Western Addition's noise levels third highest in the city

Interdisciplinary research is increasingly uncovering associations between noise exposure in the urban environment and human health outcomes. Noise levels in the urban environment can be influenced by multiple factors such as traffic, sirens, neighbors, construction, topography and overall community design. Of these, traffic is the greatest contributor to ambient noise levels in San Francisco.

Though research around noise-related hearing loss is well developed, non-auditory aspects of health in urban settings have recently gained greater attention. Occupational research has provided greater knowledge of noise exposure’s relationship to hypertension, however, community-level research also suggests associations with other types of cardiovascular disease.

In children, chronic noise exposure may impair reading comprehension, problem solving, attention and motivation. Noise also has been found to interfere with complex task performance, modify social behavior and cause “annoyance.”

So what does this mean for the Western Addition? According to rankings by the San Francisco Department of Public Health, this area was categorized as the third most “highly annoyed” neighborhood in the city. Moreover, continual, elevated noise levels may influence the psychological and physical wellbeing of Western Addition residents.

This is especially true of noise, which interrupts sleeping patterns (both by waking people up and by reducing the quality of sleep). Sleep disturbances can contribute to a variety of health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, depression and digestive problems. This, in turn, can lead to increased use of medical services even among those with no previous health problems.

The health impacts of environmental noise depend on the duration of exposure, the intensity of noise and the context of exposure. Although the Environmental Protection Agency identifies a 24-hour exposure level of 70 decibels as the level of environmental noise, which will prevent any measurable hearing loss over a lifetime, noise levels of 55 decibels outdoors and 45 decibels indoors are identified as preventing activity interference and annoyance. The Healthy Development Measurement Tool reports that the Western Addition’s average daytime and nighttime outdoor noise level is 64 decibels.

Though San Francisco’s general plan identifies noise as a serious environmental pollutant that must be integrated and addressed in the planning and development process, the San Francisco Noise Control Ordinance addresses noise sources that cannot be minimized through informed planning. The responsibility for noise control activities is assigned to various city departments whose primary function most directly involves them in the noise source.

Contact the following agencies to report noise safety concerns:
Environmental Health Department
Fixed mechanical noise and
garbage related noise
(415) 252-3800

Department of Building Inspection
Construction related noise
(415) 558-6088

Entertainment Commission
Nightclubs and entertainment noise (415) 554-4539

Department of Public Works
Street opening and construction noise (415) 554-6920

Police Department
Stereo, television, music, party and animal noise (415) 553-0123

To learn more about noise prevention in San Francisco, visit www.sfdph.org/dph/EH/Noise/default.asp. For more information about 2008 Amendments to the Noise Ordinance, visit www.sfdph.org/dph/files/EHSdocs/ehsNoise/NoiseOrd.pdf. To learn more about how the Western Addition compares to the rest of the city with regard to noise and many other neighborhood indicators of health, visit www.thehdmt.org.

Christina Foushee is an RN, MS, PhD(c) Environmental Health Policy Analyst at San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, SF Department of Public Health. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Health Policy and a Master’s degree in Health Policy, both from University of California, San Francisco, and a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Eastern Kentucky University.