Cardiovascular effects of noise

Abstract

The auditory system is continuously analyzing acoustic information, which is filtered and interpreted by different cortical and subcortical brain structures. According to the general stress concept, repeated temporal changes in biological responses can result in permanent metabolic changes of the organism leading to chronic diseases in the long run. Most epidemiological studies have been carried out with respect to health effects of occupational noise and – regarding environmental noise – with respect to road and air traffic noise. The studies suggest a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, including high blood pressure and ischemic heart diseases in subjects persistently exposed to high levels of noise at the workplace or transportation noise outside their dwellings. Different expert groups have evaluated the evidence of the association. Road traffic noise levels at the facades of the houses exceeding 65 dB(A) during daytime and 55 dB(A) during the night were considered to be detrimental to cardiovascular health. Adverse health effects due to aircraft noise were found at even lower average noise levels. Most of the studies suggest a continuous increase in risk with increasing noise level. Based on meta-analyses, exposure–response relationships and regression coefficients have been derived that can be used for a quantitative risk assessment and burden of disease calculations in public health.