Effects Of Aircraft Noise Research Articles

Continuation of air services at Berlin‐Tegel and its effects on apartment rental prices

AbstractBerlin‐Brandenburg airport (BER) became well‐known far beyond German borders due to substantial planning problems and multiple opening delays. Originally planned to open in March 2012, BER finally opened in 2020, after seven delay announcements. Focusing on the two most surprising and meaningful announcements, these unexpected delays form an exogeneous shock for residents surrounding the largest existing airport, Berlin‐Tegel, which was expected to close immediately upon opening of BER. We use these delay announcements as a quasi‐experiment to analyze separately the effects on apartment rental prices of aircraft noise (due to arriving/departing flight paths) and airport proximity (accessibility). The results suggest there is a negative effect of aircraft noise on rental prices of 2%–5%, while there are positive proximity effects from Berlin‐Tegel of 1%–3%. We consider heterogeneity using quantile regression and find the negative noise effects are larger for higher priced apartments. We disentangle aircraft noise and other (environmental) noise effects, and herein find that aircraft noise lowers property values by 2%–2.8%, while properties facing additional environmental noise experience a separate 1.7% decrease. In a joint model of noise and proximity, we observe the proximity benefits and the noise externalities essentially cancel each other out.

Incident hypertension in relation to aircraft noise exposure: results of the DEBATS longitudinal study in France

BackgroundAlthough several cross-sectional studies have shown that aircraft noise exposure was associated with an increased risk of hypertension, a limited number of longitudinal studies have addressed this issue. This study...

Health impact assessment of transportation noise in two Estonian cities

Transportation noise is a growing public health concern worldwide, especially in urban areas, causing annoyance, sleep disturbance, cardiovascular diseases and other health effects. Recently, European Commission (EC) has developed a mutual methodology for assessing health impacts of transportation noise in European Union using strategic noise mapping. Applying this methodology, our aim was to quantify the health effects of road, rail and aircraft noise in two Estonian cities, Tallinn and Tartu. We also aimed to assess sensitivity of this methodology, while implementing lower threshold values and employing additional health outcomes.The proportion of highly annoyed residents due to road traffic noise was 11.6% in Tallinn, and 9.2% in Tartu; around 2.5% residents in both cities could have high sleeping disturbances. As exposure to railway and aircraft noise was relatively low in both cities, people with high annoyance and high sleep disturbance caused by railway and aircraft noise was below 1%. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) cases attributable to road traffic noise was estimated to be 122.6 in Tallinn and 21.5 in Tartu. Altogether transportation noise was estimated to cause 1807 disability adjusted life years (DALYs) in Tallinn and 370 DALYs in Tartu. The health costs were calculated as €126.5 and €25.9 million annually, respectively in the two cities.When we included higher number of health outcomes (stroke incidence, IHD deaths) and lowered exposure threshold by 5 dB, the annual burden of disease was doubled. As the latest epidemiological studies showed transportation noise having larger number of effects on lower noise levels, the results with the currently applied European Commission health impact assessment (HIA) methodology were rather conservative. Despite of uncertainties associated to applied methodology, transportation noise, especially road traffic noise, is an important environmental risk factor, that leads to considerable loss of healthy life years and causes large health costs in urban areas.

Differential effect of aircraft noise on the spectral-temporal acoustic characteristics of frog species

Human activities worldwide are increasingly releasing low-frequency noise into the environment. Anthropogenic noise imposes a novel stress for wild animals and has become an increasing global concern. Many animals have been found to mitigate noise disturbance by modifying their acoustic parameters, yet the calling behaviours of species that breed near airports have not been explored in detail, especially for amphibians. Here, we measured the environmental noise of a swamp close to the runway at Haikou Meilan Airport in China. We also recorded the calls of four anuran species that reproduce in this swamp, and we measured the sound pressure levels of each focal species. These frogs vary in their call amplitude and possess disparate spectral and temporal traits. We show that two frog species characterized by lower frequency calls increase their call frequency when an airplane takes off. Moreover, three anuran species characterized by higher call rates significantly reduce their call rates (or call efforts) in response to airplane flyby. These results suggest that animals’ behavioural adaptation to human-made noise may be species specific. Because call frequency and call effort have close relationships with reproductive success, we deduce that such noise-induced behaviour adjustments may influence the fitness of taxa that depend on communication by sound. • Low-frequency frogs increase their call frequency when an aircraft takes off. • Frogs that have more temporal overlap with noise decrease their call activity. • Anuran behavioral responses to human-made noise are species specific. • Aircraft noise may affect the reproductive success of frog species.

