Traffic noise and risk for metabolic disease and cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Traffic noise has consistently been associated with higher risk for cardiovascular disease. However, traffic noise is a stressor and disturbs sleep, which could potentially increase the risk for other major diseases, including diabetes and cancer. We aimed to investigate whether traffic noise increased the risk for these novel endpoints. Methods: Studies were based on a population-based cohort of 57,053 people aged 50-64 years at enrolment in 1993-1997. Information on diabetes (3,869 cases) and breast cancer (1,219 cases) were obtained through registers, and measurements of BMI and waist circumference were available for all cohort members. Historical residential addresses were identified for all cohort members from 1988-2011. Residential road traffic and railway noise were estimated using the Nordic prediction method and air pollution was estimated using dispersion model. We used Cox proportional hazard models and linear regression for analyses with adjustment for lifestyle, socioeconomic position and air pollution. Results: We found that an increase in road traffic noise of 10 dB was associated with an 8% higher risk for diabetes (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02; 1.14) and a 28% higher risk for estrogen receptor negative breast cancer (95% CI: 1.04–1.56). In a cross-sectional design we found a 10 dB increase in road traffic noise to be associated with a 0.35 cm wider waist circumference (95% CI: 0.21, 0.50) and a 0.18 points higher BMI (95% CI: 0.12, 0.23). In a longitudinal approach we found a yearly weight gain of 15.4 g (95% CI: 2.14; 28.7) and a yearly increase in waist circumference of 0.22 mm (95% CI: 0.018; 0.43) per 10 dB higher road traffic noise. Conclusions: These results support that exposure to traffic noise increases the risk for other major diseases than the cardiovascular, and that the burden of disease attributed to traffic noise therefore may be higher than initially anticipated.