Exposures to Transit and Other Sources of Noise among New York City Residents

To evaluate the contributions of common noise sources to total annual noise exposures among urban residents and workers, we estimated exposures associated with five common sources (use of mass transit, occupational and nonoccupational activities, MP3 player and stereo use, and time at home and doing...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2012-01, Vol.46 (1), p.500-508
Main Authors: Neitzel, Richard L, Gershon, Robyn R. M, McAlexander, Tara P, Magda, Lori A, Pearson, Julie M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
Cities
Demography
Digital music
Ear Protective Devices
Ear, auditive nerve, cochleovestibular tract, facial nerve: diseases, semeiology
Ecotoxicology and Human Environmental Health
Environmental Exposure - analysis
Environmental science
Female
Health Surveys
Hearing protection
Human exposure
Humans
Male
Mass transit
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
New York City
Noise pollution
Noise, Occupational
Noise, Transportation
Non tumoral diseases
Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology
Reproducibility of Results
Residence Characteristics
Urban areas
Young Adult
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Summary:To evaluate the contributions of common noise sources to total annual noise exposures among urban residents and workers, we estimated exposures associated with five common sources (use of mass transit, occupational and nonoccupational activities, MP3 player and stereo use, and time at home and doing other miscellaneous activities) among a sample of over 4500 individuals in New York City (NYC). We then evaluated the contributions of each source to total noise exposure and also compared our estimated exposures to the recommended 70 dBA annual exposure limit. We found that one in ten transit users had noise exposures in excess of the recommended exposure limit from their transit use alone. When we estimated total annual exposures, 90% of NYC transit users and 87% of nonusers exceeded the recommended limit. MP3 player and stereo use, which represented a small fraction of the total annual hours for each subject on average, was the primary source of exposure among the majority of urban dwellers we evaluated. Our results suggest that the vast majority of urban mass transit riders may be at risk of permanent, irreversible noise-induced hearing loss and that, for many individuals, this risk is driven primarily by exposures other than occupational noise.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/es2025406