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suffered
more th,m
l1tire
thc incidence
of neurotic and organic mental illnesses
if they livcd in or near thc landing path
of Hcathrow a1rport. "Thcrc is reliahle
statistical evidcnce," thc doctors said,
"that noisc is an important factor
lcading to [mental
J
hospit:tlization."
Dr. Lewis Sontag, dírl·ctor
o(
the Fels
Rescarch Institutc al Ycllow Springs,
Ohio w:trns of thc dangcrous cffect of
sonic booms on unborn childrcn. The
"total bchavior ami adjustment patterns
of latcr lifc" can be altcred by the
cffccts of Joud, sharp no•ses on an un–
boro fetus.
Drs. Keoneth Henry and Roberl
Bowroan of the
Univer~ity
of Wiscon–
sin waro of "an increasc in sound–
produced convulsions in pcople who
spent their ínfancy near sources of
intense sound."
As we enter the age
o(
sprawling
"strip cities" and the SST (supersonic
transport), one must honcstly ask: Are
we all doomed to constant dis–
comfiture and possibly even death be-
Ominous Stream of Emissions
- Bíllowing smoke from copper
refinery forms inversion loyer of
polluted oir over smoll town.
Ambossodor
Cot/ege Photos
15
forc our time because of noise pollu–
tion?
What CouId Be Done
Jt should be abundantly clear that
ac–
tion-
not just more talk- needs to be
takcn quickly. Action is needed from an
arouscd public, responsible industrialists
and a concerned government.
What
cottld
-
and should - be
done? For a start:
l )
Establish, in each industrial na–
tion, a "Pollution Pentagon" con–
sisting of a high cabinet or ministerial
lcvd board dcaling with environmental
affairs. Such a board should primarily
be madc up of the best minds in
ecology, biology, anthropology, botany,
chemastry and related sciences.
Such boards should function as direct
Prcsidential Advisory groups, and not
be subject to pressures from powerful
lobbics or vested interests. By continua!
cxchanging of personnel, inviting lead–
ing researchers in various fields whether
from education or industry, there would
occur a continua! upgrading of such
boards - continua! access to new meth–
ods and discoveries - and, hopefuJ!y,
avoidance of seeing such groups stag–
natc into cloistered, ignored, obsolete
islands of scientific knowledge whose
rescarch is nevcr used in practica! appli–
cation.
This panel of experts in each nation
should be givcn the responsibility of ad–
vising industry and agriculture of the
ccological cffects of new products and
proccsses. Jts decisions - such as rec–
ommending the ban of certain non–
dcgradable products - should have the
full weight of governmeotal enforce–
mcnt behind them.
Idcally, such a "Pollution Peota–
gon" would be kept completely free
from p:trtis:tnship, and safeguarded
from attempts from whatever guarter,
including other goveroment agencies
that might exert pressures or undue
influence.
Pollution is already such a monumen–
tal social issue that the entire public