Health impacts from low frequency noise

Low frequency noise can affect people in the same way as other types of noise.  This can include:

• sleep disturbance.
• annoyance 
• impaired task performance 
• daytime tiredness 
• disturbed daily cortisol pattern due to stress.  

These effects can cause some people to experience nausea and headaches.

Long term exposure to low frequency noise can seriously impact human health. The best and most experienced researchers on earth are sounding the alarm. In this example the summary from a case study on Wind Turbines leaves no doubt that regulations are unsuitable and they ARE NOT adequately protecting human populations from ILFN, regardless of the source.

       1.) INFRASOUND AND LOW FREQUENCY NOISE GUIDE- LINES: ANTIQUATED AND IRRELEVANT FOR PROTECT- ING POPULATIONS

• Mariana Alves-Pereira, Carmen Krogh, Huub H. C. Bakker, S. Rachel Summers, Bruce I. Rapley
• July 2019
• Conference: 26th International Congress on Sound & Vibration (Peer-Reviewed Paper)
• At: Montreal, Canada
  
  Summary
  "A re-evaluation of legislation regarding population exposure to ILFN has been urgently required for decades [1]. The Canadian regulations here applied are similar to other regulations worldwide, and equally unsuitable if the goal is to protect human health against chronic ILFN exposures. Symptomatic complaints currently being ignored and/or misdiagnosed will predictably lead to a burden on future healthcare costs. Although the proliferation of IWT is bringing this agent of disease [16] to center stage, the biases regarding how human health is impacted by airborne pressure waves (audible or not and whatever the source) continue to impede a proper scientific investigation [17], and consequently, proper protection of human populations and their offspring."
  
  Full Article
  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334721240_INFRASOUND_AND_LOW_FREQUENCY_NOISE_GUIDE-_LINES_ANTIQUATED_AND_IRRELEVANT_FOR_PROTECT-_ING_POPULATIONS
  
  Infrasound and LFN (ILFN) are agents of disease that go unchecked. 
  Vibroacoustic disease is a whole-body pathology that develops in individuals excessively exposed to ILFN. In exposure to LFN, significant problems such as depression and mental dysfunction are seen in 3% to 5% more than prevalence in general population. Other problems observed following exposure to low-frequency sound include an increase in heart rate and potentially related problems. People chronically exposed to this type of sound can develop significant health problems.
  
  Full Article
  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9999102/
  
  
  2.) Alberta is known for natural gas production and has been for decades. The province of Alberta is saturated with natural gas compressors and as a result most of the province is blanketed with a low frequency pulsation.
  
  Regional variations in the prevalence rates of multiple sclerosis in the province of Alberta, Canada - "The prevalence rate for Alberta is among the highest reported in the world indicating that the province appears to be an excess risk area relative to other global locations."
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8190211/
  
  Is this just a co incidence or is there a connection between the low frequency noise that blankets Alberta and a high incidence of Multiple Sclerosis? Why is the Industry and the Government of Alberta not actively monitoring and objectively investigating low frequency noise?
  
  Anyone who has been adversely affected by the low frequency noises known as "flutter" and "Hum" that are generated by natural gas pipelines will tell you that the experience is very stressful. Sleep disturbance alone is usually enough to cause a stress response but the experience of having to live in an environment where tactile low frequency pulsations and noise permeates every aspect of life takes it to a new level. Considering that many people live for years of being exposed to low frequency noise unwillingly it is entirely reasonable to consider how it might actually result in life changing disease.
  
  Effect of stress on brain inflammation and multiple sclerosis
  Substantial evidence indicates that stress can precipitate or worsen symptoms of inflammation in general and more specifically in multiple sclerosis (MS), a demyelinating, autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of the central nervous system (CNS). 
  
  Acute stress increases permeability of the blood–brain-barrier through activation of brain mast cells
  Disruption of the blood–brain-barrier (BBB) is important in the pathophysiology of various inflammatory conditions of the central nervous system (CNS), such as multiple sclerosis (MS), in which breakdown of the BBB precedes any clinical or pathological findings. There is some evidence that relapsing–remitting MS attacks may be correlated with certain types of acute stressful episodes.
  
  3.) The Hum - Low frequency noise and sleep deprivation
  
  Regardless of the source of the Hum the most common reason why people are upset by it is sleep disturbance. Sleep is a basic necessity for human health and when you don't get an adequate amount of sleep it can negatively impact your health. An ongoing lack of sleep has been closely associated with hypertension, heart attacks and strokes, obesity, diabetes, depression and anxiety, decreased brain function, memory loss, weakened immune system, lower fertility rates and psychiatric disorders.
  
  Many people who are affected by the Hum report being kept awake at night by a Hum, buzz or pulsation that is often described as a diesel engine idling in the distance. It is not uncommon to hear people describe the effects of low frequency noise sleep disturbance as torture. Many reports of the Hum indicate a worsening of the Hum between midnight and 6 am.
  
  How lack of sleep affects cognitive performance -- July 18, 2023 - Eric Suni, Dr. Nilong Vyas - SleepFoundation.org
  https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-deprivation/lack-of-sleep-and-cognitive-impairment
  
  10 Effects of Long-Term Sleep Deprivation - Published on April 8, 2019 - Dr. Carl Rosenberg
  https://www.sleephealthsolutionsohio.com/blog/10-effects-of-long-term-sleep-deprivation/
  
  New study helps explain links between sleep loss and diabetes - February 19, 2015 - The University of Chicago Medicine
  https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/news/new-study-helps-explain-links-between-sleep-loss-and-diabetes?