Welcome to this week’s theme – Music! 

The effects of music on pollution remain largely invisible to us to internalize its gravity. Yet, the pollution generated from consuming music is potentially deafening and destructive to us and the environment. Through this week’s posts, we hope to help make visible the invisible for you. 

Unraveling the Invisible Pollution of Music

Most of us listen to music in one way or another – as casual radio listeners, as fans of certain K-pop groups, or simply using music to accompany the dread of doing work. Little do we know, music also contributes to pollution.

Oh my goodness, can we ever do anything without polluting the Earth? 

Today, music is an integral part of the modern consumerist culture. We listen to music in ever great amounts due to its convenience (we’ll touch on this in the next post). There are more than 140 million monthly active Spotify users alone, and the Nielsen 360 Report found that 52% of US citizens participate in some form of live music every year! 

So, what is sound pollution?

It is typically described as unwanted noise that is harmful or annoying (Kohut, 2015), and is hence subjective since people have varying sensitivities to noise. At first thought, sound pollution may seem to be a mere nuisance…but is it? 

Ecological effects of sound pollution 

It turns out, sound pollution music has real repercussions on ecology. A research by Cartolano et al. (2020) studied the effects of the 2019 Ultra Music Festival in Miami on aquatic organisms. It concluded that such music festivals could increase plasma cortisol – the main stress hormone – in Gulf Toadfish (Opsanus beta) by 4 to 5 times! 

Such long-term increases in cortisol may result in immune system impairment and adverse effects on growth and reproduction rates. 

Similar effects were found even in insects, the most abundant group of animals on Earth! Barton et al. (2017) found that some types of music such as loud rock, had significant effects on the predatory behavior of the Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis) on soybean aphids (Aphis glycines). 

Why so? Sound waves emitted can interfere with the lady beetle’s predatory activities due to disruptions in vibration detection. The beetles thus move less, encounter less prey, consequently reducing predation rates (Barton et al., 2017). This presents potential large scale consequences on the trophic cascade since insects provide a multitude of ecological services, all because of the loud music we use in events such as festivals and carnivals. 

What about us, humans? 

Sound pollution has direct consequences on humans for those who live or work in loud places. With long-term exposure to loud noises (anything above 80bd is harmful), the hearing mechanism of our inner ears may get damaged, resulting in noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) (Goswami et al., 2017). We may also experience psychological effects, such as increased stress, sleep disturbance, mental fatigue and even a reduction in learning abilities (Goswami et al., 2017)! 

Musicians, for instance, are possibly exposed to sound pollution as loud sounds are emitted from their own instruments and that of others nearby. (Owen, 2019). As a past Chinese Orchestra member, I can attest to this – my ears do feel sore if I happen to sit in front of loud instruments…

That’s all for now, up next, we’ll explore music streaming and pollution. Stay tuned!

 

References:

Barton, B.T., Hodge, M.E., Speights, C.J., Autrey, A.M., Lashley, M.A. & Klink, V.P. (2018) Testing the AC/DC hypothesis: Rock and roll is noise pollution and weakens a trophic cascade. Ecology and Evolution. 8(15), 7649-7656. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4273. 

Cartolano, M.C., Berenshtein, I., Heuer, R.M., Pasparakis, C., Rider, M., Hammerschlag, N., Paris, C.B., Grosell, M. & McDonald, M.D. (2020) Impacts of a local music festival on fish stress hormone levels and the adjacent underwater soundscape. Environmental Pollution. 265 (114925). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114925. 

Goswami, M., Singh, D., Vashist, B. & Marwaha, S. (2017) Noise levels and sound pollution associated with various operative procedures and equipments in a pediatric dental environment – A clinical study. Journal of Oral Biology and Craniofacial Research. 7 (3), 182-187. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jobcr.2017.06.003. 

Kohut, T. (2015) Noise Pollution and the Eco-Politics of Sound: Toxicity, Nature and Culture in the Contemporary Soundscape. Leonardo Music Journal. 25, 5-8. Available from: https://muse-jhu-edu.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/604788 [Accessed 19 August 2020]. 

Owen, D. (2019) Is Noise Pollution the Next Big Public-Health Crisis? Available from: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/05/13/is-noise-pollution-the-next-big-public-health-crisis [Accessed 19 August 2020]. 

Rys, D. (2018) Nielsen releases in-depth statistics on live music behavior: 52 percent of Americans attend shows. Available from: https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8485063/nielsen-releases-in-depth-statistics-live-music-behavior-360-report [Accessed 19 August 2020]. 

Singleton, M. (2017) Spotify now has 140 million active users. Available from: https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/15/15807826/spotify-140-million-active-users [Accessed 19 August 2020].