A continuous mechanical sound has different characteristics from aircraft flyovers, traffic, trains, or construction. A data-center acoustic environment may be continuous, contain low-frequency components, contain tonal components from fans/motors/pumps/compressors/electrical equipment, persist overnight, and be difficult for nearby residents to escape.

There is substantial scientific evidence that chronic environmental noise can affect children's sleep, stress physiology, cognition, attention, learning, and well-being. However, direct epidemiological evidence specifically examining children chronically exposed to low-frequency mechanical noise from hyperscale data centers is presently limited. This evidence gap should not be interpreted as evidence of no risk; rather, it establishes a need for site-specific acoustic characterization, exposure modeling, baseline monitoring, and post-construction noise surveillance.