Stressing over excessive noise while at home

Research has long showed us that excessive noise can lead to various health problems, including higher blood pressure and depression. — dpa

Revving cars, plodding neighbours, drilling builders: Too much noise can ruin a home, there’s no arguing with that.

And yet, the health impact of being regularly exposed to unpleasant sounds is something that can quietly creep up on us.

Research shows that if unwelcome noise at home is constant over a longer period of time, chronic diseases such as higher blood pressure and heart issues can be the result.

That’s because noise automatically puts our bodies on alert.

Blood pressure increases and stress hormones are activated, according to the German Society for Psychosomatic Medicine and Medical Psychotherapy (DGPM).

Aside from type 2 diabetes, heart attacks, strokes and dementia, mental health problems can also be caused by noise pollution at home.

If environmental noise has an impact on our feelings and thoughts, or disturbs our sleep and relaxation, this can lead to anger, exhaustion and stress.

In the long run, this increases the likelihood of depression, experts say.

According to the DGPM, people are most commonly disturbed by aircraft noise, followed by traffic, neighbours, industrial work and railways.

To complicate matters, urban noise pollution is often also combined with air pollution, notably from fine particulate matter, much of which is caused by cars.

This can also trigger inflammatory processes in the blood, which interact with depression.

At a time when more people have been working from home, experts also believe that productivity can be hit by noise pollution, which is known to cause fatigue, as well as interruptions.

The right windows, if correctly installed, can protect people from the worst effects of intrusive outside noise.

Sound-proofed windows tend to have stronger glazing, a different structure and sound-proof film integrated into the glass.

The frames and seals also have extra insulation.

Most importantly, they work.

Regular windows cut outside noise by about 32 decibels.

Simple soundproof windows cut out up to 42 decibels, while composite windows reduce sound by up to 50 decibels and box-type windows protect those inside from about 55 decibels of noise, says Juergen Benitz-Wildenburg from ift Rosenheim, a testing institute for window technology.

Identify the level of sound inside you are aiming for, to work out the windows you need.

“Say you measure 80 decibels outside and want a quiet 30 decibels indoors, you need windows that can insulate 50 decibels of sound,” he says.

However, if it’s a relatively calm 60 decibels outdoors, you might get away with double glazing rather than sound-proof windows. – dpa