Pollution and the vulnerable

Forurening

Air pollution policy should focus on the most vulnerable people, not just the most polluted places https://voxeu.org/article/air-pollution-policy-should-focus-most-vulnerable-people-not-just-most-polluted-places

CEPR

Policies aimed at reducing the harmful effects of air pollution on human health typically focus on improving air quality in polluted areas. This column suggests a shift in focus from targeting the most polluted places to ser-ving the most vulnerable people. Basing air quality regulations on pollution levels may be less valuable than reducing air pollution in regions with vulnerable populations. Programmes that reduce poverty or improve access to health care may also lessen the recipients' susceptibility to acute pollution exposure.

Climate Changes Health: Vulnerable Populations https://www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/climate-change/vulnerable-populations

APHA

"I don't want people to think...that climate change is just about polar bears. It really is about direct public health issues like asthma and kids, like cardiovascular and pul-monary diseases associated with air pollution". -- Former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, in U.S. News & World Report

Boligforhold

Poor Communities Exposed to Elevated Air Pollution Levels https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/programs/geh/geh_newsletter/2016/4/spotlight/poor_communities_exposed_to_elevated_air_pollution_levels.cfm

NIH

While the review generally showed that air pollution is higher in poorer communities, 8 of 10 studies illustrated this relationship, the researchers noted that results varied in different regions of the world. Most North American studies consistently indicated that low-SES communities experience higher concentrations of criteria air pollutants, while European research was mixed.

"In Europe, the results were all over the place - often wealthy people see higher ex-posures, but that does not necessarily translate into the same negative health effects," said Hajat. The researchers note that the trend in poorer air quality among higher SES groups may be related to the popularity of large cities, like Rome, where people with higher incomes are living in more desirable areas with more amenities and higher levels of air pollution due to traffic.

Smart Growth and Affordable Housing https://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/smart-growth-and-affordable-housing

EPA

A smart growth approach to housing, with compact development, green design and construction, and trans-portation options, can help communities and their residents protect the environment and create more afford-able neighborhoods.

Green building approaches contribute to healthier living environments, which can re-duce health care needs for children and missed workdays for parents struggling to make ends meet.

How people with PTSD can develop hearing/sound difficulties https://www.ptsduk.org/how-people-with-ptsd-can-develop-hearing-sound-difficulties/

ptsd.UK

There is a confirmed link between PTSD and hyperacusis due to a cerebral proces-sing problem specific to how the brain perceives sound and as you can imagine, when they are present concurrently have the potential to exacerbate one another. Hyperacusis is very different from the reduced tolerance for noise that most of us have when we're tired or stressed, or reacting to an obviously unpleasant noise, such as someone scratching their fingernails down a blackboard.

Lydfølsomhed https://lydbehandling.dk/lydfoelsomhed/

Lydfølsomme personer har ofte problemer med at sortere lydene og målrette hørel-sen, fordi hørecenteret i hjernen ikke kan sortere lydene.

Reaktioner hos et lydfølsomt menneske viser sig ofte som:

Lydoverfølsomhed https://hoereforeningen.dk/viden-om/hoereproblemer/lydoverfoelsomhed/

Høreforeningen

Lydoverfølsomhed kaldes også hyperacusis og er defineret ved en nedsat tolerance overfor almindelige dagligdagslyde. Lydoverfølsomhed skyldes en forandring i hjernens centrale bearbejdning af lyd. Når hjernen bearbejder indkommende lyd, vurderer den lydens betydning på et ubevidst niveau og sender de lyde, der anses som værende vigtige, til den bevidste del af hjernen. De lyde der sendes til den bevidste del af hjernen, er de lyde, vi ender med at høre. Disse lyde kan være enten positive eller negative, hvoraf de negativt associerede lyde forårsager en aktivering af det limbiske system. En aktivering af det limbiske system kan medføre oplevelsen af irritation. 

Veteran With PTSD is Creating Free Tiny House Community for Others Like Him https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/veteran-with-ptsd-creates-tiny-houses-for-others-like-him/

Good News Network

This Air Force veteran was taught that he should never leave a man behind - and that is exactly the creed be-hind his new tiny house project. Donnie Davis is creating a micro-housing community in Franklinville, New Jersey that will provide shelter, counseling, and therapy animals to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder - and it will all be provided free of charge.

Støj

Noise and health https://www.cancer.dk/nordsound/about-nordsound/noise-and-health/

NordSOUND

Exposure to noise is unavoidable in urban environments. Increasing traffic in all modes of transport, combined with the construction of roads and residential build-ings in closer proximity, has led to a general rise in noise exposure.

Noise and cardiovascular diseases - Noise and diabetes - Noise and cancer - Noise and lifestyle - Noise during pregnancy - Noise and socioeconomic position

The world's cities must take on the cacophony of noise pollution https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/opinion/worlds-cities-must-take-cacophony-noise-pollution

UN

Cities provide something for everybody: opportunities for employment and enter-tainment; diversity and density, social benefits as well as social tensions. Yet the world's greatest metropolises - from Bangkok to Barcelona, Bogotá to Cairo, Damascus to Delhi, Karachi to Kolkata and New York to Nairobi - also hold environ-mental dangers for their residents.

