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Hearing Loss Association of America - SW CT Chapter
(HLAA,SW CT)
and the
Federal Aviation Agency (FAA)
Airspace Noise Issue
Executive Summary
Jonathan Brown
June 2008
HLAA-SWCT
Credits
• This presentation would not have been possible
without our chapter president’s, Barbara Nagot,
leadership and support.
• The HLAA-SWCT Steering Committee provided
encouragement in the way of questions and
patience while this presentation was in its
infancy.
• Many Internet sources and text books provided
the source material for this undertaking. Specific
web sites and URLs are available upon request.
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Topics
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Introduction
Our Hearing System
Noise and Its Societal Impact
Aircraft Noise
Reliability of Our Hearing System
Conclusion
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I. Introduction
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The Problem
• The FAA proposes to use the Fairfield County’s airspace
for arrivals and departures from NYC airports.
• AfSAP and the State of CT have instituted a suit against
the FAA. See www.sensibleairspace.org for details of
the AfSAP effort.
• HLAA-SWCT’s contention is that the FAA proposal
inadequately addresses the noise damage impact. The
effect will result in additional Noise-Induced Hearing
Loss (NIHL) for many living, working, and playing in the
Fairfield County area.
• The FAA Proposal does not adequately consider findings
of the last 15 years.
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Our Background
• HLAA-SWCT is a 70-member chapter in the lower Fairfield County
who are Hard-of-Hearing and who meet monthly on current issues
pertaining to hearing loss, noise and the latest technology.
• HLAA is a national organization with headquarters in Bethesda, MD
and many chapters throughout the U.S.
• HLAA’s mission is to provide information, education, support and
advocacy for those with a Hearing Loss.
• Our HLAA membership includes a diverse selection of vocations:
doctors, civic leaders, business executives, teachers, nurses and
others who can help.
• HLAA-SWCT is eager to help both plaintiffs and the communities
from the perspective of our understanding of noise induced hearing
loss and our auditory system.
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II. Our Hearing System
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Key Components of Our
Auditory System
Recent research findings show how fragile our auditory system is, how
prolonged exposure to ambient and impulse noise weakens, then causes
hearing loss. It demonstrates how old noise standards and metrics are
inadequate. It links noise with other health issues besides hearing loss.
Source: http://www.headwize.com/articles/hearing_art.htm
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The System and the Process
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The hearing system contains the following five energy transformation
processes that respond with microsecond precision:
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Acoustic
Mechanical
Hydraulic
Chemical
Electrical
The hearing process
– Sound is first amplified by the outer ear and the ear canal
– It is transmitted to the ear drum
– On to the air-filled middle ear via a series of delicate bones, which are the
smallest in the human body, that further amplify the sound pressure.
– The amplified sound is then sent to the liquid-filled inner ear that is
studded with microscopic hair cells (mechanoreceptors) in the cochlea
– The ear hair cells, when stimulated, release a chemical neurotransmitters
– Finally, the nerve sends impulses to the brain that sorts out the signal from
the noise.
– The auditory nerve contains 30,000 fibers that transmit the impulses to the
cerebral cortex (15,000 per ear).
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Energy Transformations
• These transformations of energy occur in structures of
exceptional delicacy and intricacy where movements of atomic
dimensions result in the perception of sound.
• Not surprisingly, over time, components of the hearing system
become weakened by exposure to noise induced stress and
may be easily and permanently damaged.
• Hearing loss can occur gradually, as an example, by hair cells
that are weakened, damaged or destroyed.
• The central nervous system will then attempt to adapt or
compensate for the loss by sharing signals from adjacent hair
cell bundles until it is overwhelmed by intense or prolonged
noise events and significant hearing loss occurs.
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Our Speech Banana
Sounds are verbal and nonverbal.
Non-verbal sounds are the
birds singing, sirens blaring,
etc.
Verbal sounds are speech
that can be displayed in a
section of the audiogram
called the Speech Banana.
Noise is encroaching on our hearing spectrum from different causes
Including, but not limited to the airspace.
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An Audiogram of a Person Who
Can Not Hear Speech
low
Ambient noise
encroachment
Loudness
high
Impulse noise
encroachment
Frequency
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Our Auricular System
Auricular nerves connect to other nerves that send synapses to
organs throughout the body.
There is also intercellular communications occurring at the cellular level.
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Infrasound and Ultrasound
• Infrasonic and ultrasonic noise have unique
but different characteristics that under
certain circumstances are believed to be very
significant and have the potential of causing
damage to the hearing system and other
organs.
• Photos of damaged cells exposed to these
frequencies are available.
