Merriweather Post Pavilion is seriously aging us all in place! Sunday night Merriweather's sound levels reached 82 to 89 dBA, spiking at 92 and 99 dBA across our property line between 9:44 p.m. and 10:16 p.m.
Excessive amplified electronic sound (AES) affects breathing and heart-rates, raising women's heart attack and stroke risk by 300 percent and men's by 50 percent. Excessive AES increases violent acts among children and adults, increases stress, reduces ability to learn, and undermines human health — including that of police and other public servants.
In our 22 condo-townhomes in Seville Square, three newborns are in their first year of life, each with a sibling between 2 and 4 years old. In nearby apartments and town-homes across Vantage Point Road live at least 30 school-age children we see waiting for their buses. Many of their parents follow MPP's schedule to take them away for what theythink might be the loudest weekends.
A community that does not limit AES or effectively enforce limits on it will have increased violence, antisocial behavior, social conflict, cynicism, resignation, hearing loss: all unnecessary suffering.
Excessive AES reduces hearing acuity, sensory awareness, ability to communicate, learning ability, test scores, appropriate behavior, mental health, emotional well-being, happiness and life satisfaction.
We wonder how our neighbors and their children can rest, let alone sleep, which — like work in office buildings — requires sound levels under 45 dBA. Once the sympathetic nervous system goes into fight-or-flight from noise, it can take 24 to 72 hours to restore the balance needed for restful,health-restorative sleep. MPP's excessive AES lasted three nights in a row.
Laura Mueller and Tom Mohr
Columbia