All that noise on the job could do more than just hurt your hearing. High blood pressure and high cholesterol are more common among workers who are exposed to loud noises while on the job, according to a new study from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers at the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health also found that a quarter of US workers, an estimated 41 million people, reported a history of noise exposure at work.

High blood pressure and high LDL cholesterol are key factors for heart disease, the leading cause of death for both men and women. Loud noise is one of the most common workplace hazards in America, affecting about 22 million workers each year.

Elizabeth Masterson, CDC's National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) says, "We can't say from the results of our study that noise is causing elevated cholesterol or hypertension, we know however that they are associated."

She says it is known that noise causes both physical stress to the body and mental stress.

Occupations with the highest prevalence of on the job noise are production, construction, installation, maintenance and repair.

“A significant percentage of the workers we studied have hearing difficulty, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol that could be attributed to noise at work,” said study co-author Liz Masterson, Ph.D. “If noise could be reduced to safer levels in the workplace, more than 5 million cases of hearing difficulty among noise-exposed workers could potentially be prevented. This study provides further evidence of an association of occupational noise exposure with high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and the potential to prevent these conditions if noise is reduced. It is important that workers be screened regularly for these conditions in the workplace or through a healthcare provider, so interventions can occur. As these conditions are more common among noise-exposed workers, they could especially benefit from these screenings.”