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City noise has a negative impact on human health
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Endless noise from highways, airplanes, music and other city sounds increases the likelihood of heart and vascular diseases and provokes obesity. Such conclusions were reached by specialists from Karolinska University.
After their observations, scientists found that the weight of residents depends on the noise of the highway adjacent to the house, and the higher the noise from the road, the greater the weight. An increase in the noise level by 10 decibels leads to an increase in waist size by about 1 cm. The health of children, in particular, those in the womb, also suffers from noise. Noise has the ability to affect hormones, including stress hormones, which increases the risk of obesity.
Experts call such fat deposits visceral; their danger lies in the fact that they can provoke heart attacks.
Another research group from Utrecht University analyzed about seventy thousand newborns and came to the conclusion that the child's weight decreased with increasing road noise. In the future, this can lead to hypertension, diabetes and heart disease. Low birth weight also has a negative impact on the child's academic performance.
Another study has proven the danger of living near air routes, especially for a long time, more than twenty years. In this case, people are susceptible to developing strokes and heart diseases. Every 10 decibels of night noise increases the likelihood of diseases by 25%. At the same time, scientists note the danger of only night noise, daytime noise does not affect health problems.
According to scientists, in this case we are talking about sleep disturbance or stress, which causes poor quality night rest.
These are the conclusions reached by experts from King's College London, who studied about five thousand people from different European countries who have lived near airports for five years or longer.
Compared to the average, the scientists did not note any significant deviations, but people who suffered from airplane noise at night for about twenty years had an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
Scientists also note that there is a risk of increased blood pressure even in cases where a person has a sound sleep.
The impact of noise on the human body has been studied by scientists for a long time. Several months ago, specialists at one of Sydney's universities found out that open-space offices have a negative impact on the psyche of employees. Previously, it was believed that open offices improve interaction between employees and increase job satisfaction, but increased noise levels (conversations, phone calls, etc.) create a negative psychological atmosphere in the team.
Many open-space employees are prevented from concentrating on work by the lack of personal space and the endless flow of noise.
Scientists came to these conclusions after analyzing data from more than forty thousand office workers from Australia, Finland, Canada, and the United States.
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