by Diane Hodge

Created on: May 25, 2008

IS LOUD MUSIC AN ENVIRONMENTAL TOXIN?

The answer to the question whether loud music is an environmental toxin has got to be yes simply because noise is an environmental toxin, whether it is music or not. Some people if they do not like that type of music will consider it toxic, while if they like it they will say it's not toxic.

However, there are some types of music today where the base line is raised to such a level it causes change in your heartbeat. That is definitely toxic. But then any kind of noise beyond a certain decibel level has to be considered toxic. Airplane engines are noisy, that noise is toxic. Many school children have been diagnosed with hearing loss from the music they listen to plugged into their ears. Many airport employees have been diagnosed with hearing loss because of airplane noise.

Some people definitely make differences where they do not exist. Noise is noise. But there are also noises which occur in nature, such as thunder and volcanic eruptions. The major difference here is that these noises come and go. Thunderclaps do not go on and on, and volcanic noise does not go on for hours at a time the way airports are noisy and the way some people play loud music for hours on end.

Then we may also ask the question, where does the noise go? If a volcano erupts in an area where there are no people such as in Greenland, is the area polluted? For how long will it remain so if it is? What about those volcanoes under the ocean floor? Do they make noise?

In any case, loud music, and loud traffic and all other man-made noises should be controlled in some manner or the other, whether government regulates the level at which the noise may be maintained or otherwise. On the other hand, now that man can make such noise by whatever means, how do we stop it? It would be like trying to stop scientific investigation. What should be allowed and what not? And who is going to be the one to decide that?

Many things that are considered to have been for man's benefit have been noisy, such as airplanes. But factories are noisy places too, should they be banned? What is the right thing to do in such a case? Where would we be without inconveniences and environmental toxins? Are they necessary? Has there ever been progress without a corresponding inconvenience or harmful effect? It's like the atomic bomb. Each invention's good has to be weighed against its bad. But then again, who decides?

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