Abstract
The new WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region have recommendations for limiting noise exposure associated with adverse health effects. The limits are said to be based on a systematic review of existing evidence. This paper gives a systematic assessment of the presented evidence with respect to annoyance from aircraft noise. The new guidelines have been based on the results from a selection of existing aircraft noise studies. This paper demonstrates that a similar selection of other existing post-2000 studies will yield very different results. In addition, the validity of the presented evidence has been questioned as some of the referenced studies have not been conducted according to standardized methods, and the selection of respondents is not representative of the general airport population.
Highlights
The World Health Organization just recently published their report Environmental NoiseGuidelines for the European Region [1]
The report is the result of the joint effort by a team of researchers covering all aspects of negative health effects by exposure to environmental noise
The group of researchers who worked on the impact of environmental noise on annoyance presented a systematic review of studies that had been published during the time period 2000–2014 [2]
Summary
The World Health Organization just recently published their report Environmental Noise. According to WHO, the main purpose of these guidelines is to provide recommendations for protecting human health from exposure to environmental noise originating from various sources. The published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind from WHO, and to be on the safe side, they state that the responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies with the reader This reservation is very appropriate regarding the guideline’s chapter on aircraft noise annoyance. 45 dB Lden , as aircraft noise above this level is associated with adverse health effects” This recommendation is based on the idealistic assumption that nobody should ever be exposed to noise levels which endanger complete individual well-being or quality of life, and, as such, it is useless for general regulatory purposes. Public Health 2018, 15, 2717; doi:10.3390/ijerph15122717 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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