Detection of aircraft targets varies as a function of target and masker temporal complexity, similarity, and realism

The complexity of real-world auditory scenes makes it difficult to disentangle the factors that drive detectability of sounds within those scenes. However, many real-world applications of auditory perception research require the disentanglement of these factors – for example, to predict the effects of aircraft noise on the public depending on the ambient sound environment and the aircraft itself. The present study investigates effects of masker temporal complexity and similarity to targets on the detectability of helicopter target sounds. We investigate three levels of masker temporal complexity – urban sound scenes (high); synthetic versions of each scene that preserve overall statistics (medium); and noise of the same spectrum as the real scene (low). Target similarity was probed in a way that would occur in the world—as a function of the presence of other engine sounds. Each real masking sound could be comprised of only engine noise, engine sounds embedded in an urban scene, or a scene without engines. This provides maskers with three levels of target similarity. Combination with the three levels of temporal complexity allows us to probe interactions between temporal complexity and engine-related signal energy. Effects of target signal characteristics and interactions with signal to noise ratio will be discussed.

The effects of aircraft noise on psychosocial health

Introduction– Aircraft noise, the most health-threatening source of noise pollution among all modes of transport, is a stressor with identifiable effects on occupants' well-being and social behavior at airports and environs. Methods– This aircraft noise-induced psychosocial health assessment utilized C-weighting to capture peak noise levels with self-reported primary data from a sample size (n = 402) of individuals ages at least 18 years old. Results– The significant contributive powers of distances to the effective aircraft's noise strength experienced were confirmed (p = 0.024). The study reveals that the higher the participants' educational attainment, the higher the likelihood (p = 1 × 10^-4) they are annoyed by aircraft noise. Duration of occupying the airport's environs contributes significantly (p = 0.007). For psychosocial ill-health, a linear periodic-exposure-risk relationship for migraines was found with low risk-estimates of [0.032 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.006–0.175)] and an intense probability of occurrence (p = 1 × 10^-4) during afternoon intervals. With age as a confounding factor, statistical significance was recorded for plausibly hypertension-induced high-blood pressure, depression, and stress. Further, gradients were evidenced at different periods for approximately half of the ailments investigated. Conclusions– Participants were mostly moderately affected psychosocially at different periods of the day by exposure to peak aircraft noise. Thus, it is concluded that noise mitigative and coping strategies be advised to authorities and occupants working or living at airports and environs.

Subtraction Analysis for Predicting the Propagation Effects of Aircraft Noise

In 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration and Volpe National Transportation System Center conducted a series of acoustic measurements with a propeller driven aircraft operating in the regions near Houston, Texas. The recorded data on octave band sound levels, aircraft locations, temperature and wind speed profiles were used in the current study to quantify the uncertainties for predicting the propagation effects of aircraft noise. Use of the Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT) was explored for its accuracy and validity in real world scenarios offered by the dataset. The sound exposure level (SEL) data for each section of a flight path was used instead of the time history data for reducing the directivity effect of the sound source due to the change in its relative positions with the receivers. A subtraction-based method was introduced to analyze the propagation effect in which the SELs between two receiver locations were compared. The use of the subtraction method reduces the possible influences of the sound power variations along the flight paths. The measured data for a spiral and a level flight event were presented and the AEDT predictions on the propagation effects were examined in this paper.

A meta-analysis of the association of aircraft noise at school on children's reading comprehension and psychological health for use in health impact assessment

Whilst the effects of aircraft noise on children's cognition are well-accepted, their application in Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and methodologies to monetise the effects of noise on health have been limited. This paper presents the first meta-analysis of the effect of aircraft noise at school on children's reading comprehension and psychological health assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Data from three methodologically similar studies carried out in 106 schools near London Heathrow, Amsterdam Schiphol, and Madrid Barajas airports (the Schools Environment and Health Study, the West London Schools Study, and the RANCH study) were analysed finding that a 1 dB increase in aircraft noise exposure at school was associated with a −0.007 (95%CI −0.012 to −0.001) decrease in reading score and a 4% increase in odds of scoring well below or below average on the reading test. The analyses also found that a 1 dB increase in aircraft noise exposure at school was associated with a 0.017 (95%CI 0.007–0.028) increase in hyperactivity score. No effects were observed for emotional symptoms, conduct problems or Total Difficulties Score. Meta-analyses confirm existing evidence for effects of aircraft noise exposure on children's reading comprehension, providing a pooled estimate and exposure-effect relationship, as well as additional estimates and relationships for effects on scoring ‘well below or below average’ on the reading test offering flexibility for taking reading comprehension into account in HIA and monetisation methodologies in a wide-range of contexts.