While many of these - notably waste, biodiversity loss and warming - are already well-documented, there is another often ignored environmental threat having an increasingly significant impact on city dwellers: noise.

Much like air pollution, noise pollution is far from being a mere nuisance. In fact it is increasingly understood to have long-term effects on human health. Defined as un-wanted, prolonged and high-level sounds, it can seriously impair our physical well-being..................

What Is Noise Pollution? https://www.environmentalpollutioncenters.org/noise-pollution/

Environmental Pollution Centers

Noise pollution is generally defined as regular exposure to elevated sound levels that may lead to adverse effects in humans or other living organisms.

Traffic sounds - construction sounds - airports - workplace sounds - constant loud music - industrial sounds - household sounds - events - conflicts

Hvad er støjforurening, og hvordan reduceres den? https://www.rockfon.dk/om-os/nyheder/2020/hvad-er-stoejforurening-og-hvordan-reduceres-den/

Rockfon

2020 er lydens år. Lyd spiller en afgørende rolle i vores liv. Men vi lever i en tid, hvor en stigende befolkningstæthed i byerne medfører en høj grad af støjforurening.

Mystisk støj plager danskere - men ikke alle kan høre https://nyheder.tv2.dk/samfund/2016-10-31-mystisk-stoej-plager-danskere-men-ikke-alle-kan-hoere-den

TV2 Nyheder

- Lavfrekvent støj kommer altid fra noget der roterer. Det er typisk tunge maskiner og faste installationer. I en enkelt situation har vi været ude for, at den lavfrekvente støj gik gennem nogle varmeledninger, men det er hverken normalt eller sandsynligt. Normalt bevæger lyden sig gennem luften.

Infralyd og lavfrekvent støj i det eksterne miljø https://www2.mst.dk/udgiv/publikationer/2002/87-7944-960-3/html/helepubl.htm

Miljøstyrelsen (2002)

Infralyd https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infralyd

Wikipedia

Infralyder lyd med en frekvens på under 20 Hz - Infralyd opstår ofte sammen med lavfrekvent lyd i langsomtgående motorer, ventilationsanlæg mv. Visse dyr (f.eks. hvaler) kan generere og opfatte infralyd, der har den fordel, at den overføres godt i vand og kan opfattes på store afstande.

Naturens vildeste orkester https://illvid.dk/dyr/naturens-vildeste-orkester

Illustreret Videnskab

Med lavfrekvente toner på under 20 Hz kommunikerer elefanterne med hinanden på helt op til ti kilometers afstand. De såkaldte infralyde er velegnede til kommunikation på afstand, fordi de trænger igennem objekter frem for at blive reflekteret. 

Landsforeningen mod lavfrekvent støj https://lavfrekvent.dk/

Mange hører typisk lyden som buldrende eller rumlende, og mange nævner ud-trykket "en lastbil i tomgang". I mange tilfælde er det ikke indlysende, hvor lyden kommer fra.

The Hum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum

Wikipedia

The Hum is a name often given to widespread reports of a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming, rumbling, or droning noise not audible to all people.

Manifestations of a low-frequency sound of unknown origin perceived worldwide, also known as "the Hum" or the "Taos Hum" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27488996/

National Library of Medicine

"The Hum" and "Taos Hum" are the common terms used for an annoying low-frequency sound of unknown and seemingly mysterious external causes. The Hum is a phenomenon occurring worldwide that affects approximately 2% of the po-pulation, called hearers or hummers.

.....for the majority of hearers, the Hum may represent a rare form of tinnitus that has nothing to do with external sounds. The remaining group doesn't experience any feature of a typical hearer. 

Sådan lyder de irriterende lavfrekvente støjkilder https://ing.dk/artikel/saadan-lyder-de-irriterende-lavfrekvente-stoejkilder-173578

ING

Varmepumper, vindmøller og kompressorer er blandt de typiske kilder til lavfrekvent støj............. 

Noise Exposure Potentiates Exocytosis From Cochlear Inner Hair Cells https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34658832/

National Library of Medicine

Noise-induced hearing loss has gained relevance as one of the most common forms of hearing impairment. The anatomical correlates of hearing loss, principally cell da-mage and/or death, are relatively well-understood histologically. However, much less is known about the physiological aspects of damaged, surviving cells.

...........otoacoustic emissions (reflecting outer hair cell function)

Relation of distortion product otoacoustic emission and tinnitus in normal hearing patients: a pilot study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24804709/

National Library of Medicine 

The generation of tinnitus is commonly linked with the impaired functioning of the outer hair cells (OHC) inside the cochlea. Otoacoustic emissions are the objective test used to assess their activity. 

Long-term exposure to road traffic noise and incidence of breast cancer: a cohort study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6173937/

National Library of Medicine

Exposure to road traffic noise was associated with increased risk of estrogen re-ceptor (ER)-negative (ER-) breast cancer in a previous cohort study, but not with overall or ER-positive (ER+) breast cancer, or breast cancer prognosis. We exami-ned the association between long-term exposure to road traffic noise and incidence of breast cancer, overall and by ER and progesterone receptor (PR) status.