The problem? This hormonal response also tends to happen when you are startled by sounds that aren’t life-threatening (think car alarms, jackhammers, or loud laughter at a restaurant) and can elicit potentially unhealthy physiological responses, says Paul Salmon, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of psychological and brain sciences at the UniversityĪ growing number of researchers say the impact noise has on your body, mind, and mood is too great to ignore. If the brain perceives a sound as alarming or even just annoying, it sets off a surge of cortisol, adrenaline, and other stress hormones that help you run from a threat, explains Amanda Edwards, Au.D., a clinical audiologist at Vanderbilt University. That means the near-constant buzzing, humming, pinging, clunking, roaring, and banging around you affects you on a deep level-whether you’re consciously bothered by it or not. “Even though from a mental perspective we’ve adapted to our loud world and become remarkably good at screening out certain noises, our nervous systems are still responding,” says Neitzel. Meanwhile, additional research has shown that exposure to noise can spike blood pressure, heart rate, and the release of stress hormones. One study in the journal PLOS One found that being strongly annoyed by noise is associated with increased depression and anxiety. Then there’s the other toll of all this constant racket. For starters, it may be affecting your hearing: The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association estimates that 30 million Americans are exposed to dangerous noise levels on a regular basis-up 10 million from just a few years ago. Yes, any of these scenarios may be a little annoying or downright crazy-making, but it’s having an impact on more than your mood, says Rick Neitzel, Ph.D., director of the Environmental Health Promotion and Policy Master of Public Health program at the University of Michigan. Or maybe you’re sitting in your living room in what should be pure quiet, but what you hear is a constant high-tech hum emanating from your fridge or your smart TV. Maybe you’re in your backyard and the kids next door are yelling, someone down the block has revved up a super-loud lawn mower, and there goes a plane overhead. No matter where you are right now, chances are you’re surrounded by noise. Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.C lang. Enforcement of existing rules “may well be one place where the current commission will turn its attention” while more controversial changes await action, Oxenford said.įor more articles like this, please visit us at ![]() The FCC is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans until a vacant seat is filled. “This seems to be one of those times –- so broadcasters, take note.” “Every now and then, the FCC seems to take steps to remind broadcasters of their obligations,” Oxenford said. Renewed scrutiny means TV stations should carefully review their compliance with the CALM Act rules, David Oxenford, a Washington-based broadcast attorney, said in a blog post Monday. “This worries me a great deal.”Įshoo mentioned a March 31 report in Business Insider that said complaints to the FCC for the four-month period from November to February rose 140% compared to the same period a year earlier. A recent press report said complaints to the FCC had increased “sharply,” Eshoo wrote. The FCC has never sought to enforce the act, despite receiving thousands of complaints, Eshoo said. ![]() Eshoo wrote a 2010 law, known as the CALM Act, or Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, that underpins FCC rules that may be changed. The action follows an April 13 letter from Representative Anna Eshoo asking FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to look into a reported increase in complaints about loud commercials. “In particular, we invite consumers to tell us their experiences,” the agency’s media bureau said in a public notice. Federal Communications Commission on Monday asked for public help to determine whether to update rules to prevent broadcast, cable and satellite providers from sending commercials that are louder than the programming they accompany. ![]() (Bloomberg) - Here’s something to do if that TV commercial is too loud: complain to the feds, who just might do something about it.
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