1. Radiation and Health risk of Noise cancelling
headphones?
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The FCC’s regulations “may not reflect the latest evidence on the effects” of cellphones. US
Government Accountability Office (GAO) report .August 7, 2012
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Is this dangerous?
There is a lot of concern about whether noise canceling health headphones pose any health risk.
First of all we know that too much noise has serious health consequences from hearing impairment,
hypertension , annoyance, sleep disturbance and even ischemic heart diseases. Indeed loud noise can
even affect one’s immune system and even lead to birth defects.
Noise is also associated with tinnitus,( ringing of the ears) hypertension, vasoconstriction and even has
some cardiovascular impacts.
Some of the major sources of noise include vehicles, aircraft noise , prolonged exposure to loud music
in places such a s clubs and industrial noise.
There are also psychological definitions of noise in situation where people or pets are startled by
Firecrackers .
In Europe traffic noise alone harms the health of one in three. One in nine Europeans are exposed to
noise sound levels that can significant affect their health.
A study carried out by the 2001 edition of the Austrian children who live in areas with constant low-
level noise such as trains and vehicles had significantly higher levels of stress hormone cortisol than
those who lived in quieter areas.
A Feb 2006 issue of European Health Journal found that heart attacks risk was higher among people

2. who are exposed to noise all the time.
And now on noise canceling headphones- which reduce background sounds such as that of airplane
engines , trains and other highway noise. They counter these noises by producing “anti noise” sound
waves which cancels out the exterior unwanted noise. This noise is produced by a microphone which is
placed near the ear and some electronic circuity which generates the noise canceling effect.
However these headphones are safe because unlike cell phones they do not emit any radiation . So they
don’t pose the same health threat as those produced by a cellphone pressed to the ear for hours on end.
In other words noise cancellation headphones are beneficial since they reduces the loud noise which
have the effects enumerated at the beginning of this article.
Noise canceling headphones are therefore of great benefit. For example children who use them in
vehicle do not need to raise the volume so high to counteract the external noises. However you have to
purchase good quality headphones – because a 2007 review in New York’s Times showed that some of
them produce a hissing noise when the musis is not playing . We recommend high quality noise
cancelling headphones such as Bose.