Summertime in Gilroy. With the beautiful blue skies and
magnificent weather we are privileged to experience, comes the heat
of summer, and too often with our great weather the blasting noise
pollution of
”
boom boxes
”
emanating most often from Honda automobiles driven around town
by 20ish males with their car windows down.
“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy …”
~ from the song Summertime
Summertime in Gilroy. With the beautiful blue skies and magnificent weather we are privileged to experience, comes the heat of summer, and too often with our great weather the blasting noise pollution of “boom boxes” emanating most often from Honda automobiles driven around town by 20ish males with their car windows down.
The pulsing, pounding, thumping noise is an unfortunate display of the driver’s lack of knowledge and application of published facts for what is happening to their hearing and to their bodies as a reward of their musical selection, both for volume and type.
The folly of youth is no excuse for the personal price that will be paid. But first, for all my liberal critics, if these young people want to play this music, it is not to that I object. After all, isn’t this a First Amendment right? My point is this that I object to the noise level that invades my privacy and my sanity as I walk on the sidewalk, drive in my car, or sit in my home.
I shake my head and wonder how these people can rush on to the destruction of their own health, and do it so mindlessly, so foolishly, so consistently. You say that I judge too critically? Fortunately, scientific investigation into the effects of regular exposure to high-intensity/low-frequency sound, which includes loud music (typical to the rap and heavy metal variety), the body is subjected to powerful sound vibrations.
This noise stressor leads to what is now classified as Vibroacoustic Disease (VAD) that produces documented physical and mental problems such as: homeostatic imbalance, interference with behavior and performance, visual problems, epilepsy, stroke, neurological deficiencies, psychic disturbances, thromboembolism, central nervous system lesions, vascular lesions in most areas of the body, lung local fibrosis, mitral valve abnormalities, pericardial abnormalities, malignancy, gastrointestinal dysfunction, infections of the oropharynx, increased frequency of sister chromatid exchanges, immunological changes, cardiac infarcts, cancer, rage reactions, suicide, and altered coagulation parameters.
After four years of exposure to this noise, the individual tends to recognize the existence of memory lapses, mood changes become more pronounced, and a variety of simultaneous ailments can appear.
In the advanced stages, neurological disorders include epilepsy, balance disorders, and a marked increase in cognitive impairment. The palmo-mental reflex – a primitive reflex that is frequently present in several pathologies associated with cognitive deterioration – is a common feature in VAD patients.
Studies have been done to see what effect these type of vibrations have on humans.
“As high-intensity/low-frequency sounds (extreme amplified bass) rattles a boom car, the occupants in it, secondary listeners (i.e. we the public), and structures surrounding it, the resulting vibration is believed to cause a range of problems. These include disorders of the joints and muscles and especially the spine , disorders of the circulation (hand-arm vibration), cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine, and metabolic changes, problems in the digestive system, reproductive damage in females, impairment of vision and/or balance, interference with daily activities, and discomfort.
The most frequently reported problem from all sources of Whole Body Vibration is low-back pain arising from early degeneration of the lumbar system and herniated lumbar discs. Muscular fatigue and stiffness have also been reported.” That’s from an ATSB report on road safety. Dr. Robert Fifer, the Director of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology at the Mailman Center for Child Development at the University of Miami, wrote an article discussing VAD and its relation to infrasound and boom cars.
The article states, “But the physical vibration so prized by car audio fanatics, and despised by their victims, is largely produced by sounds pitched too low to hear, called subsonic or infrasonic sounds. Medical research over the past four decades shows that exposure to infrasound can have devastating effects on the human body and mind that go far beyond mere hearing loss.”
Those who listen to such music will pay dearly.
In the meantime, the Gilroy Police Department needs to enforce the California Vehicle Code sections that deal with loud noise coming from vehicles. Cite these drivers and for repeat offenders impound their vehicles. Make them understand that this kind of noise pollution will not be tolerated in Gilroy. Our collective health demands it.
James Fennell is a Gilroy resident and member of the Community Pulse board.
