It’s a common phenomenon to feel like traffic in Hong Kong is draining your life force.
Whether you’re banging your head against a dashboard at gridlock, confused as to how a highway could possibly be crowded at 2pm on a Tuesday, or wondering which pagan god you offended to deserve a five-minute wait to cross the road, traffic sucks, plain and simple.
But, apparently, traffic might not just be a nuisance – it could very well be slowly killing you.
A British study published today links noise pollution caused by traffic to negative affects on physical or mental health.
The study cited a link between noise pollution and an increased risk of strokes and death.
Among people aged 25 or older, death was four percent more common in areas with 60 decibels of traffic noise compared to areas with less than 55 decibels – the standard set by the WHO as the level when noise causes negative health effects.
And according to results from Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department from 2000 (because they’ve probably been too scared to measure since then), more than a million people in Hong Kong are exposed to noise levels higher than 70 decibels every day.
Good to know. Just imagine what those heavy-duty construction drills clock up in decibels.
Government officials have stated that Environmental Impact Assessments take noise into consideration, but are not focussed on the effect noise can have on health.
As there is currently no consensus on the relationship between heath and noise levels, it would be hard to make an argument for tighter regulations, reports the SCMP.
Photo: Oleg via Flickr
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