Everyday noise pollution affects more than just your hearing (fargeo.com).

The negative impacts of occupational noise, particularly in the manual labor workforce, have long been studied. But according to Science Daily, researchers have more recently branched out to focus on “social noise.” Social noise is everywhere -- it can be in the form of music playing through headphones, rowdy bar noise, loud neighbors lawnmowers, airplanes, or traffic sounds.

The authors of the latest research published in the medical journal The Lancet found evidence that long-term exposure to these kinds of noises affects not only hearing, but the cardiovascular system as well. In fact, “numerous studies pointed to associations between environmental noise exposure and sleep disturbance, children’s cognition, and negative effects in hospitals for both patients and staff,” Science Daily noted.

These findings prove we may be more sensitive to sound and frequencies than we realize, and even the most subtle of environmental distractions may contribute to health problems such as heart disease and tinnititus if exposed to them long and often enough. 

If environmental sounds can have such a profound effect on overall quality of life from childhood, it brings up questions about how children raised in urban, often noisy areas and children raised in more quiet rural and suburban areas may progress differently in the long-term.

And what about for those of us who live, work, commute, and socialize with other people around the clock? It can be nearly impossible to carve out even just a few minutes of alone time, let alone extended, quiet solitude. But that, doctors now say, is crucial to preserving health and hearing on a number of levels.

Authors of the review hope their findings will increase awareness about the negative health effects of noise and that they will “stimulate educational campaigns for children and adults that will promote both noise-avoiding and noise-reducing behaviors, and thus, mitigate negative health consequences.”

By taking steps to reduce exposure to environmental and social noise, people can expect better sleep, less annoyance, better learning and healthcare environments, and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Reach Staff Reporter Cassie Paton here; follow her on Twitter here.