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Exposure to a sound level exceeding 140 dB (a gunshot) could cause immediate hearing loss. Listening to music every day for 15 min at a high volume (between 90 and 100 dB) using earphones could degrade hearing.

According to the 1999 WHO guidelines for community noise, the recommended limits are 55 dB for outdoor residential areas and 70 dB for traffic and commercial areas.

Long-term exposures, even at relatively lower noise levels that are common in urban areas, can also damage both physical and mental health.

A study in Europe suggests that 22 million and 6.5 million people suffer from chronic noise annoyance and sleep disturbance, respectively. A conservative estimate indicates that long-term exposure to environmental noise contributes to 48,000 new cases of ischemic heart disease and causes 12,000 premature deaths annually in Europe.

Another study from Toronto, Canada, suggests that exposure to road traffic noise elevates the risk of acute myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure and increases the incidence of diabetes mellitus by 8%, and hypertension by 2%.

(Note: The data in the graph should be taken with a grain of salt, as it utilizes various published studies with different methodologies over a period of time. For instance, the data for Moradabad, India was taken from a single study a decade ago, and the same is true for many other cities as well)

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