Effects Of Aircraft Noise Research Articles

Evidence for Environmental Noise Effects on Health for the United Kingdom Policy Context: A Systematic Review of the Effects of Environmental Noise on Mental Health, Wellbeing, Quality of Life, Cancer, Dementia, Birth, Reproductive Outcomes, and Cognition.

This systematic review commissioned by the UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), considers how the evidence base for noise effects on health has changed following the recent reviews undertaken for the WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines. This systematic review assesses the quality of the evidence for environmental noise effects on mental health, wellbeing, and quality of life; birth and reproductive outcomes; and cognition for papers published since the WHO reviews (mid-2015 to March 2019), as well as for cancer and dementia (January 2014 to March 2019). Using the GRADE methodology (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) most evidence was rated as low quality as opposed to very low quality in the previous reviews. There is now low-quality evidence for a harmful effect of road traffic noise on medication use and interview measures of depression and anxiety and low quality evidence for a harmful effect of road traffic noise, aircraft noise, and railway noise on some cancer outcomes. Many other conclusions from the WHO evidence reviews remain unchanged. The conclusions remain limited by the low number of studies for many outcomes. The quantification of health effects for other noise sources including wind turbine, neighbour, industrial, and combined noise remains a research priority.

Effectiveness of incentives and follow-up on increasing survey response rates and participation in field studies

BackgroundQuestionnaires are valuable data collection instruments in public health research, and can serve to pre-screen respondents for suitability in future studies. Survey non-response leads to reduced effective sample sizes and can decrease representativeness of the study population, so high response rates are needed to minimize the risk of bias. Here we present results on the success of different postal questionnaire strategies at effecting response, and the effectiveness of these strategies at recruiting participants for a field study on the effects of aircraft noise on sleep.MethodsIn total, we mailed 17 rounds of 240 questionnaires (total n = 4080) to randomly selected households around Atlanta International Airport. Different mailing rounds were varied in the length of the questionnaire (11, 26 or 55 questions), survey incentive (gift card or $2 cash), number of follow-up waves (0, 2 or 3), incentive for participating in a 5-night in-home sleep study ($100, $150 or $200), and address personalization.ResultsWe received completed questionnaires from 407 respondents (response rate 11.4%). Personalizing the address, enclosing a $2 cash incentive with the initial questionnaire mailing and repeated follow-up mailings were effective at increasing response rate. Despite the increased expense of these approaches in terms of each household mailed, the higher response rates meant that they were more cost-effective overall for obtaining an equivalent number of responses. Interest in participating in the field study decreased with age, but was unaffected by the mailing strategies or cash incentives for field study participation. The likelihood that a respondent would participate in the field study was unaffected by survey incentive, survey length, number of follow-up waves, field study incentive, age or sex.ConclusionsPre-issued cash incentives and sending follow-up waves could maximize the representativeness and numbers of people from which to recruit, and may be an effective strategy for improving recruitment into field studies.

Saliva cortisol in relation to aircraft noise exposure: pooled-analysis results from seven European countries

