Reflections on burden of disease and health impact assessment methods for noise

Abstract

Burden of Disease (BoD) assesses the noise impact on health at a given time and in a given population, whereas Health Impact Assessments (HIA) are conducted in the frame of decision-making to evaluate health effects of a policy, programme or project. In a 2020 report, the European Environmental Agency estimates transportation noise exposure in Europe annually results in 22 million highly annoyed, 6.5 million highly sleep disturbed, 48,000 cases of ischemic heart diseases and 12,000 deaths, and 12,400 children with cognitive impairments. These are based on END exposure assessment and exposure-response functions from the WHO noise guidelines 2018. Many more regional or national HIA and BoD studies have been conducted, and common methods across future assessments for consistent communication are needed. Given the rapid developments in noise research, current BoD and HIA are also partly outdated. Critical methodological issues will be discussed using national and regional examples with a focus on Switzerland. This includes the selection of noise sources, relevant health outcomes and corresponding exposure-response functions. Derivation of the lowest effect noise threshold, potential double-counting, and communication of results are also discussed with the aim toward a common understanding for the conduct of future BoD and HIA.