Effects of Nocturnal Aircraft Noise and Non-Acoustical Factors on Short-Term Annoyance in Primary School Children.

Children are considered at higher risk for harmful noise effects due to their sensitive development phase. Here, we investigated the effects of nocturnal aircraft noise exposure on short-term annoyance assessed in the morning in 51 primary school children (8–10 years) living in the surrounding community of Cologne-Bonn Airport. Child-appropriate short-term annoyance assessments and associated non-acoustical variables were surveyed. Nocturnal aircraft noise exposure was recorded inside the children’s bedrooms. Exposure–response models were calculated by using random effects logistic regression models. The present data were compared with those from a previous study near Cologne-Bonn Airport in adults using very similar methodology. Short-term annoyance reaction in children was not affected by the nocturnal aircraft noise exposure. Non-acoustical factors (e.g., the attitude that “aircraft are dangerous” or noise sensitivity), however, significantly impacted on children’s short-term annoyance. In contrast to children, the probability of moderate to high annoyance in adults increased with the number of aircraft flyovers during the time in bed. It is concluded that short-term annoyance from nocturnal aircraft noise in children is mainly determined by non-acoustical factors. Unlike in adults, acoustical factors did not play a significant role.

Aircraft noise-Auralization-based assessment of weather-dependent effects on loudness and sharpness.

This paper deals with the question of how specific weather conditions affect the perception of aircraft noise. Auralization is a suitable method by enabling parametrical decompositions of the overall aircraft noise scenario into source and propagation components. Considering influences on the auditory perception, the signal processing chain contains different virtual receivers and post processing using psychoacoustic hearing models. For broad coverage, generic standardized as well as measurement-based atmosphere models with variation of ground impedances such as soil data are evaluated. These variations are given aircraft noise measurement values based on A-weighted sound pressure levels LA and psychoacoustic measures regarding loudness, N, and sharpness, S. The results show an immense influence of weather conditions on A-weighted sound pressure levels and on psychoacoustic perception of aircraft noise, too. The weather-dependent differences of A-weighted sound pressure levels are up to 15 dBA and relative differences regarding loudness of factor 1.6 and sharpness of factor 2.0 occur. The approach can be used to get a better understanding of how the temporal statistics of specific local weather conditions and their perceptual consequences may lead to improved taxation of actual noise events and to an improved basis for long-term averages of aircraft noise effects.

Effects of aircraft noise on residents nearby a Malaysian airport

In this study, the effects of aircraft noise on the residents living nearby Sultan Ismail Petra Airport, Kelantan, Malaysia, were investigated. A questionnaire survey involving 60 participants revealed that 46.67% agreed that aircraft noise is a source of disturbance in their daily routine. On-site noise level measurements were carried out over a 2-week period at seven locations (P1–P7) surrounding the airport, where each location represents a different distance from the noise source. The daily average noise levels were within 50–65 dB(A), which exceeded the World Health Organization’s recommended maximum indoor noise level and recommended maximum outdoor noise level of 35 and 55 dB(A), respectively. However, the daily average noise levels were lower than permissible exposure limit of 90 dB(A). Based on the results, it can be concluded that exposure to the aircraft noise may affect the quality of life of nearby residents in the long term.

Picture-Frustration Test to Assess Environmental Attitudes of Residents Exposed to Aircraft Noise from Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport

Expanding transport systems for life convenience and preserving the natural environment are essential but conflicting human activities. The operational expansion after the opening of a new terminal building at Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport was followed by changes in aircraft noise exposure. A series of socio-acoustic surveys were conducted around the airport, revealing different levels of noise annoyance responses in the surveyed sites. To clarify this discrepancy and to explore people’s true feelings, the Picture-Frustration test was conducted to assess attitudes toward the airport, aircraft noise, living environment, and awareness of environmental protection in the communities around the airport. A total of 321 responses were obtained. The results showed a significant variation in attitudes toward the airport and natural environment among residents in different areas. Urban residents preferred natural environment more than those living in rural and mixed sites, who desired harmony between nature and life convenience. Residents in rural sites raised more complaints about aircraft noise effects on sleep than those in the other sites. Factors of occupations and gardening activities did not affect residents’ attitudes toward the airport. The attitudes of the participants varied depending on the exposure noise levels. It was suggested that using multiple questioning methods is necessary to certify the true opinions and aspirations of people living in the project area and ensure sustainable development.

