• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

The Lincoln Squirrel – News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

≡ Menu
  • Home
  • About/Contact
  • Advertise
  • Legal Notices
    • Submitting legal notices
  • Lincoln Resources
    • Coming Up in Lincoln
    • Municipal Calendar
    • Lincoln Links
  • Merchandise
  • Subscriptions
    • My Account
    • Log In
    • Log Out
  • Lincoln Review
    • About the Lincoln Review
    • Issues
    • Submit your work

Letter to the editor: Health effects of air traffic

March 26, 2014

letterEditor’s note: The Conservation Commission continued its hearing on Jet Aviation’s Hanscom Field proposal to April 2.

To the editor:

Approving the Hanscom airport expansion plans at this time is concerning, not only because of wetlands considerations, but because a critical examination of the potential human health impacts does not appear to have been conducted. As director of a nonprofit organization, Quiet Communities, and chair of the Lincoln Leaf Blower Study Committee, I have had the opportunity to examine the adverse health impacts of related noise and air pollution.

Extensive evidence in the scientific and medical literature indicates that airport noise is a serious public health hazard. Decades of research show that chronic exposure to environmental noise causes sleep disturbance, heart disease, psychological problems, and hearing loss. For example, in a recent study of more than 6 million older people (65+ yrs) living near U.S. airports, Harvard and Boston University Schools of Public Health scientists found that airport noise increases hospitalization risk for heart attack and stroke (BMJ, October 8, 2013). In a February 2014 Environmental Health Perspectives article, University of Michigan scientists call for a U.S. noise policy, estimating tens of millions of Americans are at risk for heart disease and other noise-related adverse effects—with air traffic identified as a major source. In Europe, the World Health Organization’s 2011 Burden of Environmental Noise report documents the extensive loss of healthy life years from environmental noise.

While Jet Aviation claims the new jets are less noisy and more efficient than smaller aircraft, this benefit may be outweighed by the future increase in jet traffic forecasted by Massport.

I urge residents to attend the upcoming meeting on April 2 and ask the Conservation Commission to postpone a decision until the potential adverse health effects of noise/pollution are examined with the help of the Board of Health and/or other environmental health experts.

Sincerely,

Jamie Banks
154 Lincoln Rd.


Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published. Letters may be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor.

Category: government, health and science, letters to the editor Leave a Comment

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Upcoming Events

May 30
12:30 pm1:30 pm

Should I Stay or Should I Go? Exploring the Options (part 3)

May 31
9:00 am11:00 am

Farm to Table Brunch and Tour

May 31
8:00 pm11:00 pm

Club Codman

Jun 14
9:00 am2:00 pm

Hazardous waste dropoff

Jun 14
11:00 am3:00 pm

250th anniversary Feast & Faire

View Calendar

Recent Posts

  • My Turn: Get the full picture on Farrington/Panetta proposal May 27, 2025
  • Corrections and more information on Farrington/Panetta proposal May 25, 2025
  • Police log for May 9–20, 2025 May 25, 2025
  • June 25 Special Town Meeting agenda grows May 22, 2025
  • Legal notice: Zoning Board of Appeals hearing May 22, 2025

Squirrel Archives

Categories

Secondary Sidebar

Search the Squirrel:

Privacy policy

© Copyright 2025 The Lincoln Squirrel · All Rights Reserved.