To the editor:

This Maple Leaf Preforming Arts Center (MLPAC) is a pretty good dream. Lots of jobs, lots of tourists, great music, the needed revenue that Brown County so desperately needs. Sounds great — right?

But wait — what did we forget? What we forgot is the large group of over-55 residents we invited into our community, many of whom are not in great health and do not have the option of moving. They live in the Brown County Health & Living Center and in Hawthorne Hills and Willow Manor Senior Apartments, mere feet away from where the MLPAC is proposed to be built.

Here’s the reality — the facts — for these folks and their quality of life.

The research cited below is only a small sample of the data available that documents the harmful effects of traffic noise and air pollution to our older residents. There are real risks for developing hypertension and strokes, cardiovascular disease, balance/fall problems, sleep disturbance, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Older people may be more vulnerable to the effects of road traffic noise. Significant associations between noise levels over 60 dB (busy traffic comes in at 70dB) and increased risk of stroke among people over 64.5 years and also with incident of ischaemic strokes. (ncbi.nlm.hih.gov)

Journal studies show a link between nighttime environmental noise exposure and cardiovascular disease, and that even low-level noises may impact health due to sleep disturbance. Studies show elderly people to be most vulnerable to sound disruptions. (Noise & Health Journal)

Road traffic noise and air pollution both increase the risk of having a stroke. Traffic noise is strongly associated with ischaemic strokes, a form of stroke that occurs when clots block bloodflow to the brain, whereas only air pollution appears to be linked with more serious, fatal strokes. (Science for Environment Policy)

Quality of life studies associate deterioration in physical and mental quality of life in people over 60 with exposure to road traffic noise. (noiseandhealth.org)

Detrimental effects of low-level noise on people with dementia, causing increased agitation and confusion. A greater risk of falls is linked to either loss of balance or through an increase in disorientation as a result of people trying to orientate themselves in an environment that is overstimulating and noisy. (Social Care Institute for Excellence)

Long-term exposure to certain air pollutants — nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter — are associated with higher dementia risk. (2017 HealthDay)

“Traffic includes exposures to complex mixtures of environmental insults.” (Dr. Lilian Calderon-Garciduenas, U of Montana)

A 10-decible increase in nighttime noise was linked to a 14 percent rise in a person’s likelihood of being diagnosed with hypertension. (2017 Mother Jones magazine, “Is Your Noisy Neighborhood Slowly Killing You?”)

Neighborhood noise, such as from traffic and construction, has been linked to impaired brain function in humans. High noise levels are associated with impairments in memory, reading and problem solving. Older individuals may be especially sensitive to the negative effects of neighborhood noise which may impact risk for the development or progression of Alzheimer’s disease. (2017 alz.org)

Can we, as a community, afford to look away and not consider these very real risks to a very vulnerable group of people?

I want to be clear, I am not against the MLPAC. I am against the proposed location.

It’s not too late to do the right thing and find a better location that doesn’t negatively impact so many people.

Christine Ross, Nashville

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