BackgroundMany studies have demonstrated adverse effects of exposure to aircraft noise on health. Possible biological pathways for these effects include hormonal disturbances. Few studies deal with aircraft noise effects on saliva cortisol in adults, and results are inconsistent.ObjectiveWe aimed to assess the effects of aircraft noise exposure on saliva cortisol levels and its variation in people living near airports.MethodsThis study focused on the 1300 residents included in the HYENA and DEBATS cross-sectional studies, with complete information on cortisol sampling. All the participants followed a similar procedure aiming to collect both a morning and an evening saliva cortisol samples. Socioeconomic and lifestyle information were obtained during a face-to-face interview. Outdoor aircraft noise exposure was estimated for each participant’s home address. Associations between aircraft noise exposure and cortisol outcomes were investigated a priori for male and female separately, using linear regression models adjusted for relevant confounders. Different approaches were used to characterize cortisol levels, such as morning and evening cortisol concentrations and the absolute and relative variations between morning and evening levels.ResultsStatistically significant increases of evening cortisol levels were shown in women with a 10-dB(A) increase in aircraft noise exposure in terms of LAeq, 16h (exp(β) = 1.08; CI95% = 1.00–1.16), Lden (exp(β) = 1.09; CI95% = 1.01–1.18), Lnight (exp(β) = 1.11; CI95% = 1.02–1.20). A statistically significant association was also found in women between a 10-dB(A) increase in terms of Lnight and the absolute variation per hour (exp(β) = 0.90; CI95% = 0.80–1.00). Statistically significant decreases in relative variation per hour were also evidenced in women, with stronger effects with the Lnight (exp(β) = 0.89; CI95% = 0.83–0.96) than with other noise indicators. The morning cortisol levels were unchanged whatever noise exposure indicator considered. There was no statistically significant association between aircraft noise exposure and cortisol outcomes in men.ConclusionsThe results of the present study show statistically significant associations between aircraft noise exposure and evening cortisol levels and related flattening in the (absolute and relative) variations per hour in women. Further biological research is needed to deepen knowledge of the pathway between noise exposure and disturbed hormonal regulation, and specially the difference in effects between genders.

Survey Results of a Pilot Sleep Study Near Atlanta International Airport.

Aircraft noise can disturb the sleep of residents living near airports. To investigate potential effects of aircraft noise on sleep, recruitment surveys for a pilot field study were mailed to households around Atlanta International Airport. Survey items included questions about sleep quality, sleep disturbance by noise, noise annoyance, coping behaviors, and health. Of 3159 deliverable surveys, 319 were returned (10.1%). Calculated outdoor nighttime aircraft noise (Lnight) was significantly associated with lower sleep quality (poor or fair; odds ratio (OR) = 1.04/decibel (dB); p < 0.05), trouble falling asleep within 30 min ≥1/week (OR = 1.06/dB; p < 0.01), and trouble sleeping due to awakenings ≥1/week (OR = 1.04/dB; p < 0.05). Lnight was also associated with increased prevalence of being highly sleep disturbed (OR = 1.15/dB; p < 0.0001) and highly annoyed (OR = 1.17/dB; p < 0.0001) by aircraft noise. Furthermore Lnight was associated with several coping behaviors. Residents were more likely to report often or always closing their windows (OR = 1.05/dB; p < 0.01), consuming alcohol (OR = 1.10/dB; p < 0.05), using television (OR = 1.05/dB; p < 0.05) and using music (OR = 1.07/dB; p < 0.05) as sleep aids. There was no significant relationship between Lnight and self-reported general health or likelihood of self-reported diagnosis of sleep disorders, heart disease, hypertension or diabetes. Evidence of self-reported adverse effects of aircraft noise on sleep found in this pilot study warrant further investigation in larger, more representative subject cohorts.

Health effects of exposure to aircraft noise

TPS 781: Health effects of noise, Exhibition Hall, Ground floor, August 27, 2019, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Background and Aims: Noise pollution is an increasing problem in modern society and several studies have documented non-auditory health effects of aircraft noise. We performed a cross-sectional study in June-September 2013 among adults living near the Orio al Serio International Airport (Italy), to investigate the effects of aircraft noise on annoyance, sleep disorders, blood pressure levels, and hypertension. Methods: Residential addresses of subjects aged 45-70 years were geocoded and classified in three categories of noise levels: Reference Zone (<60 dBA), Zone A (60-65 dBA), Zone B (65-75 dBA). Enrolled subjects underwent a personal interview (on demographics, clinical history, drug use, annoyance, sleep disorders, and noise exposure from different sources) and blood pressure (BP) measurements. We applied multivariable linear and robust Poisson regression models, adjusted for gender, age, education, BMI, cigarette smoking, last occupation, airport-related job, annoyance from road traffic noise, and anti-hypertensive drug use (analyses on BP only). Results: We enrolled 166 subjects in the Reference Zone, 164 in Zone A, and 70 in Zone B. Average levels of annoyance (either at day or night) from airport-related activities were higher than those from other sources and showed a trend across acoustic zones (+2.7 in Zone A, +4.0 in Zone B, p-trend < 0.001). Compared to referents, subjects in Zones A and B reported a greater frequency of sleep disorders in the month before the interview as well as in general (prevalence ratio: 1.34 in Zone A, 1.82 in Zone B, p-trend = 0.01). We did not highlight a relationship with BP levels or prevalence of hypertension across zones. Conclusions: The findings on noise-related subjective disorders suggest the need of further preventive actions, including structural interventions in houses (where needed), increased efforts to reduce aircraft noise, and the implementation of periodical monitoring programs of residents’ health (adults and children).

