Appraisal of health impact of traffic noise in Tirana

Abstract

Background The association among environmental noise and health has been investigated in profundity. Considering the total number of people exposed, awareness should be focused on street traffic noise. The city of Tirana (Albania) is a very populated urban area in which 70% of all environmental noise exposure is related to traffic. The objective of this study was to measure preventable deaths consequential to reducing the impact of correspondent diurnal noise levels (LeqD) on daily cardiovascular and respiratory mortality between people aged ≥65 years in Tirana. Methods A health impact evaluation of LeqD and PM2.5 levels was performed by means of previously reported risk estimates of mortality rates for 2015--2017: For cardiovascular reasons: LeqD 1.036 (1.004, 1.088) and PM 2.3 1.039(1.020, 1.057) and for respiratory causes: LeqD 1.054 (1.000, 1.117) and PM 2.5 1.029 (1.000, 1.058). Results The connection established among LeqD exposure and mortality for both origins recommends an significant health outcome. A decrease of 1dB(A) in LeqD implies an preventable annual mortality of 281 (31, 516) cardiovascular- and 182 (0, 187) respiratory-linked deaths in the study population. The extent of the health collision is comparable to reducing average PM2.5 levels by 10µg/m(3). Conclusion Despite of air pollution, exposure to traffic noise should be measured an important environmental feature having an important impact on health.