NEW ORLEANS – Today, the New Orleans Health Department will launch a public health education initiative called Sound Check, which aims to reduce the level of harmful sounds that can adversely affect public health. Sound Check will engage residents, businesses, workers, performers and visitors to protect the overall health of the entire community by educating the public on how to accurately measure sound levels and how prolonged exposure to loud sound can lead to permanent hearing loss and other health issues.
A team from the Health Department’s Healthy Environments program will begin working with stakeholders to make recommendations on the length of time one can spend listening to sound based on decibel levels, perform demonstrations revealing the relationship between perceived and actual decibel levels, advise ways to protect peoples’ health in potentially dangerous sound conditions and provide information on how to seek help if one has sound-related health issues. The team will also start taking baseline sound measurements to determine the effect this campaign will have on decibel levels.
In 2013, the New Orleans City Council tasked the Health Department with addressing the issues around sound in the French Quarter and Marigny neighborhoods. The Sound Check initiative is the start of that work.
For more information click here or by calling 311.
