Quiet Communities has a report on a panel at the American Public Health Association, about the ever-increasing role of environmental noise as “the new second-hand smoke,” and the serious public-health consequences of resultant hearing loss.

A sample:

Noise is not just a nuisance, it’s a growing public health hazard and action is long overdue.
That’s the message delivered at the November 2019 annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) in Philadelphia, where doctors and other specialists identified evidence that “environmental noise” underlies a myriad of health problems reaching well beyond hearing loss.
The sources of this noise range widely, from aircraft takeoffs and landings, construction activity and loud music, to gas-powered lawn and garden equipment and widespread use of personal listening devices….
The title given to the APHA meeting session—“Environmental Noise: the New Second-Hand Smoke”—likened the problem to that which has prompted limits nationally on smoking tobacco in public places. Dr. Lucy Weinstein, co-chair of APHA’s Noise and Health Committee, said the reports give impetus to updating and acting on the organization’s 2013 noise policy statement that advocated federal action.
“The ways in which we define and measure noise contribute to [political] inattention to noise as a public health problem,” said Dr. Jamie Banks, executive director of Quiet Communities Inc. (QCI), a Massachusetts-based nonprofit educational and advocacy organization.

The report is worth reading in full. Thanks and congratulations to Quiet Communities, the APHA, and the medical and public-health officials devoting time to this issue.