{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]],"date-time":"2026-02-18T07:30:20Z","timestamp":1771399820005,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]],"date-time":"2026-02-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771372800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Industrial noise exposure is a global occupational hazard, with increasing recognition of its deleterious non-auditory effects. Although the auditory consequences of excessive noise are well-known, an emerging body of evidence suggests significant impacts on cognition, cardiovascular and metabolic functions. India with a burgeoning industrial workforce and limited occupational health surveillance, remains under-researched in this domain.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study investigates the physiological and sensory processing impact of occupational noise exposure among industrial workers in Guwahati, a rapidly industrializing region in Northeast India.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A longitudinal study was conducted involving 590 workers from various factories in Guwahati. Ambient noise levels were recorded using calibrated sound level meters. Workers were assessed before and after their work shifts for sensory processing (via reaction time tests), cardiovascular health (blood pressure and heart rate), metabolic health (blood glucose levels), and stress markers (blood cortisol). Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Noise levels across the industrial settings ranged from 62.2\u202fdB(A) to 91.8\u202fdB(A). High noise levels were particularly noted in batch manufacturing rooms and weighing machine areas. Significant post-shift increases were observed in systolic and diastolic blood pressure (mean increases of 13.2\u202fmmHg and 9.3\u202fmmHg respectively,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001), heart rate (mean increase of 4.5\u202fbpm,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001), visual reaction time (mean increase of 50\u202fms,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001), and auditory reaction time (mean increase of 50\u202fms,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001). Cortisol levels also rose significantly (mean increase of 15.8\u202fng\/mL,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001), and elevated blood glucose was observed in a substantial proportion of workers post-shift. Regression analysis demonstrated moderate positive associations between noise exposure and reaction times (visual reaction time:\n                      <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.48; auditory reaction time:\n                      <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.32), indicating delayed cognitive responses with increasing noise levels.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The study demonstrates significant non-auditory impacts of occupational noise exposure, suggesting impaired cognition, heightened physiological stress, and acute alterations in metabolic markers among industrial workers. These findings highlight the need for preventive noise management strategies and short-term occupational health monitoring, engineering controls, and routine health surveillance to mitigate these effects.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Practical applications<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our findings demonstrate the need for factories to adopt effective noise control measures such as engineering modifications, administrative controls, and mandatory hearing protection. These steps can reduce workers\u2019 noise exposure, minimizing physiological stress and cognitive impairments, and thus improve overall occupational health and productivity.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1753715","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]],"date-time":"2026-02-18T06:56:02Z","timestamp":1771397762000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Noise matters: assessing non-auditory health impacts of occupational noise exposure among factory workers"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"S.","family":"Krishnan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Guwahati","place":["Guwahati, India"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"K.","family":"Priyasha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Guwahati","place":["Guwahati, India"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Manasi","family":"Bhattacharjee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Guwahati","place":["Guwahati, India"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Abhishek","family":"Sinha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Guwahati","place":["Guwahati, India"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Benzamin","family":"Hanse","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Guwahati","place":["Guwahati, India"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Saklain Mustak","family":"Alam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Guwahati","place":["Guwahati, India"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jyotirmoy","family":"Kalita","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Guwahati","place":["Guwahati, India"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"Environmental noise guidelines for the European region","year":"2018"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1325","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(13)61613-X","article-title":"Auditory and non-auditory effects of noise on health","volume":"383","author":"Basner","year":"2014","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"979","DOI":"10.1007\/s10389-021-01605-y","article-title":"Association of the working environment noise with occupational stress in industrial workers","volume":"31","author":"Aminian","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Public Health"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"166","DOI":"10.4103\/ijcm.ijcm_1267_21","article-title":"Occupational noise induced hearing loss in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"47","author":"Basu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Indian J Community Med"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4134","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph16214134","article-title":"Road traffic noise exposure and depression\/anxiety: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"16","author":"Dzhambov","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"688","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jacc.2017.12.015","article-title":"Environmental noise and the cardiovascular system","volume":"71","author":"M\u00fcnzel","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Am Coll Cardiol"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"57006","DOI":"10.1289\/ehp4389","article-title":"Long-term exposure to road traffic noise and incidence of diabetes in the Danish nurse cohort","volume":"127","author":"J\u00f8rgensen","year":"2019","journal-title":"Environ Health Perspect"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.4103\/1463-1741.32464","article-title":"Transportation noise and cardiovascular risk: updated review and synthesis of epidemiological studies indicate that the evidence has increased","volume":"8","author":"Babisch","year":"2006","journal-title":"Noise Health"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"307","DOI":"10.1289\/ehp.02110307","article-title":"The association between noise exposure and blood pressure and ischemic heart disease: a meta-analysis","volume":"110","author":"van Kempen","year":"2002","journal-title":"Environ Health Perspect"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"285","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph15020285","article-title":"WHO environmental noise guidelines for the European region: a systematic review on environmental noise and cognition","volume":"15","author":"Clark","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"ref11","first-page":"1","article-title":"Stress hormones in the research on cardiovascular effects of noise","volume":"5","author":"Babisch","year":"2003","journal-title":"Noise Health"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"384","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envres.2016.10.017","article-title":"Association between aircraft, road and railway traffic noise and depression in a large case-control study based on secondary data","volume":"105","author":"Seidler","year":"","journal-title":"Environ Res"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"619","DOI":"10.1038\/s41569-021-00532-5","article-title":"Transportation noise pollution and cardiovascular disease","volume":"18","author":"M\u00fcnzel","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nat Rev Cardiol"},{"key":"ref14","first-page":"59","article-title":"Possible health effects of noise induced cortisol increase","volume":"2","author":"Spreng","year":"2000","journal-title":"Noise Health"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"109","DOI":"10.1016\/j.shaw.2018.07.002","article-title":"The effect of occupational noise exposure on serum cortisol concentration of night-shift industrial workers: a field study","volume":"10","author":"Zare","year":"2019","journal-title":"Saf Health Work"},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e39283","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0039283","article-title":"Road traffic noise and incident myocardial infarction: a prospective cohort study","volume":"7","author":"S\u00f8rensen","year":"2012","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"171","DOI":"10.1007\/s40572-015-0044-1","article-title":"Health effects of noise exposure in children","volume":"2","author":"Stansfeld","year":"2015","journal-title":"Curr Environ Health Rep"},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1181","DOI":"10.3390\/su17031181","article-title":"Integrated noise management strategies in industrial environments: a framework for occupational safety, health, and productivity","volume":"17","author":"Chis","year":"2025","journal-title":"Sustainability"},{"key":"ref19","first-page":"1","article-title":"The noise\/stress concept, risk assessment and research needs","volume":"4","author":"Babisch","year":"2002","journal-title":"Noise Health"},{"key":"ref20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"829","DOI":"10.1093\/eurheartj\/ehu030","article-title":"Cardiovascular effects of environmental noise exposure","volume":"35","author":"M\u00fcnzel","year":"2014","journal-title":"Eur Heart J"},{"key":"ref21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"243","DOI":"10.1093\/bmb\/ldg033","article-title":"Noise pollution: non-auditory effects on health","volume":"68","author":"Stansfeld","year":"2003","journal-title":"Br Med Bull"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Public Health"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1753715\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]],"date-time":"2026-02-18T06:56:03Z","timestamp":1771397763000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1753715\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]]},"references-count":21,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1753715"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1753715","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-2565"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2296-2565","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]]},"article-number":"1753715"}}