Abstract
Air pollution originating from road traffic is a known risk factor of respiratory and cardiovascular disease (both in terms of chronic and acute effects). While adverse effects on cardiovascular health have also been linked with noise (after controlling for air pollution), noise exposure has been commonly linked to sleep impairment and negative emotional reactions. Health is multi-faceted, both conceptually and operationally; Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) is one of many measures capable of probing health. In this study, we examine pre-collected data from postal surveys probing HRQOL obtained from a variety of urban, suburban, and rural contexts across the North Island of New Zealand. Analyses focus on the covariance between air pollution annoyance and noise annoyances, and their independent and combined effects on HRQOL. Results indicate that the highest ratings of air pollution annoyance and noise annoyances were for residents living close to the motorway, while the lowest were for rural residents. Most of the city samples indicated no significant difference between air pollution- and noise-annoyance ratings, and of all of the correlations between air pollution- and noise-annoyance, the highest were found in the city samples. These findings suggest that annoyance is driven by exposure to environmental factors and not personality characteristics. Analysis of HRQOL indicated that air pollution annoyance predicts greater variability in the physical HRQOL domain while noise annoyance predicts greater variability in the psychological, social and environmental domains. The lack of an interaction effect between air pollution annoyance and noise annoyance suggests that air pollution and noise impact on health independently. These results echo those obtained from objective measures of health and suggest that mitigation of traffic effects should address both air and noise pollution.
Highlights
Population growth, an increasing demand for consumer goods, and sustained urbanization have led to concerns over the lived environments in many of the world’s cities
We focus on the relative contribution of noise and air pollution annoyance on subjective health outcomes in the form of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL), which includes measures of
We focus on the relative contribution of noise and air pollution annoyance on subjective health outcomes in the form of HRQOL, which includes measures of psychological wellbeing
Summary
Population growth, an increasing demand for consumer goods, and sustained urbanization have led to concerns over the lived environments in many of the world’s cities. Environmental quality is an important determinant of health [1] and, in recent times, attention has been drawn to the influence of traffic-related air and noise pollution on health outcomes, especially with respect to at-risk groups, both in relation to long-term exposure [2] as well as acute effects from brief exposures [3]. Though sharing a common source, the traditional approach to studying the health risks associated with exposure to traffic. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 792; doi:10.3390/ijerph13080792 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