The role of aircraft noise annoyance and noise sensitivity in the association between aircraft noise levels and medication use: results of a pooled-analysis from seven European countries

BackgroundFew studies have considered aircraft noise annoyance and noise sensitivity in analyses of the health effects of aircraft noise, especially in relation to medication use. This study aims to investigate the moderating and mediating role of these two factors in the relationship between aircraft noise levels and medication use among 5860 residents of ten European airports included in the HYENA and DEBATS studies.MethodsInformation on aircraft noise annoyance, noise sensitivity, medication use, and demographic, socio-economic and lifestyle factors was collected during a face-to-face interview at home. Medication was coded according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification. Outdoor aircraft noise exposure was estimated by linking the participant’s home address to noise contours using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) methods. Logistic regressions with adjustment for potential confounding factors were used. In addition, Baron and Kenny’s recommendations were followed to investigate the moderating and mediating effects of aircraft noise annoyance and noise sensitivity.ResultsA significant association was found between aircraft noise levels at night and antihypertensive medication only in the UK (OR = 1.43, 95%CI 1.19–1.73 for a 10 dB(A)-increase in Lnight). No association was found with other medications. Aircraft noise annoyance was significantly associated with the use of antihypertensive medication (OR = 1.33, 95%CI 1.14–1.56), anxiolytics (OR = 1.48, 95%CI 1.08–2.05), hypnotics and sedatives (OR = 1.60, 95%CI 1.07–2.39), and antasthmatics (OR = 1.44, 95%CI 1.07–1.96), with no difference between countries. Noise sensitivity was significantly associated with almost all medications, with the exception of the use of antasthmatics, showing an increase in ORs with the level of noise sensitivity, with differences in ORs among countries only for the use of antihypertensive medication. The results also suggested a mediating role of aircraft noise annoyance and a modifying role of both aircraft noise annoyance and noise sensitivity in the association between aircraft noise levels and medication use.ConclusionsThe present study is consistent with the results of the small number of studies available to date suggesting that both aircraft noise annoyance and noise sensitivity should be taken into account in analyses of the health effects of exposure to aircraft noise.

Aircraft noise, like heat stress, causes cognitive impairments via similar mechanisms in male mice

To our knowledge, little evidence is available about effects of aircraft noise (AN), a non-chemical stressor, on cognitive function. Again, it is unknown whether or not the heat stress (HS)-induced cognitive deficits can be exacerbated by AN. The adult male mice were assigned to four groups: group 1 mice exposed to non-HS (24–26 °C 2 h daily for 4 consecutive days) and white noise (WN) (2 h daily for 4 consecutive days), group 2 mice exposed to WN and HS (32–34 °C 2 h daily for 4 consecutive days), group 3 mice exposed to AN and non-HS (2 h daily for 4 consecutive days) and group 4 mice exposed to AN and HS (2 h daily for consecutive 4 days). Cognitive function were determined by passive avoidance, Y-maze, Morris water maze, and novel object recognition tests. Gut barrier and blood-brain-barrier (BBB) permeability, upload of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) translocation, systemic and central inflammation, and stress reactions were examined. Heat stressed mice displayed both increased stress reactions and learning and memory loss. Heat stress also caused gut barrier hyperpermeability, increased upload of LPS translocation, systemic inflammation, BBB disruption and hippocampal neuroinflammation. Aircraft noise stressed mice did not display systemic inflammation but caused gut barrier hyperpermeability, increased upload of LPS translocation, increased stress reactions, BBB disruption, hippocampal neuroinflammation and cognitive deficits. Aircraft noise exposure further exacerbated the heat stress-induced cognitive deficits and its complications. Our data suggest that AN, like HS, causes cognitive impairments via similar mechanisms in male mice.

Does night-time aircraft noise trigger mortality? A case-crossover study on 24886 cardiovascular deaths.

AimsIt is unclear whether night-time noise events, including from aeroplanes, could trigger a cardiovascular death. In this study, we investigate the potential acute effects of aircraft noise on mortality and the specific role of different night-time exposure windows by means of a case-crossover study design.Methods and resultsWe selected 24 886 cases of death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) from the Swiss National Cohort around Zürich Airport between 2000 and 2015. For night-time deaths, exposure levels 2 h preceding death were significantly associated with mortality for all causes of CVD [OR = 1.44 (1.03–2.04) for the highest exposure group (LAeq > 50 dB vs. <20 dB)]. Most consistent associations were observed for ischaemic heart diseases, myocardial infarction, heart failure, and arrhythmia. Association were more pronounced for females (P = 0.02) and for people living in areas with low road and railway background noise (P = 0.01) and in buildings constructed before 1970 (P = 0.36). We calculated a population attributable fraction of 3% in our study population.ConclusionOur findings suggest that night-time aircraft noise can trigger acute cardiovascular mortality. The association was similar to that previously observed for long-term aircraft noise exposure.