Exploring the effects of aircraft noise on bioacoustic activity in national parks

In the course of measuring and analyzing environmental acoustic conditions in U. S. National Park units, a large number of acoustical recordings have been aurally reviewed by trained technicians who noted the presence of a wide variety of sound sources. For this presentation, we analyzed changes in bioacoustic activity in relation to sounds from nearby people and distant aircraft. A central question for our analysis was the relevant time scale of exposure, as it is plausible that natural choruses are affected both by the immediate stimuli they experience as well as their recent history of exposure to similar stimuli. The large sample size—600 000 observations—enabled us to investigate data-driven models that document the decay of effects with increasing time lag between exposure and response.

Aircraft noise exposure assessment for a case-crossover study in Switzerland

TPS 781: Health effects of noise, Exhibition Hall, Ground floor, August 27, 2019, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Background: The long-term effects of transportation noise on sleep quality, annoyance and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are being increasingly recognized. However, little is known about the triggering effects of noise on CVDs. To investigate the acute effects of aircraft noise on CVD mortality by means of a case-crossover study, a reliable and detailed noise exposure assessment is required. Methods: Individual aircraft noise exposures were assessed for a selected population from the Swiss National Cohort (SNC) residing around Zürich Airport in Switzerland. Outdoor noise was estimated at participants’ home addresses for case and control events, combining modeled aircraft noise with all registered flight movements between 2000 and 2016. Different noise metrics including equivalent continuous sound pressure level (LAeq), maximum sound pressure level (LAmax) or number above threshold 55 dB (NAT55) were used to quantify and characterize the noise impact during different night-time exposure windows. Results: Aircraft noise levels were generally highest during the evening time window (19 to 23) and lowest during the core night (23:30 to 06). Average LAeq were 46, 38, 21, 38 and 33 dB for the different time windows (19-23, 23-23:30, 23:30-06, 06-07 and 23-07 respectively). Average LAmax were 65, 53, 46, 53 and 58 dB and average NAT55 19, 1, 0, 2 and 4 for the same intervals. Average LAeq, LAmax and NAT55 during the two hours preceding night-time deaths for all case and control events were 34 dB, 52 dB and 3, respectively. Conclusion: This study is the first to provide individual aircraft noise exposures with high temporal resolution, using a list of movements and previously calculated aircraft noise footprints for different aircraft types and air routes at various times. The choice of the exposure events is flexible and precise, making this approach attractive for conducting a case-crossover study investigating short-term effects of noise on health.

Combined Effects of Aircraft, Rail, and Road Traffic Noise on Total Noise Annoyance-A Cross-Sectional Study in Innsbruck.

Noise legislation in Austria does not provide an assessment of the cumulative effect of noise from different sources. The desire of citizens for a total noise assessment is getting stronger. Within the pilot project “Gesamtlärmbetrachtung” (Total Noise Investigation) Innsbruck, data from 1031 face-to-face interviews were correlated with exposure data from road, rail and air traffic noise. The interviews were selected in clusters according to the exposure combinations of these three sources. In addition to exposure-response relationships, it has also been found that the annoyance response to air and rail traffic noise is independent of the background noise from road traffic. The total noise annoyance response shows a cumulative effect in each source considered. From the source specific exposure-response relationships, a total noise assessment model based on the annoyance equivalents model was developed. This model is more suitable than the dominant source model and thus also considerable for legal application.

