• Road traffic in European cities exposes

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Thursday, March 24, 2022 22:30:44
    Road traffic in European cities exposes 60 million people to noise
    levels harmful to health

    Date:
    March 24, 2022
    Source:
    Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)
    Summary:
    A study assessed the levels of noise generated by road traffic and
    examined its impact on health in 749 European cities. The findings
    show that nearly 60 million adults are subjected to unhealthy
    levels of vehicle-generated noise. Compliance with the World
    Health Organization (WHO) noise-level guidelines could prevent
    3,600 deaths annually from ischemic heart disease alone.



    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    A study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a
    centre supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation, assessed the levels of
    noise generated by road traffic and examined its impact on health in 749 European cities. The findings, published in Environment International,
    show that nearly 60 million adults are subjected to unhealthy levels of vehicle-generated noise. Compliance with the World Health Organisation
    (WHO) noise-level guidelines could prevent 3,600 deaths annually from
    ischaemic heart disease alone.


    ==========================================================================
    Road traffic is the main source of environmental noise. Previous research
    has linked environmental noise to a range of adverse health effects: sleep disturbance, annoyance, cardiovascular and metabolic disease, adverse
    birth outcomes, cognitive impairment, poor mental health and well-being,
    and premature mortality. Long-term exposure to road traffic noise can
    cause a sustained stress reaction, which results in the release of stress hormones and increases in heart rate, blood pressure and vasoconstriction, eventually leading to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, depression and anxiety disorders.

    For this study, data on European cities were retrieved from the Urban
    Audit 2018 dataset. Road traffic noise exposure was estimated using
    noise maps produced by countries and cities under the current European legislative framework (Environmental Noise Directive) or available from
    local sources (e.g.

    city governments and research institutions). For cases in which city-level
    data were not available, country-specific predictive models were developed
    and applied to estimate exposure to road traffic noise. Data on different causes of mortality for the year 2015 were retrieved from the Eurostat database.

    The results showed that more than 48% of the 123 million adults
    (aged 20 years or older) included in the study were exposed to noise
    levels exceeding the WHO- recommended threshold. Specifically, the
    WHO recommendation states that the average noise level recorded over a
    24-hour period should not exceed 53 decibels (53 dB Lden). The percentage
    of the population exposed to higher-than- recommended noise levels in
    Europe's capital cities ranges from 29.8% in Berlin to 86.5% in Vienna, including 43.8% in Madrid and 60.5% in Rome.

    Preventable Deaths and Annoyance Building on previous research that
    established associations between noise and mortality caused by ischaemic
    heart disease, the researchers estimated that compliance with WHO
    guidelines would prevent more than 3,600 deaths each year from ischaemic
    heart disease alone.

    The study also found that more than 11 million adults were highly annoyed
    by road traffic noise. Annoyance was defined as the repeated disturbance
    of everyday activities, such as communicating, reading, working and
    sleeping. In this sense, annoyance goes beyond mere inconvenience, as it
    can increase stress and eventually give rise to various health problems.

    "Our results provide, for the first time, a comprehensive picture of
    European cities and a clearer understanding of why transport-generated
    noise is the second major environmental cause of adverse health outcomes
    in western Europe, after airborne particulate matter," explained ISGlobal researcher Sasha Khomenko, lead author of the study. "Even so, we are
    convinced that the true health impact of traffic noise is much greater,
    as the lack of city-level data limits the health effects we can assess,
    thus leading to an underestimation of the impact. Moreover, the available
    data have only allowed us to analyse the population exposed to more
    than 55 dB Lden, whereas the WHO-recommended threshold is 53 dB Lden,
    and we suspect that adverse effects could occur even with exposure to
    lower noise levels." The team encountered methodological difficulties
    due to the heterogeneity and quality of the available data. The quality
    of each noise map was assessed, with most maps falling into the low or
    moderate quality categories; less than 17% of the maps were considered
    to be of good quality.

    "The European directive on environmental noise made strategic noise
    mapping mandatory, but it did not set out a specific methodology
    or guidelines, so the results have been mixed," commented Mark
    Nieuwenhuijsen, head of the Air Pollution and Urban Environment programme
    at ISGlobal and senior author of the study. "The EU member states
    have had a common methodology since January 2019, so we can expect to
    see much more comprehensive and accurate health impact assessments of
    traffic noise in the coming years." Consult Data for All 749 Cities
    This study forms part of the European Urban Burden of Disease Project,
    which so far has produced rankings of mortality associated with air
    pollution and green space, respectively, in European cities. However,
    due to differences in methodologies and sources of traffic noise data,
    the results obtained for the various cities analysed are not considered
    to be comparable. As a result, a road-noise ranking was not produced,
    although all data have been posted on the project website, where values
    for all 749 cities can be consulted.


    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Barcelona_Institute_for_Global_Health_(ISGlobal). Note: Content may be
    edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Related Multimedia:
    * Table_showing_data_from_some_European_capitals ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Sasha Khomenko, Marta Cirach, Jose Barrera-Go'mez, Evelise Pereira-
    Barboza, Tamara Iungman, Natalie Mueller, Maria Foraster, Cathryn
    Tonne, Meelan Thondoo, Calvin Jephcote, John Gulliver, James
    Woodcock, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen. Impact of road traffic noise on
    annoyance and preventable mortality in European cities: A health
    impact assessment. Environment International, 2022; 162: 107160
    DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107160 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220324104519.htm

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