When Sound Becomes Noise.

“As sound gets louder, we begin to see the impacts go from annoyance to very serious health impacts,” says Erica Walker, postdoctoral associate in the Department of Environmental Health and creator of the new Community Noise Lab. At only 65 decibels—about as loud as a car going by for someone standing on the side of the road—research has shown that people begin experiencing increased risk of hypertension and heart attack.

But not all sound is equal, Walker says. Someone’s favorite music could be playing at 120 decibels, and, for that person, the sound is enjoyable. If their neighbor hates hearing that same music—even if only at 65 decibels—it is noise, and may have more of an impact on the neighbor’s health than on the health of the person playing the music, Walker says.

Because the difference between sound and noise is subjective, the Community Noise Lab is working directly with communities affected by noise pollution in the Boston area: the Fenway, Mission Hill, East Boston, and the nearby town of Andover. Together, they are measuring and taking on not only the volume of sound, but also the irritation of noise.

“In the Fenway, if you ask them what’s really bothering them, they’re not going to tell you it’s road traffic noise or aircraft noise—those aren’t even in the top three,” Walker says. “They’re telling me, ‘We’re bothered by outdoor concerts at Fenway Park.’ If I’m an epidemiologist and I’m using Fenway as a sample and I’m looking at the impact of aircraft noise on cardiovascular health, that may not be the noise that’s driving the heath impact. I would be misclassifying the experience.”

Andover connected with her for help trying to get a sound wall to muffle the nose-to-bumper commuter traffic on Interstate 93, and East Boston residents are concerned about the roar of planes taking off and landing at Logan Airport. Fast-growing Mission Hill, meanwhile, faces construction noise and new buildings’ loud HVAC systems, as well as the ambulance sirens, medevac helicopters, and traffic to the Longwood Medical Area’s hospitals—and above-ground Orange Line and Green Line trains

With a two-year, $410,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Community Noise Lab is working with members of the four communities—and researchers and students across Boston University—to create a real-time sound-monitoring network of eight rotating sound stations, and developing version 2.0 of the Community Noise Lab’s smartphone app, NoiseScore, which allows residents to both objectively and subjectively describe their environmental soundscape and their own responses in real time. Walker is also leading a series of community-engagement activities, including “sound walks” and a podcast, and conducting a laboratory-based experiment examining the acute neurological underpinnings of noise exposure.

All of the Community Noise Lab’s work will be documented on the Lab’s website, where each of the four communities has its own page. Meanwhile, the site’s community library offers free access to fact sheets, reports, and data—for researchers and community members alike.

Walker describes the Lab’s approach as “ride-sharing.” While gathering data from these four communities, “I’m sharing the ride with others who have their own noise-related journeys and destinations,” she says. “That’s my definition of public health.”

The response has been enthusiastic. “People are really excited—everybody wants the sound-monitoring equipment in their house!” says Mary Ann Nelson, executive director of Mission Hill Health Movement. Nelson says the collaboration is making her neighborhood think about solutions to forms of noise pollution that they had thought were inescapable.

Long-time residents of Mission Hill automatically pause conversations for an ambulance siren or house-rattling train, Nelson says, often without even realizing it. “No one was thinking that there was anything to do about the hospitals and the Orange and Green Lines.” Now, the community is thinking about what kinds of solutions the Community Noise Lab’s research could lead to, like regulations for new buildings to better block sound, or the hospitals helping offset the costs of new windows for residents.

“I think this is going to make a big difference,” Nelson says.

—Michelle Samuels