Aircraft Noise Effects on Sleep-Results of a Pilot Study Near Philadelphia International Airport.

Current objective data on aircraft noise effects on sleep are needed in the US to inform policy. In this pilot field study, heart rate and body movements were continuously measured during sleep of residents living in the vicinity of Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and in a control region without aircraft noise with sociodemographic characteristics similar to the exposed region (N = 40 subjects each). The primary objective was to establish the feasibility of unattended field measurements. A secondary objective was to compare objective and subjective measures of sleep and health between control and aircraft noise exposed groups. For all measurements, there was less than 10% of data loss, demonstrating the feasibility of unattended home measurements. Based on 2375 recorded aircraft noise events, we found a significant (unadjusted p = 0.0136) exposure-response function between the maximum sound pressure level of aircraft noise events and awakening probability inferred from heart rate increases and body movements, which was similar to previous studies. Those living near the airport reported poorer sleep quality and poorer health than the control group in general, but when asked in the morning about their last night’s sleep, no significant difference was found between groups. Neither systolic nor diastolic morning blood pressures differed between study regions. While this study demonstrates the feasibility of unattended field study measurements, for a national study around multiple US airports refinements of the study design are necessary to further lower methodological expense and increase participation rates.

Air traffic assignment based on daily population mobility to reduce aircraft noise effects and fuel consumption

The paper first investigates the influence of daily mobility of population on evaluation of aircraft noise effects. Then, a new air traffic assignment model that considers this activity is proposed. The main objective is to reduce the number of people affected by noise via lowering as much as possible the noise exposure level Lden of individuals or groups of people who commute to the same locations during the day. It is hereby intended to reduce the noise impact upon individuals rather than to reduce the impact in particular – typically densely populated – areas. However, sending aircraft farther away from populated regions to reduce noise impact may increase fuel burn, thus affecting airline costs and sustainability. Therefore, a multi-objective optimization approach is utilized to obtain reasonable solutions that comply with overall air transport sustainability. The method aims at generating a set of solutions that provide proper balance between noise annoyance and fuel consumption. The reliability and applicability of the proposed method are validated through a real case study at Belgrade airport in Serbia. The investigation shows that there is a difference between the number of people annoyed (NPA) evaluated based on the census data and the NPA evaluated based on the mobility data. In addition, these numbers differ significantly across residential locations. The optimal results show that the proposed model can offer a considerable reduction in the NPA, and in some cases, it can gain up to 77%, while maintaining the same level of fuel consumption compared with the reference case.

Management of Aircraft Noise to Increase Ecological Compatibility of Residential Areas

Development of air transport branch has been inevitably accompanied by environmental pollution. Using international approach, methodology assessing environmental risks from civil aviation, has been permanently enhanced. The purpose of the investigation is to decrease negative environmental effect of aircraft noise on population of the urban areas in the vicinity of airports. Within the balanced approach to management of the aircraft noise, field surveys of noise environment were performed on the residential areas adjacent to the Elizovo International Airport (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski). Emergence of piston engine aviation has been the main factor of adverse effect on humans and their habitat. Initially the issue was limited by the noise generated by propellers. When reactive era came to the scene, though, and aero-gas dynamic flows within the powerplants, and aerodynamic noise from airframe overflow became the main sources of noise, subsequences of aircraft noise came to be the matter of concern for wide range of specialists. The need to increase capability of aircraft and their speed lead to augmentation of the powerplants thrust, and, as a result, the sound power generated by aircraft rapidly grew. And the severity of the issue has been growing on with the development of aviation, enhancement of international air fleet and flying intensity. As a rule, the airports are located either within cities, or directly in the residential areas which generates extremely unfavourable acoustic conditions for residential population and reduces quality of life. At the present a set of operations to assess noise conditions is carried out in the vicinity of the major airports of the world. It has been established that the localities within a radius of 5-10 km under the aircraft routes are systematically subject to high levels of aircraft wide-band noise with maximal acoustic energy within 63-1,000 Hz. Based on the performed assessment of the noise environment, a foundation was issued to use the most efficient architectural and construction anti-noise actions, in order to obtain maximal ecological benefits.

