Delhi is already infamous for its deteriorating air quality and increasing pollution levels. However, it is not just the air pollution that the city tops in, New Delhi is among the worst hit in noise pollution levels also.
Both urban noise pollution and hearing loss are interdependent. As per the new world rankings, New Delhi is among the worst hit cities by the loud noise. The survey decoded a list of fifty cities across the world that are worst affected by both.
Guangzhou, New Delhi, Cairo, and Istanbul, as per the survey are the cities with highest impaired hearing. In fact, top cities like Paris, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Barcelona are also included in the list of degraded hearing.
The survey also includes cities that are least affected by high decibels. These cities include Zurich, Vienna, Oslo, Munich, Stockholm, Seoul, Amsterdam, and Stuttgart. All these cities recorded lowest levels of decline in hearing.
Though the survey has not yet been submitted for a review and is still at a preliminary stage. Moreover, the finding also did not mention that the city’s dissonance is the main reason for impaired hearing. There are other factors that affect degraded hearing as well. These includes factors like infections, hereditary disorders, premature birth, side-effects of medicines, etc.
The scientists at the Mimi and Charite University in Berlin studied the two different databases to ascertain the correlation between noise pollution and hearing loss. The first database gathered facts from WHO and SINTEF, a Norwegian-based technology research group to find out the top cities in ranking on noise pollution.
Moreover, a phone-based test was also conducted for hearing loss. This study was conducted on the basis of the age and sex of the respondents and the cities were named based on their location. Both the databases were closely monitored to reveal the correlation between noise pollution and hearing loss.
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