Road traffic noise in European cities: Learnings from a European-wide study on the health impacts of road traffic noise.

Abstract

Road traffic noise is one of the main environmental risks to health and wellbeing. We aimed to provide an in-depth assessment of available road traffic noise data and to estimate population exposure and health impacts for cities in Europe. We analyzed 724 cities and 25 greater cities in 25 European countries. We retrieved road traffic strategic noise maps delivered under the Environmental Noise Directive (END) or available from local sources. We assessed noise exposure using the 24h day-evening-night noise level indicator (Lden) starting at exposure levels of 55 dB Lden for the adult population aged 20 and over and estimated the health impacts of compliance with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of 53 dB Lden. Two primary health outcomes were assessed: high noise annoyance and Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD), using mortality from IHD causes as indicator. Almost 60 million adults were exposed to road traffic noise levels above 55 dB Lden, 11 million adults were highly annoyed and more than 3600 deaths from IHD could be prevented annually. A considerable number of adults are exposed to road traffic noise levels harmful for health. Efforts to standardize the strategic noise maps and to increase data availability at the city level are needed to provide a more accurate and comprehensive assessment of the health impacts of road traffic noise.