Determining the Impact of Aircraft Noise towards Residential Property Price

The objective of this paper is to examine the effect of aircraft noise on residential property price within the case study area, and the main focus of this research was the distance of selected residential housed from Kuching International Airport (KIA). Aircraft noise is a source of noise pollution and act as environment factor that affect the house prices. Environmental disamenities from water and noise pollution will caused the houses to sell at lower price, accounted 20.8% less than houses located in area without noise interference. Apparently, the noise produced by the aircraft has even larger negative impact on house prices as compared to road traffic noise and railway noise. This study adopted quantitative approach in answering the objective of the paper. The findings were based on the secondary data which including 210 property transaction data within year 2015. The range of areas for this study was limited to selected residential terrace houses that located within 10.0 km from Kuching International Airport (KIA). The findings from Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) shows that the property prices located nearer to the airport (&lt;2.5 km from KIA) in selected case study areas have been sold with lower price. Moreover, the prices of the properties located distance from KIA were not negatively impacted by the aircraft noise due to the other pulling factor that has larger impact to the property. Indeed, the location of the property, public amenities, transportation system, neighborhood factor and facilities also has close relationship to the property price.

Aircraft Noise and Psychological Ill-Health: The Results of a Cross-Sectional Study in France.

Background: The effects of aircraft noise on psychological ill-health have not been largely investigated and remain to be discussed. No study has been performed in France on the health effects of aircraft noise. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between aircraft noise in dB and in terms of annoyance and psychological ill-health in populations living near airports in France. Methods: A total of 1244 individuals older than 18 and living near three French airports (Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Lyon–Saint-Exupéry and Toulouse–Blagnac) were randomly selected to participate in the study. Information about their personal medical history and socioeconomic and lifestyle factors was collected by means of a face-to-face questionnaire performed at their place of residence by an interviewer. Psychological ill-health was evaluated with the 12-item version of the General Heath Questionnaire (GHQ-12). For each participant, outdoor aircraft noise exposure in dB was estimated by linking their home address to noise maps. Objective noise exposure in dB was considered to be the primary exposure of interest. Four noise indicators referring to three different periods of the day were derived and used for the statistical analyses: Lden, LAeq,24hr, LAeq,6hr–22hr, and Lnight. Noise annoyance and noise sensitivity were the secondary risk factors of interest. Logistic regression models were used with adjustment for potential confounders. Results: The participation rate in the study was 30%. Approximately 22% of the participants were considered to have psychological ill-health according to the GHQ-12. No direct association was found between exposure to aircraft noise in dB and psychological ill-health. However, annoyance due to aircraft noise and noise sensitivity were both significantly associated with psychological ill-health. Moreover, a gradient was evidenced between annoyance and psychological ill-health, with increasing ORs from 1.79 (95% CI 1.06–3.03) for people who were not all annoyed to 4.00 (95% CI 1.67–9.55) for extremely annoyed people. Conclusions: These findings confirm the results of previous studies, suggesting there is no direct association between aircraft noise exposure in dB and psychological ill-health, but there is a significant relationship between noise sensitivity or annoyance due to aircraft noise and psychological ill-health. This supports the hypothesis that psychological aspects, such as noise annoyance and noise sensitivity, play important roles in the association between environmental noise and adverse effects on health. However, further studies are necessary in order to better understand the links between these variables.

