Effects of Noise
on
Human Health

The above mentioned health problems are usually caused by the body responding to signals from the ear.

So am I safe if I am further away and do not hear the sounds?  Or if I am hard of hearing, or if I use ear plugs?

Not necessarily.

Chronic noise pollution can be in a frequency below your hearing. Low frequencies also have a second way of affecting health, by penetrating your body directly without going through your ears.

Sounds at the low end of the frequency spectrum can be particularly damaging because they travel further distances from the source, and they vibrate in waves that are more likely to directly interfere with cell and organ functions.

Sounds are usually considered low frequency below about 250Hz. Infrasound is below the lower human threshold of hearing at 20Hz.

The symptoms of chronic exposure to very low frequency noises are somewhat different and appear to be linked more to headaches, problems in child development, and cancer.