• Pilots, technicians, and cabin crewmembers
have suffered from a number of disorders
when exposed to these frequencies (VAD).
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III. Noise and It’s Societal
Impact
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Noise and It’s Societal Impact
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Hearing Loss
Physiological
Annoyance
Communications
Accelerated Aging
Group Specifics
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Group Specifics
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Adolescents/Children
Adults
Seniors
Handicapped
Hard-of-Hearing
Outdoor Workers, Sportsmen and
Recreationers
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Adolescents/Children
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At birth, a child’s auditory system is complete, but not mature, especially
with respect to loud noise.
14.9% of U.S. children have hearing loss of at least 16 dB in one or both
ears.
The fetus is capable of perceiving sounds and responding beginning in the
first trimester.
There are abnormally high rates of birth defects when expected mothers are
exposed to elevated sounds.
Many suburban children average 12 hours a week outdoors and are
exposed to outdoor noise consisting of ambient, impulse, and prolonged
characteristics.
U.S. historical FAA and OSHA thresholds for impulse and prolonged
exposure are suspect because there is no consideration for susceptibility.
From the hearing perspective, noise induced damage is cumulative.
All types of noise have been increasing in the county over the last 20 years.
Source: wikipedia
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Children and You Are Unwittingly
Exposing Your Selves…
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Children and You Are Unwittingly
Exposing Your Selves…
Above the line:
Machines
Discos
Rock Concerts
Symphonies
Power Drills
Jet Lift-offs
Rocket Launches
Certain low jet fly-overs create
loud impulse noise and ambient
noise, which we know
increases risk of hearing loss and
other health problems.
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Exposure Time and Sound
Level
It is the cumulative
exposure to noise, not just
the prolonged exposure to
loud noise interspersed
with quite time, that
can be dangerous to those
with high susceptibility to
hearing loss.
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IV. Aircraft Noise
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Aircraft Noise and Hearing Loss
• Causes of Hearing Loss
– Noise (NIHL), Ototoxic Drugs, Genes, Disease …. Age
• Sources and Characteristics of External Aircraft Noise
– Engine and Mechanical Noise
• Narrowband frequency, propellers, jet engines and helicopters.
– Aerodynamic Noise
• Increases with speed, size, and low altitude. Broadband frequency.
• Includes air foils, rudder, etc.
• Aircraft Noise Types That Cause Damage
– Impulse
– Prolonged Exposure
– Ambient
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Many Factors Determine
Aircraft Noise
Volume, fly-over intervals, and sound-signatures
of planes, their altitude, distance and bearing to the
receiver, weather conditions and topography,
all contribute to the amount of impulse,
and ambient noise.
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Potentially Damaging Aircraft
Noise
For People on the Ground
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Impulse Spikes
Infrasound, Which Is Inaudible
Prolonged Exposure to Loud Noise
Increased Ambient Noise
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• “Safe Thresholds” Are Misleading
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Impulse Noise Spikes
Avg.
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FAA Should Monitor the Whole
Spectrum
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Low Frequency Aircraft
Signature
Top: frequency vs. time; Bottom: filtered signal, volts vs. time
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FAA Errors and Omissions
on Fly-over Noise
• The FAA focuses on issues such as annoyance, sleep
disturbance and interference with verbal communication
caused by noise from low flying aircraft.
• Noise induced health considerations have greater
significance and have been ignored or minimized and
include: hearing loss, damage to the cardiovascular
system and mental health.
• The FAA DNL measure is a time average and does not
adequately consider health issues, especially hearing
loss, induced by high intensity impulse noise from low
flying aircraft.
• The FAA measure also is based upon noise that is
filtered and thereby eliminates portions of the spectrum
such as infrasonic and ultrasonic noise.
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V. Reliability of Our
Hearing System
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The Life Cycle of the
Hearing System
• Reliability Models
– Bath Tub and Accelerated Aging
– Serial Component Failure
– Serial and Parallel Processing
• Component Degradation
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Ear Drum and Acoustic Reflex
Cochlear Area and Ear Hair Cells (no regeneration)
Hearing Nerve and Brain Cells
Bone Conduction
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Noise Induced Hearing Loss
(NIHL) Effects
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Lag Between Weakness and Loss Detection
Impact on the Fetus
Other Health Effects
Amplification of Noise for People Wearing
Hearing Aids
Impact on Open Space Participants
Annoyance
Communications, Commerce, and Jobs
Acceleration of Aging
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Acceleration of Aging
100
80
60
Good Hearing
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Hit at 30 yrs.