The effects of aircraft noise exposure on objective sleep quality: The results of the DEBATS study in France

Background Noise in the areas near airports is considered as a public health issue. Exposure to aircraft noise has been shown to have adverse effects on health and particularly on sleep. Sleep disturbances are the most investigated health effects related to environmental noise. Many studies support that noise at night can affect subjective and objective sleep quality. If habituation to noise can be observed for subjective sleep quality, no habituation has been shown with objective sleep quality. However, few studies have evaluated the effects of aircraft noise on sleep quality with objective measurements at home. No such studies have been performed around French airports. Objectives The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between aircraft noise exposure and objective sleep quality in the population living near airports in France. Methods Our study includes 112 people living around Paris-CDG and Toulouse-Blagnac airports. Actimetric measurements were performed during eight nights to objectively evaluate the sleep quality of the participants in terms of sleep onset latency, wake time, total sleep time and sleep efficiency. Simultaneously, acoustic measurements were performed inside and outside (at the facade) the participants’ bedroom in order to measure aircraft noise levels. Thus, integrated (that is related to energetic average for a given period of time) as well as noise event indicators (that is the number of events that exceeds a given threshold) were estimated. Logistic regression models taking into account measurements repetition were used with adjustment for potential confounders: age, gender, marital status, education and body mass index (BMI). Results and discussion Integrated indicators as well as noise event indicators were significantly associated with objective sleep quality. Increased levels of aircraft noise or increased numbers of aircraft noise events increased time to fall asleep, total wake time and decreased sleep efficiency. Unexpectedly, noise indicators also increased total sleep time, time in bed and delayed get up time. These latter results can be interpreted as an adaptation mechanism to sleep deprivation. If a deterioration of the sleep quality has been observed with an increase in time to fall asleep and in total wake time, a process of recovery and sleep maintenance has been shown with an increase in total sleep time. Noise event indicators have been shown to be more often associated with sleep disturbances than integrated indicators. Increased numbers of noise events during the sleep period have been found to degrade objective sleep quality. Conclusion The present study is the first one to investigate the effects of aircraft noise exposure around French airports on sleep quality evaluated with objective measurements. The findings contribute to the overall evidence suggesting that aircraft noise exposure at nighttime may decrease objective quality of sleep. Aircraft noise exposure affects objective sleep quality whatever the type of noise indicators. In front of this nuisance, adaptation mechanisms to sleep deprivation could be observed.

Comparing the Environmental Effects of Terrestrial and Offshore Airports: The Case of Dalian City, China

Fu, Q.; Wang, N.; Lin, W.-N., and Wu, N., 2018. Comparing the environmental effects of terrestrial and offshore airports: The case of Dalian City, China. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 103–108. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.To increase an airport's capabilities, it is a common practice to expand the airport and add a new runway. However, this expansion occupies more land and space and produces more noise from aircraft, which can be a nuisance to surrounding residents. There are many cities facing this problem, with one being Dalian City in northern China. Unlike many inland cities, Dalian City is a peninsula city surrounded by sea on three sides with abundant marine resources, but limited land. Therefore, building a new offshore airport away from the urban core has been proposed as an effective solution to remit the contradiction of urban and environment. It is necessary to evaluate the effects of offshore airport construction on the marine ecology and terrestrial airport construction on urban lives. In this paper, from the perspective of lost value, the environmental effects of expanding the existing terrestrial airport and of building an offshore airport on the marine environment are compared by conducting many field investigations on Dian International Airport site selection. The results show that the offshore airport plan would be distant from the urban core than the terrestrial airport plan, and the effect of offshore airport plan aircraft noise on surrounding residents would be small, as would its effect on fish in surrounding areas. Therefore, compared with expanding the terrestrial airport, establishing an offshore airport could effectively improve the urban environment and decrease the adverse effects on the marine ecosystem. This result is valuable for airport site selection for Dalian City and provides guidance for airport site selection for other coastal cities.

