Noisy Workplace Doubles Heart Risk, Worse for Men Under Age 50

People who work amid constant noise have twice the risk of heart disease as those with quieter jobs. Men younger than age 50 and smokers are the most vulnerable, U.S. government data shows.

Researchers tracked 6,307 Americans who took part in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, undergoing medical and blood tests and answering questions about their health, lifestyle and work. Those with the noisiest workplaces were more likely to suffer chest pain, a heart attack, heart disease or high blood pressure, the report said.

The industries with the greatest risk were mining, agriculture, construction and manufacturing, said lead researcher Wen Qi Gan, from the University of British Columbia’s school of environmental health in Vancouver. White-collar workers, such as those on loud trading floors, may also be vulnerable, he said. The investigators defined a loud workplace as any environment where people had to raise their voices to be heard, with one in five participants in the noisy category.

“People believe that heart disease belongs to older people,” Gan said in a telephone interview. “We found that young workers, those under 50, are most vulnerable to occupational noise. For them, there is a three- to four-fold increased prevalence in heart disease.”

The study was published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, based in London.

Ear Plugs Important

Ear plugs and other personal form of protection are important, but offer only limited help, Gan said. Companies and administrators in charge of loud environments should offer some type of noise control, he said.

Previous investigations into heart risk and noisy workplaces yielded mixed results. A Canadian study found high rates of heart attacks and deaths in sawmill workers, while another that involved men working in the nuclear power industry in England found no ties to heart disease.

The latest study offers a large, nationally representative sample that includes in-depth patient information, the researchers said. The authors controlled for known heart risks such as alcohol use and exercise and physical characteristics in assessing the data. The results show constant exposure to excess noise is an important workplace issue and deserves special attention, they concluded.

The research was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.