wilderness. would sound like because they recorded. it in Glacier National Park on a road. air. And just from that, just from like. this rural glacier national park road. noise, something like more than a. quarter of all the birds in the area. just left. They were like, "We're. moving.". >> Yeah. >> We're going to Canada. That's what. everybody in the United States says. >> Yeah. You know, I think I I definitely.

noticed and I heard other people talk. about um in like April of last year. >> when things really slowed down commuter. and traffic-wise due to the pandemic. >> and I don't think it was just um our our. imaginations, but there were a there was. a lot more bird activity going on. >> Uh and I remember I think I remember us. even talking about it. Um or maybe it it. was just quieter for us so we noticed. them more or maybe a combination of. both. But there was there was a.

difference. And when you know when. shipping stops after 911 or when um. traffic stops, nature says, "Oh, uh the. the human a-holes are gone. Now we can. start behaving normally again.". >> Yeah. Like things are back to normal. Um. and that's I mean that's just on land. Also, they found that Idaho study found. that the birds that stuck around lost a. bunch of weight, which they would have. needed to migrate. So, maybe they. couldn't leave even if they wanted to. But those that was a land study. There's.

been other studies on land, but it seems. like the the um we're doing a lot of. damage to marine ecosystems as well, like probably even more because sound. waves travel in water a lot better than. light, which means that most of the. animals that live in the water have. really sensitive hearing. That's what. they've evolved to to use to communicate. and listen out for, right? So, when we. make noise, it's really problematic in. marine ecosystems. >> Yeah. And we make a lot of noise. I. mean, that shipping activity we talked. about.

>> is super disruptive to anything. underwater. >> Uh when they search for mineral deposits. on the seafloor or under the seafloor, >> they use these seismic air guns. >> that are you can hear those things like. a fish can hear that a thousand. thousands of miles away. Mhm. Very. disruptive. Um, sonar, I know we talked. about sonar. in a in an episode years ago and how. that affected marine life. I can't. remember what it was. >> Did we do an entire episode on the time. they blew up the beached whale? Like.

what to do with a beach whale? >> Maybe, but they basically kind of say. now like they think the reasons whales. beach themselves is because of these. noises and sonar is a big culprit, >> right? um like it just drives them out. of the water which sounds bonkers but if. you ever think about how humans. sometimes jump from tall buildings. rather than being burned by the. intensity of a fire I think it's. virtually the same principle. >> Sure. >> So we are we have become aware of just.

how much noise pollution affects not. just us but the environment as well. Like it's it is a form of pollution. Um, and it seems like, you know, it's. started to accumulate in the last few. years. But really, we've known for a. good 50 years that noise pollution is. really bad for everybody. Uh, and yet. we've done almost nothing about it. But. we had the start, Chuck. We started out. like we were going to, like almost. immediately when we realized how bad. noise pollution was in the 70s, we. started to do something about it. Um,

and the federal government passed like. three and actually I saw a fourth one. um huge acts that had to do with. basically controlling noise pollution. >> Yeah. Either controlling noise pollution. for people in general or through OSHA. making sure people were working in safe. conditions. >> or at least had, you know, the ear cans. and things they needed to work safely. >> Yeah. >> And it was, like you said, it was headed. in the right direction. We knew it was. bad and we were trying to stop it. And. then the Reagan administration came.

along and said, "Nuts to that. That's. federal regulation. let's just leave it. to the states because you ask any. governor of any state and they'll tell. you their citizens know to do the right. thing and they'll do that right thing. and uh so we'll just leave it up to the. states and let them uh they volunteered. to phase itself out the office of noise. and abatement control. >> uh on paper still exists but congress. said you know let's just not fund them. anymore and let's keep these laws on the. books but really not worry about it too. much because the states will take care.

of it right because states always do the. right thing. Yeah. And the states of. course did absolutely nothing. And it's. partially because they can't do a lot. about it. A lot of noise is really best. understood, studied, and regulated by. the federal government. Like what? Like. Georgia has a bunch of money reserved to. study the effects of noise on humans. Like no, that's totally a federal kind. of thing to do, you know? And that's. what some of those 70s acts set up like. that that office of noise abatement and. control or noise control and abatement.

like its purpose was to study that kind. of stuff. That's not what states do. So. the states have well not the states but. usually more municipalities and counties. have they have taken steps to kind of. mitigate sound pollution like there's or. noise pollution. There's usually. regulations on how early or late a. landscaping crew can work within the. city limits or some of them say like you. can't boom your stereo or you're not. allowed to have that broken glass. muffler on your Harley. Um like there's.