Effects of interior aircraft noise on pilot performance

How well the pilot performs tasks significantly affects flight efficiency and safety, and pilot performance is affected by factors in the cockpit environment. For example, studies have shown that interior aircraft noise affects pilot performance, but the potential cumulative effects of such noise have yet to be examined. The present study examined the cumulative influence of the interior noise of a light, propeller-driven, single-piston engine aircraft on operation-related performance of 14 civil pilots aged 22–26 years with 165–350 flight hours of experience. Pilots filled out a questionnaire asking about the perceived influence of noise on their performance. Then they were exposed to recorded cockpit noise, after which they were asked to execute a variety of standard flight simulation tasks on a flight simulator. Their performance was assessed based on objective measures. Analysis using descriptive methods, paired t-test and mixed linear regression showed no significant average and maximum deviations from predefined default parameters of standard flight elements in the presence of cumulative noise exposure up to 20% or 40% of permitted daily noise dose. The results of the self-report questionnaire and objective performance in flight simulations suggest that cumulative noise exposure may not significantly affect pilot aviating and navigating tasks. Further studies are eventually needed to verify and extend these results with higher cumulative noise exposure, more noise dose sequences and greater number of more experienced pilots.

WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region: A Systematic Review on Environmental Noise and Cognition.

This systematic review assesses the quality of the evidence across individual studies on the effect of environmental noise (road traffic, aircraft, and train and railway noise) on cognition. Quantitative non-experimental studies of the association between environmental noise exposure on child and adult cognitive performance published up to June 2015 were reviewed: no limit was placed on the start date for the search. A total of 34 papers were identified, all of which were of child populations. 82% of the papers were of cross-sectional design, with fewer studies of longitudinal or intervention design. A range of cognitive outcomes were examined. The quality of the evidence across the studies for each individual noise source and cognitive outcome was assessed using an adaptation of GRADE methodology. This review found, given the predominance of cross-sectional studies, that the quality of the evidence across studies ranged from being of moderate quality for an effect for some outcomes, e.g., aircraft noise effects on reading comprehension and on long-term memory, to no effect for other outcomes such as attention and executive function and for some noise sources such as road traffic noise and railway noise. The GRADE evaluation of low quality evidence across studies for some cognitive domains and for some noise sources does not necessarily mean that there are no effects: rather, that more robust and a greater number of studies are required.

The Effect of Nightly Maximum Aircraft Noise Levels on Cardiovascular Diseases – Results of a Case-Control Study based on Secondary Data

Background/Aim: The health effects of aircraft noise are commonly examined based on continuous sound pressure levels. However, at the same average noise level, aircraft noise tends to be more annoying than road traffic noise. This may be related to specific characteristics of aircraft noise (irregular, disruptive events, potentially leading to nightly awakenings). We aimed to examine if maximum aircraft noise levels comprise cardiovascular risks that are not adequately reflected by the risks of continuous sound levels alone. Methods: This case-control study included individuals that were insured by three large statutory health insurance funds in the Rhine-Main area of Germany. Exposure to aircraft, road and railway traffic noise in 2005 was estimated address-specifically. Cases with a new diagnosis of a cardiovascular disease (between 2006 and 2010) based on insurance claims and prescription data, i.e. myocardial infarction (n=19,632), stroke (n=25,495), and heart failure/hypertensive heart disease (n=104,145), were compared with control subjects (&gt;500,000 for all case groups) not suffering from the respective disease. When we calculated odds ratios (OR) for categorized 24-h continuous aircraft noise levels (reference category: &lt;40dB), we separately analyzed the risk for individuals with 24-h continuous noise levels &lt;40dB but with nightly maximum sound levels &gt;50dB. Results: For individuals with nightly maximum sound levels of &gt;50dB (with 24-h continuous noise levels &lt;40dB), we observed increased OR for myocardial infarction (OR=1.05; 95% CI 0.98-1.11), stroke (OR=1.07; 95% CI 1.02-1.13), and heart failure/hypertensive heart disease (OR=1.06; 95% CI 1.03-1.09). Conclusions: This large case-control study suggests that maximum aircraft noise levels at night negatively affect the cardiovascular system. Thus, the inclusion of this exposure group in the reference category is likely to lead to an underestimation of the risks of aircraft noise exposure. Aircraft noise protection measures should take into account not only continuous noise levels, but also maximum aircraft noise levels.

