Vibroacoustic disease: the need for a new attitude towards noise

Background. The importance of information technologies in public awareness of environmental issues is especially clear when a new occupational disease is identified. This is certainly the case with Vibroacoustic Disease (VAD), a whole-body noise-induced pathology, that is not particularly related to the ear. The Problem. The social and economic costs of VAD are staggering, and continuously aggravated by the fact that environmental noise assessments pay little attention to the noise that causes VAD Low Frequency (LF) noise (* 500 Hz), focusing primarily on that which causes hearing impairment. An erroneous assumption justifies these incomplete noise assessment requirements: noise only affects the ear. Thus, all noise protection measures and evaluation procedures focus exclusively on the frequencies affecting the auditory system (* 500 Hz). The Solution. Physical protection against LF noise is not feasible, given the large wavelength of LF (in meters). Preventing the evolution of VAD to clinically severe stages is feasible. The requirements are twofold: a) entry-level and yearly echocardiogram of jobcandidates and exposed individuals; b) education of workers, occupational physicians, and management. There is an urgent need to include LF in all noise assessments, and use prevention medicine against this ubiquitous environmental hazard. However, this can only be achieved with active participation of a wellinformed public.