Firework activity and environmental sound levels: community impacts and solutions

ABSTRACT

We conducted a comprehensive urban sound and community noise perception assessment, using the lens of illegal firework activity during the unique social climate of 2020 as its motivation. Using data gathered from stationary monitoring sites, our research app NoiseScore, emergency (911) and non-emergency (311) phone call reports, and data from the United States Census we observed significant neighborhood differences in sound levels associated with firework activity. We observed that firework activity was dominated by low-frequency sound across all neighborhoods. This trend persisted by time of day and day of week. Further, it was low-frequency sound ranges (and alternative weighting systems like C-weighting and Z-weighting that penalized lower frequency sound levels less) that had the highest correlations with 911 and 311 firework calls. Keywords qualitatively examined from 311 data like ‘bomb’, ‘explosion’, ‘PTSD’ and ‘war zone’ highlight that many residents associate the detonation of fireworks to danger, and view fireworks as an environmental psychological trigger that for many residents – particularly veterans, those living in neighborhoods impacted by gun violence, or victims of gun violence – is quite traumatic. Comparing our findings to existing epidemiological studies suggest that incessant firework activity puts residents at risk for negative cardiovascular and mental health outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• Firework activity
• sound levels
• noise perception

This article is related to:

Research for city practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation [#75557] and Boston University Initiative on Cities.

Notes on contributors

Erica D. Walker

All authors are members or affiliates of Community Noise Lab at the Boston University School of Public Health. Community Noise Lab is a research lab whose primary aim is to support and work directly with communities to address their specific noise issues using real-time monitoring, our smartphone app, NoiseScore, community noise surveying, laboratory-based experiments, and community engagement activities. Actions are centered on challenging existing (or developing) new policy by evaluating not only how sound is impacting community health but how it is also an environmental justice issue.