0187 The Effects of Nocturnal Aircraft Noise on Self-Reported Sleep

Abstract Introduction Nocturnal traffic noise can fragment sleep through cortical arousals and induce self-reported sleep disturbance. Here we present data gathered around Atlanta International Airport in a pilot field study on the effects of aircraft noise on sleep. Methods N=34 subjects participated in a five night in-home study. Every night, subjects recorded noise inside their bedroom, and completed questionnaires the following morning containing items on sleep latency; number of awakenings; sleepiness (Stanford Sleepiness Scale); 11-point scales on sleep quality, tiredness, ease of falling asleep and calmness or restlessness of sleep; and a 5-point scale on sleep disturbance by noise. We analyzed the effect of both the average (LAEq,sleep) and maximum (LAS,max,sleep) aircraft noise level during a subject’s sleep period for each questionnaire outcome in repeated measures multiple regression adjusted for the number of aircraft noise events during sleep, sex, age, and if the window was open or closed. Results A total of 165 sleep questionnaires (97.1% of expected) were completed. Self-reported awakenings increased by n=0.051 per decibel (dB) LAS,max,sleep (p&amp;lt;0.001). An increase in LAS,max,sleep was associated with a significant increase in tiredness (0.118/dB, p=0.005). There was a significant effect of sex on tiredness in the LAEq,sleep model, whereby men were less tired than women. There were no significant effects of LAEq,sleep on any questionnaire outcomes. Conclusion There was some evidence for adverse effects of aircraft noise on self-reported sleep outcomes. Effects were predominantly found for maximum rather than average noise exposure during the sleep period, stressing the importance of individual noise events for sleep. A larger-scale, adequately powered National Sleep Study will be conducted to better understand the observed effects. Support This research was funded by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration Office of Environment and Energy through ASCENT, the FAA Center of Excellence for Alternative Jet Fuels and the Environment, project 017 through FAA Award Number 13-C-AJE-UPENN-011 under the supervision of Natalia Sizov. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the FAA.

Evaluating the Use of Spatiotemporal Aircraft Data for Air Tour Management Planning and Compliance

Examining visitors’ spatiotemporal movement patterns within parks and protected areas (PPAs) has become an informative methodology for management actions and understanding visitor behavior. This work has given managers and researchers a better understanding of visitor spatial behaviors, spatiotemporal resource impacts, and theoretical and organizing frameworks for approaching this type of research. However, few studies have examined the spatial patterns of air traffic, specifically low-level air tours, above PPAs and the resulting impacts to visitors’ experience and the natural soundscapes. This need is particularly relevant in the U.S. due to legislative mandates that the National Park Service (NPS) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have to manage air tours over NPS units. Further, prior studies have shown how air tours negatively impact both visitors’ experience and the natural soundscapes. Understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of air tours is critical for the managers working with air tour operators and the FAA for planning, ensuring compliance with management decisions, and examining the effects of aircraft noise on PPA resources and the on-the-ground visitors. Recently enacted laws and regulations across the globe, including the U.S., are requiring all aircraft operating in controlled airspace to equip air traffic tracking technology called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out avionics. ADS-B Out broadcasts an unencrypted and publicly accessible signal that relays latitude, longitude, altitude, and unique identification code. In the U.S., this code can then be cross-referenced to a publicly accessible database with information including the type/model of aircraft and the registered owner. Only a single prior study has examined ADS-B data over NPS units, finding both potential and limitations to this new technology for tracking air tours. This study seeks to expand methodological improvements and ADS-B’s potential to inform management actions by exploring ADS-B data at Haleakalā National Park (HALE). This study explores the use of ADS-B data at HALE for monitoring compliance with spatially explicit conditions within a preexisting agreement established between the park and air tour operators. The study identified 321 air tours, compared with 454 air tours reported by operators over the same time period. Compliance with the spatially explicit agreement conditions was generally high, though better for lateral offsets than minimum altitude requirements. Overall, this study advances methodological uses of ADS-B logging to track air tours over PPAs and advances knowledge about the potential utility and current limitations of using ADS-B tracking systems for compliance in PPA contexts. Subscribe to JPRA

Individual Aircraft Noise Exposure Assessment for a Case-Crossover Study in Switzerland.

