Black noises: what they are and how they affect us

Various devices with which we live, many of them being used frequently in our daily routine, such as they can be cars or electrical appliances, among others, emit infrasounds that have been called "noises blacks”.

Black noise is a term that refers to those vibrations of infrasonic waves, with some frequency levels below 20 hertz (Hz), being barely perceptible to the ear human. For this reason, people are not able to hear these noises, although we can perceive them and their energy is absorbed by our body, potentially causing damage to our health.

In the following lines we will see what are the black noises and we will also talk about those repercussions that prolonged exposure to this type of vibration has for both physical and psychological health.

• Related article: "The 10 parts of the ear and the process of receiving sound"

What are black noises?

The concept "black noise" refers to those infrasound wave vibrations, with frequency levels below 20 hertz (Hz), being barely perceptible by the human ear

. For this reason, people are not able to hear these noises, although we can perceive them and their energy is absorbed by our body, being able to cause us damage at the of health, both physically and mentally, and is that black noises can cause dilations and contractions in matter, including the different tissues of the body human.

There are many sounds that we are exposed to on a daily basis that we cannot avoid, such as traffic noise, works, the wide variety of sounds we hear on the street, the conversations of the people with whom we we cross etc. But there are some black noises, with lower acoustic frequencies and that are more harmful to our health, these being the ones generated by air conditioning, refrigerators, traffic vibrations, vibration of bridges when passing vehicles, vibration of machines of all kinds, etc.

Because black sounds are emitted at low frequency levels, they are difficult for the ear to perceive and, if successful, it is even more difficult for them to be heard clearly. Therefore, what is perceived is a painful sensation, noticing as a kind of pressure, so that they are perceived as something unpleasant and said uncomfortable sensation is produced by the effect of ultrasonic waves that emit black noises in the cells of the human body.

All of us, some more and some less, have absorbed those infrasound waves that emit the black noises to which we are exposed daily, and that is Surely most of us have suffered from dizziness, the feeling of being numb or have our ears plugged when we are traveling by car, on a train or in a car. a plane.

• You may be interested: "Auditory cortex: characteristics and functions of this region of the brain"

Health consequences of exposure to black noise

Roberto Alonso and David Baeza, researchers from the Higher Polytechnic School of the CEU San Pablo University, have published the article "Effects of infrasound on health: Proposals to improve living conditions” in the International Journal of Occupational safety and Ergonomics, where results they have obtained in their research on black noise and its effects on health, implying that the vibrations they emit have harmful effects, so that black noise control is important to consider when building new homes.

These researchers have explained how these harmful effects are produced by prolonged exposure to black noise in our daily lives, starting because that frequency of infrasound vibrations that cause these noises is closely linked to the functionality of our organs, way that infrasound produced by black noise evokes a biological resonance in our organs, such as the heart or the lungs, and also at Central Nervous System (CNS), leading to cell movement and distortion.

In other words, the harmful effect of black noise is that the frequencies they emit they interfere with the frequencies of the internal organs that we have, such as the heart, the lungs and the brain. In addition, our brain can process those infrasound waves that emit black noise as pathogens, so that it will try to defend itself against them, so could activate a stress response or an inflammatory reaction to it and it would also send a signal to the adrenal glands to release catecholamines in response to that stress.

When a person is exposed to high intensities of these infrasound waves, they can suffer various complications, both physically and psychologically, these being such as fatigue, disorientation, panic, anxiety, optical illusions, cardiac disturbances, nausea, vomiting, intestinal spasms and even loss of consciousness.

The main problem that we find when we are exposed to high intensities of those infrasound waves that emit black noise during a prolonged time, is that on many occasions we do not realize that we are exposed to them because our ears are not capable of perceiving it. In other words, we are not able to establish a direct relationship between the harmful effects to our health that we are suffering from these waves with the origin.

For all these reasons, in modern buildings these researchers propose that the levels of exposure to these black noises be taken into account, so that when building, one must take into account Be careful where the air conditioning equipment is going to be placed, placing the rooms as far as possible from the different points of emission of these infrasound waves and possible noise, etc.

• Related article: "17 curiosities about human perception"

Impact of the coronavirus pandemic on exposure to black noise

Since the beginning of the pandemic caused by the coronavirus at the beginning of 2020, due to confinement and the different waves in which the number of infections has increased considerably, Among other repercussions, one of them has been the increase in the hours we spend at home and also in the percentage of workers who have gone from working outside to teleworking since their House. This has meant that our ears have become accustomed to perceiving less noise; we have become more sensitive and are also more exposed to black noise.

Said prolonged exposure to being confined at home and/or teleworking has caused us to be continuously exposed to all kinds of black noise emitted by the refrigerator, the ventilation equipment, the vibration of the heating boiler or the washing machine, among others, adding this to a greater sensitivity that is It has occurred because of being less exposed to the outside environment, so even the slightest noise we hear at home could become unbearable for us.

Thus, trying to work from home or study while being exposed to all kinds of black noise has become a very common situation in the daily routine of many people in the wake of the pandemic, so this can be quite frustrating for many people. So many of them are beginning to choose to seek peace and rest in all ways, including less exposure to black noise, moving to places where they are surrounded by nature on their days off work and vacations, producing endless benefits for health.

We can also be exposed to a multitude of noises if we live in a house that is close to a road that is very busy with vehicles or a train track, so in addition to listening to the sound emitted by cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles and/or trains, we will be exposed to black noise caused by these infrasounds that can impact the walls of our homes and therefore affect our health, highlighting the serious negative repercussions on our central nervous system (SNS) and with it the conditions to our mental health.