some stuff like that. But then like if. you live kind of under a flight path, if. your town wanted to say, you know what, you can't fly over our town and wake. everybody up between, you know, 12 at. night and 7 in the morning. you can't. fly an airplane over it. The airplanes. would just be like I like I I didn't. hear you. Sorry. I was listening to the. feds who say you can't make laws like. that. >> Yeah. And you know, I get the feeling. with municipalities it is more like u.

complaints from neighbors kind of noise. >> or the lawn crews and construction like. you were saying and less like stuff with. big teeth. Um, recently, uh, weird. reason I won't get into, but I was. looking up noise ordinances in Athens, Georgia, and they're kind of funny when. you look at these noise ordinances. It's. like it literally said like, >> you know, walking down the sidewalk um, yelling at one another. They're talking. about basically drunk kids. >> Sure. >> You know, like the French Quarter kind. of thing. >> Uh, it said, you know, this includes.

hooting and hollering. >> And it was something about being able to. hear you from like 300 feet away. but or noise from your apartment, but. it's, you know, it's like good luck with. that. Like you can call the cops on. someone maybe. >> Yeah. >> But there's no teeth or or reg or uh. what do you call it when you or. enforcement kind of with a lot of this. stuff aside from singling out people. when it happens in the moment and you. may get a cop come by and say, "Turn it. down." But even if there's a will to do.

something, it depends on if it's like. rail traffic or air traffic, like the. federal um the federal government ties. local local towns and counties hands. Like they can't do anything about it. And there's um as a result there's a lot. of noise pollution that people can't do. anything about. There's a um there's a. town in Canada. I can't remember the. name of it, but it it is um it's got. rail like a rail system that goes. through it and it doesn't have like. alarms or like the the arms that come.

down. So, trains have to honk their. horns at least three times as they cross. through this town. And there's a bunch. of different crossings. And they. calculated that train horns blare 1,200. times a day in this little tiny town. And like obviously everybody's going. nuts, but they can't do anything about. it because the federal government of. Canada is in charge of regulating rail. travel like every other developed or. industrialized country. >> Yeah. And even if it's something like.

OSHA and like you you work in a loud. factory and they're trying to uh. regulate that, they they say that a. >> they don't cover all industries they. should cover and when when they do it's. very inconsistently applied and even. when they do apply it inconsistently. >> Um they say that these limits aren't. even low enough to protect all the. workers anyway from hearing loss. Uh, it. said OSHA regulations allow workers to. be exposed to 95 dB for 4 hours a day, 5.

days a week for your entire 40-year. career. >> That's insane. >> And that that that's like you're going. to suffer from hearing loss if that's. the case. >> Yeah. That's like holding a leaf blower. right right next to you for four hours a. day, 5 days a week for 40 years. Like, of course, you're going to lose your. hearing. Like, that's that's crazy. Well, and then factor in the the other. health effects that no one ever talks. about that we mentioned in the whole. first half of this thing. >> and you have an unhealthy population if. you're stuck in one of those places. >> Yeah. So, we could sit here and cavet.

all day, which we we would love to do, but there are solutions to this, but we. I want to point out one more time all. these solutions are zero thanks to the. Reagan administration. Um, instead. there's some simple stuff you can do to. help us humans, like you can change. aircraft routes. You can build barriers. along roadways and railways. Um, you can. even green it up. Like they found that. if you use shrubbery and trees mixed. together so that they basically produce. a fence and you plant them close to the. road or close to the railway rather than.

close to the place that you're trying to. protect, they do pretty good at uh. reducing the the decibb of the the. sound, the noise pollution coming from. the traffic. Um that's some easy stuff. you can do. And then on the user end, on. the individual's end, there's all sorts. of like acoustic um insulation and. paneling you can add to your house to. make it a little more soundproof and. quieter. Um what about those mufflers, Chuck? >> Car mufflers. >> Yeah. So, apparently the ones that make.

the sound are not not they're not good. >> Yeah. Uh I mean that they could they. could change that. The EPA could get. involved and say, "You know what? You. can't have those kind of mufflers. anymore." Mhm. Thank God if they did. >> As as far as the shipping go, I know. it's always like a Honda Civic or. something that. >> it's like tricked out like it's some. kind of race car, >> right? >> Um, as far as the water goes and the. shipping stuff like that, those big. ships, uh, they found that if they. separate the ship's engine from the.