Effects of aircraft noise on annoyance, sleep disorders, and blood pressure among adult residents near the Orio al Serio International Airport (BGY), Italy.

Background:Aircraft noise may cause several non-auditory health effects, including annoyance, sleep disorders, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and impaired cognitive skills in children.Objectives:To perform a cross-sectional study among adult residents near the Orio al Serio International Airport (BGY), Italy to investigate the association between aircraft noise, annoyance, sleep disorders, blood pressure levels, and prevalence of hypertension.Methods:Residential addresses of subjects aged 45-70 years were geocoded and classified in three groups according to noise levels: <60 (Reference), 60-65 (Zone A), and 65-75 dBA (Zone B). A sample of subjects was invited to undergo a personal interview and blood pressure measurements. Multiple linear and robust Poisson regression models were used to analyze quantitative and categorical variables, respectively.Results:Between June and September 2013, we enrolled 400 subjects (166 in the Reference Zone, 164 in Zone A, and 70 in Zone B). Compared to the Reference Zone, we found elevated adjusted annoyance scores (day and night) in Zone A (+2.7) and Zone B (+4.0) (p<0.001) and about doubled proportions of severely annoyed subjects (p<0.001). Reported sleep disorders in the previous month were also more frequent in Zones A and B. Sleep disorders in general were 19.9% in the Reference Zone, 29.9% in Zone A, and 35.7% in Zone B (p<0.001).Conclusions:We found a strong association between aircraft noise levels, annoyance, and sleep disorders among adult residents near the Orio al Serio International Airport. We found no relationship with blood pressure levels and prevalence of hypertension.

The effect of aircraft, road, and railway traffic noise on stroke - results of a case-control study based on secondary data.

Aim:To examine the stroke risks associated with aircraft, road traffic, and railway noise exposure in a large case–control study.Materials and Methods:All people aged ≥40 years living around the Frankfurt airport that were insured by one of three large statutory health insurance funds between 2005 and 2010 were included in the study (n = 1,026,670). Address-specific exposure to aircraft, road, and railway traffic noise was estimated for 2005. We used insurance claim data to identify 25,495 newly diagnosed cases of stroke between 2006 and 2010 and compared them with 827,601 control participants. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the odds ratios adjusted for age, sex, local proportion of people receiving unemployment benefits, and if available individual indicators of socioeconomic status (education, occupation).Results:For 24-h continuous aircraft noise exposure, neither increased risk estimates nor a positive linear exposure–risk relation was found. However, stroke risk was statistically significantly increased by 7% [95% confidence intervals (95%CI): 2–13%] for people who were exposed to <40 dB of 24-h continuous aircraft noise, but ≥6 events of maximum nightly sound pressure levels ≥50 dB. For road and railway traffic noise, there was a positive linear exposure–risk relation: Per 10 dB the stroke risk increased by 1.7% (95%CI: 0.3–3.2%) for road traffic noise and by 1.8% (95%CI: 0.1–3.3%) for railway traffic noise. The maximum risk increase of 7% (95%CI: 0–14%) for road traffic noise and 18% (95%CI: 2–38%) for railway traffic noise was found in the exposure category ≥65 to <70 dB.Conclusion:This large case–control study indicates that traffic noise exposure may lead to an increase in stroke risk. It furthermore suggests that maximum aircraft noise levels at night increase the stroke risk even when continuous noise exposure is low, and thus highlights the relevance of maximum noise levels for research and policies on noise protection.