Quiet Communities, a public-health oriented non-profit based in Boston, has announced "The Quiet Coalition," a movement to direct attention to the chronic and acute health effects of increasing levels of ambient noise.

From their announcement:

The group is focused on getting policy makers in the U.S. as well as citizens to realize that noise is a burgeoning public health problem in the U.S. The founding chair is Daniel Fink MD, an internist who also serves as interim chair of Quiet Communities’ Health Advisory Council.

Unsafe levels of noise pervade our communities – from landscape maintenance, construction, restaurant music, sporting events, sirens, alarms, household appliances, toys and video games, personal listening devices, and air, road, and rail traffic. The sounds are often many times higher than those considered safe.

“The scientific evidence is incontrovertible: noise causes hearing loss and other health problems. We have a responsibility to speak up just as experts did when the dangers of smoking became known,” says Dr. Fink.