Accurate exposure assessment is essential in environmental epidemiological studies. This is especially true for aircraft noise, which is characterized by a high spatial and temporal variation. We propose a method to assess individual aircraft noise exposure for a case-crossover study investigating the acute effects of aircraft noise on cardiovascular deaths. We identified all cases of cardiovascular death (24,886) occurring near Zürich airport, Switzerland, over fifteen years from the Swiss National Cohort. Outdoor noise exposure at the home address was calculated for the night preceding death and control nights using flight operations information from Zürich airport and noise footprints calculated for major aircraft types and air routes. We estimated three different noise metrics: mean sound pressure level (LAeq), maximum sound pressure level (LAmax), and number above threshold 55 dB (NAT55) for different nighttime windows. Average nighttime aircraft noise levels were 45.2 dB, 64.6 dB, and 18.5 for LAeq, LAmax, and NAT55 respectively. In this paper, we present a method to estimate individual aircraft noise exposure with high spatio-temporal resolution and a flexible choice of exposure events and metrics. This exposure assessment will be used in a case-crossover study investigating the acute effects of noise on health.

Exacerbation of adverse cardiovascular effects of aircraft noise in an animal model of arterial hypertension

Arterial hypertension is the most important risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease. Recently, aircraft noise has been shown to be associated with elevated blood pressure, endothelial dysfunction, and oxidative stress. Here, we investigated the potential exacerbated cardiovascular effects of aircraft noise in combination with experimental arterial hypertension. C57BL/6J mice were infused with 0.5 mg/kg/d of angiotensin II for 7 days, exposed to aircraft noise for 7 days at a maximum sound pressure level of 85 dB(A) and a mean sound pressure level of 72 dB(A), or subjected to both stressors. Noise and angiotensin II increased blood pressure, endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress and inflammation in aortic, cardiac and/or cerebral tissues in single exposure models. In mice subjected to both stressors, most of these risk factors showed potentiated adverse changes. We also found that mice exposed to both noise and ATII had increased phagocytic NADPH oxidase (NOX-2)-mediated superoxide formation, immune cell infiltration (monocytes, neutrophils and T cells) in the aortic wall, astrocyte activation in the brain, enhanced cytokine signaling, and subsequent vascular and cerebral oxidative stress. Exaggerated renal stress response was also observed. In summary, our results show an enhanced adverse cardiovascular effect between environmental noise exposure and arterial hypertension, which is mainly triggered by vascular inflammation and oxidative stress. Mechanistically, noise potentiates neuroinflammation and cerebral oxidative stress, which may be a potential link between both risk factors. The results indicate that a combination of classical (arterial hypertension) and novel (noise exposure) risk factors may be deleterious for cardiovascular health.

On the feasibility of measuring physiologic and self-reported sleep disturbance by aircraft noise on a national scale: A pilot study around Atlanta airport

Aircraft noise can disturb sleep and impair recuperation. Research is needed to develop exposure-response relationships that are representative of noise-exposed communities and can be used to inform noise mitigation policy in the United States. For a national field study on physiologic response to aircraft noise during sleep to be feasible, an inexpensive yet sound study methodology is needed. In the pilot study presented here, the methodology of using electrocardiography and actigraphy to monitor sleep was implemented around Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL). The primary objective was to evaluate the quality and quantity of data that could be obtained with the following study approaches: recruiting participants by postal questionnaire, shipping them the physiologic and noise measurement equipment, and the unattended setup of the equipment and recording of data by the participants themselves. The secondary objective was to compare objective and subjective measures of sleep and health between groups exposed to different levels of nocturnal aircraft noise. We mailed 4080 questionnaires containing items on sleep, health and noise disturbance to residences around ATL that were exposed to at least 35 dB Lnight aircraft noise. From 407 questionnaire respondents, 34 participants completed five nights of unattended sleep measurements. Data of sufficient quality and quantity to investigate the effects of aircraft noise on sleep were obtained. Self-reported awakenings increased as a function of the highest maximum aircraft noise level occurring during the sleep period. Event-related physiologic awakenings increased as a function of the maximum noise level of individual aircraft noise events, although this effect was of only borderline statistical significance (p = 0.057) likely due to the low sample size of this pilot study. The approach used in the presented pilot study has been demonstrated to be feasible for the purpose of the larger-scale study among a representative population around multiple airports in the future.