Business aircraft crews and passengers are generally aware of the danger of prolonged exposure to noise in terms of hearing loss. Now there is a growing body of evidence that prolonged exposure to a combination of high-intensity and low-frequency noise may pose far more serious health threats. They include thickening of cardiovascular structures–carotid arteries, pericardium and cardiac valves; lung fibrosis; and neurological problems, including late-onset epilepsy and disabling balance disorders.
The noise in question is best described as that over the 110-decibel level (high intensity) and below 100 hertz (low frequency). Typical sources of such noise include dance clubs, powerful car audio systems, motorcycles and passenger cabins on twin-turboprop airplanes. In particular, it is the low-frequency noise (LFN) that researchers have singled out as primarily responsible for what they are calling “vibroacoustic disease” (VAD). It may even be of such low frequency as to be inaudible to the human ear.
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