hull, uh, they are quieter, much. quieter. And they even found that there. is uh I think there's a 75% reduction in. acoustic energy um 6 to 8 dB which is. significant. >> Uh and they also found that it is less. fuel efficient and if they like. retrofitted or kind of changed the way. they built these ships. I don't know if. you can well I guess you can retrofit. some of them. >> Well yeah the propellers are what's. making them less fuel efficient. So you. can e not easily but you can take off. the old propellers and put on new ones. >> right but it costs a lot of money up.

front. like they will save in the long. run. >> And I think uh is it pronounced Marisk? The big shipping company. >> Yeah. >> They spent a h 100red million bucks to. do just 11 of its ships. So that gives. you the idea of how much it costs. >> Mhm. >> Uh there may be see some efficiencies if. they did more or something, but it's not. cheap. Uh and they have 740 ships. They've done 11. So, >> well, I did see that is actually a very. small fraction of all of the ships. involved in shipping that are.

responsible for the vast majority of the. noise. So, if you did just focus on the. worst offenders, it would have a. significant impact. >> Yeah. >> There's also a huge amount of noise. apparently underwater noise that comes. from offshore wind farms because of the. uh pile driver that is moved by up and. down by the blades to help produce the. electricity to move the turbine. Right. >> That's right. >> And they found that if you just put a. perforated pipe around the pile driver, the pile driver is going to produce.

bubbles and those bubbles will dissipate. the noise, almost all the noise. I think. like 95% of the noise coming from those. offshore wind farms. That's a really. simple, easy solution. Just do it, people. >> Yeah. Yeah. And there's one other thing. that I hadn't thought about, but I saw a. couple places and it really makes sense. Is that the noise pollution we're. contributing to marine ecosystems in. particular is just such lowhanging fruit. that there's no reason we shouldn't do. this. There's some really easy stuff we. can do. Like even rerouting shipping.

lanes is one thing we can do. and that. by doing that it will actually stabilize. marine ecosystems and marine life so. that it'll buy us a little time while. we're figuring out much trickier stuff. like ocean acidification and things that. are also threats to it. So it's like. just removing noise pollution would. really go a long way toward extending. the um I guess the health and vitality. of the oceans while they're you know. while we're combating climate change.

>> I love it. Let's get all these things. going. Our health is suffering. >> Let's start with the mufflers. >> Yeah, that's just annoyance and health. >> Yep. Uh well, since Chuck said that's. just annoyance, of course, everybody, that means it's time for listener mail. >> Uh this one's pretty short and sweet. I. just love it when we get an answer about. something. Uh I think I might have known. this at some point, but we talked about. shrinking as humans. >> Mhm. And this is from uh Steve in Rosco,

Illinois. He says, "I've been a longtime. listener, never had a reason to reach. out, but you hit my area of expertise. I'm a physical therapist, and while. listening to the episode about crash. testing, you ask why do we shrink when. we get older? What happens as we age, guys, is the intervertebral discs in our. back lose hydration, and as a result, we. shrink." Huh. Uh there are six discs in. the cervical spine, 12 discs in the. thoracic spine, and five discs in the. lumbar. If each disc were to lose a. minimum of 1/16th of an inch in height,

that adds up pretty quickly, and you can. easily lose an inch plus in your. lifetime. >> Wow. Uh the other thing to consider as. we age is our muscles and tissues get. tighter, pulls us into positions of poor. posture, >> circumstance. >> That's right. Uh and this restricts our. ability uh to stand up straight. You. combine all these things together and. all of a sudden Josh isn't going to hit. his goal height of 6 feet. >> I have to stand on my tippy toes now. >> Uh thanks for all the good work. I hope. I didn't step on the toes of a future. short stuff. I think we just did it,

Steve. Uh that's Steve Marima or Marimma. from Rosco, Illinois. Thanks a lot, Steve. That was a good email. We. appreciate that big time. And if you. haven't stumbled upon it yet, you should. check out our episode on sarcopenia. It. is old, but it was interesting. >> Yeah. And if you have any physical. therapy needs in Illinois, give Steve a. call. It sounds like a good guy. >> Yeah. Head to beautiful Rosco, Illinois. >> Come on. >> Uh if you want to be like Steve from. Rosco and uh give us some more info that.

we were asking for, we love that kind of. stuff. You can send it to us via email. to stuffodcast@ iheartradio.com. [Music]. >> Stuff you should know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart. Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple. Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows. [Music].