Abstract
WHO published the Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region in 2018, based on seven systematic reviews including studies published between 2000 and 2014. Since then, new studies were published. At the request of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), a review on annoyance, sleep disturbance, cardiovascular and metabolic effects in relation to environmental noise was prepared. The aim was to advise the Interdepartmental Group on Costs and Benefits Noise Subject Group (IGCB(N)) whether this new evidence warrants an update of their recommendations. Four databases for observational studies were screened and data were extracted on design, type and measurements of exposures and outcomes and confounders and their associations. The quality of the studies was indirectly assessed for cardiovascular and metabolic effects by only including studies with a case control or cohort design. For studies on annoyance and sleep disturbance, the risk of bias was expressed in exposure misclassification, selective participation and confounding. The update yielded 87 papers, pertaining to 108 new studies of which 40 new studies were on annoyance, 42 on sleep disturbance and 26 concerning cardiovascular and metabolic effects. The number, size and quality of the new studies suggest new meta-analyses could be undertaken over the sources and effects included in the WHO reviews.
Highlights
Unlike several other environmental stressors, environmental noise, especially in the urban environment, is still increasing
Evidence supports an association between higher levels of environmental noise and various adverse health effects, such as cardiovascular diseases, metabolic effects, sleep disturbance, annoyance and impacts on cognitive development in schoolchildren
We found two studies that investigated the association between aircraft noise and mortality due to stroke: one cohort study presenting updated results from the SNC-study [73] and one case control study. [58,87] The updated results from the SNC were quite comparable with the results of the SNC study included in the was the case in the previous (WHO)-evidence review; again, small increases in risk were found, which were, depending on adjustments for confounders, borderline significant
Summary
Unlike several other environmental stressors, environmental noise, especially in the urban environment, is still increasing. Evidence supports an association between higher levels of environmental noise and various adverse health effects, such as cardiovascular diseases, metabolic effects, sleep disturbance, annoyance and impacts on cognitive development in schoolchildren (7–11 years old). Noise from transport ranks among the environmental stressors with the highest public health impact and was identified as the second most significant environmental cause of ill health in Western Europe, the first being air pollution from fine particulate matter [1]. In the European area, approximately 16,600 cases of premature death are associated with environmental noise. Around 32 million adults are estimated to suffer annoyance and over 13 million adults suffer from sleep disturbance [1]. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 3016; doi:10.3390/ijerph17093016 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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