Death Rattle: Traffic Noise Is Slowly Killing You

Did you hear? A team of noise experts from Denmark, Switzerland, the USA, and Germany got together to dig into some recent data.

What they found might make you rethink how you feel about traffic noise.

You know how you sometimes feel your heart race when a loud truck zooms by?

Turns out, it’s not just in your head.

These experts found a solid link between all that noise from transportation - like cars, trains, and planes - and serious heart and brain issues.

Yep, your cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health could be taking a hit every time you hear that honking horn.

And guess what?

That’s a lot of lost sleep and stressed-out hearts.

Think about those nights when you can’t seem to catch a break because of all the racket outside.

Turns out, it’s not just about getting a good night’s sleep. It’s about your body dealing with increased stress, pumping out more stress hormones, and even facing more oxidative stress in your veins and brain. All that stress can lead to inflammation, high blood pressure, and other nasty cardiovascular issues.

These experts didn’t just stop at complaining about the noise; they dug deep into the science. They looked at how transportation noise messes with your body’s genes, throws off your body’s clock, and messes with important signals between your nerves and your heart.

So, what’s the solution? Well, besides investing in some earplugs, they’re calling for better noise control laws.

They want everyone to understand that traffic noise isn’t just annoying; it’s a real threat to your heart health. And with more and more people being exposed to this noise every day, they say it’s time for action.

Professor Thomas Münzel, the lead expert on the team, says it best: “Let’s finally recognize traffic noise as a serious risk to our hearts. It’s time to turn down the volume and protect our health.

When the COVID-19 pandemic made millions of Americans remote workers, it also abruptly ended the commutes that bookend the workday. As some of those workers return to the office, conversations around the drawbacks of commutes have become more vocal. For a while, those workers enjoyed more time in the morning and evening that wasn’t spent simply traveling to and from work—an unpaid portion of the day that nevertheless eats up time and energy. And it’s not a small amount of time, either: Pre-pandemic, the average commute in the U.S. was a hair over 27 minutes one way, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. It was a record high. Cumulatively, 27 minutes each way translates to 54 minutes a day, or four-and-a-half hours per week. That’s 18 hours a month and 216 hours a year spent commuting.

Those who commute know it’s anything but idyllic. While a very small portion of workers live in the ideal scenario—a short, walkable distance from the office, along a sidewalk that is presumably regularly shoveled in the winter and where the temperature doesn’t result in a sweaty arrival in the summer—most endure clogged roads, unpredictable public transit, and the frustrations that come with. Of course, not all commutes are as bad as others, and some cities have better public transit and traffic flow. Stacker compiled a list of the cities with the worst commutes in Massachusetts using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Cities with at least 5,000 working adults are ranked by the longest average commute time as of the 2019 5-year estimate.

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 33.6
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 41.1%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 13.7%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 33.6
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 48%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 19.6%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 33.6
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 50.4%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 20.6%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 33.9
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 38.3%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 13.7%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 33.9
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 41.8%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 15.5%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 34.4
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 44.5%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 20.5%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 34.6
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 44.3%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 17.6%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 34.8
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 33.4%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 15%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 35.4
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 44.9%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 25%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 35.6
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 43.2%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 20.7%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 36.1
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 43.6%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 22.9%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 36.4
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 37.6%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 17.9%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 36.5
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 45.3%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 23.2%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 36.6
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 38.%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 20.7%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 36.7
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 42.4%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 20.5%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 36.8
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 33.1%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 18.2%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 37.2
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 35.9%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 21.5%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 38.3
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 46.3%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 25.1%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 38.5
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 43.8%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 33%

- Average time spent commuting to work (minutes): 39.1
--- Percent of workers spending less than 30 minutes commuting: 39.2%
--- Percent of workers spending more than an hour commuting: 25.6%