From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-568275-119805
NEW YORK (UPI) -- The New York City mass transit system provides
affordable and efficient transportation, but it could be hard on the
ears, a team of researchers said.
Richard Neitzel of the School of Public Health at the University of
Washington and Robyn Gershon of Columbia University Mailman School of
Public Health conducted hundreds of measurements of noise levels at
platforms and stations, as well as inside of vehicles on New York
subways, buses, ferries, commuter railways and the Roosevelt Island
tramway.
The study, scheduled to be published in the American Journal of Public
Health in August, found that on average, the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority's subways had the highest noise levels, at
80.4 decibels, followed by the Path trains, at 79.4 dBA and the tram
at 77 dBA.
The lowest average levels measured, 74.9 dBA and 75.1 dBA, were
obtained from the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North trains,
respectively. The very highest levels measured in the study were found
on an MTA subway platform at 102.1dBA and at a bus stop 101.6 dBA -- a
chainsaw is 100 dBA.
"At some of the highest noise levels we obtained such as on subway
platforms, as little as two minutes of exposure per day would be
expected to cause hearing loss in some people with frequent
ridership," Neitzel said.