Author Archives: exposurelab

For more than half a century, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has failed to adequately regulate noise. Writer Joanne Silberner spoke with U-M researcher Rick Neitzel and others about the need to protect public health from harmful noise pollution.

If you ever get a ringing in your ears, you’re far from alone, according to preliminary insights Apple announced this week from its ongoing hearing health study.

Doctoral candidate Anupon Tadee was awarded the Best Volunteer Group Student Poster at the AIHA CONNECT 2024 conference. Congratulations, Anupon!

U-M alum Benjamin Roberts, PhD, CIH, received the AIHA 2024 Kusnetz Award for Outstanding Achievement by an Early Career Professional in the occupational and environmental health and safety profession. Congratulations, Benjamin!

In a presentation at AIHA Connect 2024, U-M and Exposure Lab alum Benjamin Roberts (PhD ‘17) described one potential practical application of ChatGPT: to read and summarize OEHS regulations. Learn more about Benjamin’s conclusions in the AIHA article. 

One of the most insidious sources of noise exposure today is our technology, namely earbuds and headphones. U-M exposure scientist Rick Neitzel said in an interview on NPR’s Body Electric that he has often been asked, “I don’t want to harm my hearing, is there anything I can do? The good news is, there is.”

To combat the ill effects of urban noise pollution, Paris is deploying automated sensors and cracking down on the loudest vehicles. Read the article in Bloomberg.

Loud sounds are a major environmental source of health problems. Emerging research is uncovering how noise affects the brain, and everyday sources of loud sounds are linked to stress, poor sleep, learning problems, and even heart disease.

An article in Scientific American explores the many impacts of noise on our physical and mental health. U-M researcher Rick Neitzel, who leads the Apple Hearing Study, is among the experts who discuss the impacts of noise on health and well-being and what people can do to lessen their noise exposure.

Discarded laptops, smartphones, and other forms of e-waste contain substances that are harmful to people and the environment. Globally, an unknown amount of e-waste is recycled informally, often in people’s homes, without occupational and environmental safeguards. The Exposure Research Lab has been studying how to make this informal recycling work safer.