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75
65
55
45
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25
15
0
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Cumulative Loss of Ear
Hair Cells
Postulated Hearing Failure By Age
Age
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VI. Conclusion
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Conclusion
• 40-Year Timeline
• Examples of Noise-Related Issues to
Address
• FAA Issues to Be Answered
• The FAA A-Filter Metric Issue
• It’s Not in My Backyard!
• What We Can Provide
• Proposed Action Plan
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40 Year Timeline
1979
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1989
1999
1969 – EPA Established
1970 – OSHA Created
1972 – Noise Control Act (NCA)
1979 – FAA established their DNL metric
1981 – NCA abandoned, delegated to States & Local
• 1990s -- First theories and models of current hearing
mechanism
• 1998 – “From Sound to Synapse” written
• 1993 to 2008 -- Recent studies cited in this presentation
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There Are Many Examples of NoiseRelated Issues to Address With the FAA
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New Findings on Effects
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Auditory system components – fragileness, weakening, failure
Noise weakening causes aging, especially impulse noise
There are many health risks beyond hearing loss due to noise exposure.
Susceptibility – Everyone of us has a different Safe Threshold, some 30 dB lower
than “Safe”
– Importance of Frequency
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When reliability models are applied to the auditory system, the risk of low
fly-overs becomes evident:
– The “Bath Tub” Curve shows early aging as a result of noise.
– The Weakest Link concept shows how undetected early hair cell loss occurs
– Prolonged noise exposure studies extend to just above Normal Conversation
loudness
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Metrics
– Susceptibility vs. Discreet Thresholds are not successfully applied
– Measuring Auditory System Damage vs. Measuring Noise are two different
things
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World-wide data reveal FAA shortcomings, too.
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FAA Issues To Be Answered
• Is it correct for the FAA to use a timeaveraged and frequency-weighted criteria
to determine allowable noise thresholds
when it is known through analogy with
other environmental stresses that it is the
most severe, or worst, stress that does
significant damage?
• Why has significant research on NIHL by
the National Institute of Health, the World
Health Organization and other
organizations been ignored?
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The FAA A-Filter Metric Issue
• The FAA process appears to place more emphasis upon noise
levels or intensity than upon the frequency or repetition rates of
incident noise.
– The "A" frequency filter is used to provide for "equal loudness contours"
that suppress infrasonic and ultrasonic noise as well as alters the noise
in the sonic frequencies.
– When dealing with factors such as communications and annoyance,
such filtering may be reasonable but is not appropriate when dealing
with health issues.
• The inadequacy of the "A" filter is discussed in the literature and has
resulted in the use of either the "ITU-R 468" or "C" filters in Europe
and other areas.
– It is likely that different filters or none at all (raw or unfiltered noise) is
the preferred approach when dealing with health issues.
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Noise Weighting
Note that the FAA’s A-Weighting Does Not Cover Infrasound.
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It’s Not in My Backyard!
• What we say to our HLAA Membership:
– If in doubt about the FAA Proposal, then
broaden the issue, re-frame the issue as
“Community Noise” or “Neighborhood Noise.”
– All noise ends up in the same “ocean of air”
– Think about other people around you.
– If you don’t believe that noise is increasing, we
encourage you to raise your sensitivity to this
issue.
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What We Can Provide
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A unique perspective on Noise and Hearing
Research and Information Sources
Outreach, Presentations
PR Awareness
In return, can we explore
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Liaisons and Introductions?
Licensed Publication Sources?
Meter resources?
Other?
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Proposed Sound Research
• Areas of investigation could include:
– Spectrum analysis of noise produced by various
aircraft
– Analysis of harmonics resulting from distortion of the
wave forms of fundamental infrasonic frequencies
– Noise-induced health issues as a function of
frequency
– Resonances of human organs within the frequency
spectrums produced by aircraft. This issue is
especially important for infrasound frequencies. Such
resonances can be extremely damaging.
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Proposed Action Plan
• Identify Players and Teaming
Relationships
• Identify Published Sources
• Define the Process
• Determine Next Steps
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Summary
• HLAA-SWCT desires to join a team with other
organizations to improve the FAA’s
Management-of-the-Environment process.
• We believe that only through a concerted effort
by several organizations working together we
can prevail against the formidable organizations
with a vested interest in these issues.
• Step one is a teaming plan.
• How can we help?
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Questions
• What are the technical and business strategies
central to your approach?
• What are your milestones?
• What are your research needs?
• What are your sources for research?
• Have you teamed with others?
• Can HLAA assist in these efforts?
• Can we assist in developing a research plan and
associated teaming to support your efforts?
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Thank you!
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