WHO Environmental noise guidelines for the European Region - What is new? 1. Policy context and methodology used for guideline development

WHO Regional Office for Europe is currently coordinating the systematic review of all pertinent literature in order to provide recommendations for the protection of public health as part of the upcoming WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region (the Guidelines). The entire process is transparent and evidence-based and is...

WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region - What is new? 4. Implementation of guidelines and implications for practice

WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines focus on the WHO European Region and provide guidance to its Member States that is compatible with the noise indicators used in the EU Environmental Noise Directive. The Guidelines aim to serve as a reference for several target audiences, such as decision makers and technical experts, health impact assessment...

WHO environmental noise guidelines for the European Region - What is new? 2. New evidence on health effects from environmental noise and implications for research

The Guidelines include systematic reviews of the scientific evidence of the critical health effects of environmental noise: effects on sleep, annoyance, cognitive impairment, cardiovascular diseases, hearing impairment and tinnitus. Other potential health outcomes with less evidence are also systematically reviewed, but have less impact on the...

Annoyance and disturbed sleep due to road traffic noise: The importance of the least exposed side - QSIDE

In urban areas, road traffrc noise is a dominant source of environmental noise and a major cause of noise annoyance and disturbed sleep. It has been hypothesized that respondents highly exposed to noise at multiple sides of their dwelling, may be expected to be worse off than respondents with the same exposure at the most exposed side, but also...

Evaluation of exposure to traffic noise in an urban recreational area

Environmental noise annoyance due to transportation noise in the home environment has been widely studied, and exposure-response relationships have been established previously for the expected percentage of annoyed residents with the most exposed façade exposure level as a determinant. However, relatively little is known about the evaluation of...

Road traffic noise and annoyance: A quantification of the effect of quiet side exposure at dwellings

Previous studies indicate that residents may benefit from a "quiet side" to their dwellings. The influence of the level of road traffic noise exposure at the least exposed side on road traffic noise annoyance was studied in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Road traffic noise exposure was assessed at the most and least exposed façade (Lden,most and...

Practical ranges of loudness levels of various types of environmental noise, including traffic noise, aircraft noise, and industrial noise

In environmental noise control one commonly employs the A-weighted sound level as an approximate measure of the effect of noise on people. A measure that is more closely related to direct human perception of noise is the loudness level. At constant A-weighted sound level, the loudness level of a noise signal varies considerably with the shape of...

From noise mapping to interactive noise planning: Experiences with urban strategy

For management of environmental noise, insight in the current noise situation is needed. An important source of information is provided by strategic noise maps, which can be implemented in a policy cycle on noise. However, the planning of noise measures in an urban environment is complex. Besides noise from different source types, many other...

Method for predicting future developments of traffic noise in urban areas in Europe

Traffic noise in urban areas in Europe is a major environmental stressor. In this study we present a method for predicting how environmental noise can be expected to develop in the future. In the project HEIMTSA scenarios were developed for all relevant environmental stressors to health, for all source sectors and stressors, including air...

Predicting annoyance by wind turbine noise

While wind turbines have beneficial effects for the environment, they inevitably generate environmental noise. In order to protect residents against unacceptable levels of noise, exposure-response relationships are needed to predict the expected percentage of people annoyed or highly annoyed at a given level of wind turbine noise. Exposure...

Urban strategy: Noise mapping in instrument for interactive spatial planning

Spatial planning in urban areas is complex. Besides noise from different source types, many other aspects play a role. In order to support local authorities and others involved in spatial planning, TNO has developed an interactive instrument: 'Urban Strategy', which integrates a detailed interactive noise map with other aspects such as traffic...

Annoyance from environmental noise across the lifespan

Curvilinear effects of age on self-reported annoyance from environmental noise were investigated in a pooled international and a Dutch sample of in total 62,983 individuals aged between 15 and 102 years. All respondents were frequently exposed to varying levels of transportation noise (i.e., aircraft, road traffic, and railway noise). Results...

Rating environmental noise on the basis of noise maps within the framework of the Environmental Noise Directive

In order to evaluate the need for noise measures as well as the improvement that can be obtained with different measures, there is a need for a system that rates environmental noise on the basis of noise maps. Based on empirical exposure-response relationships, a rating system and a stepwise procedure for its implementation have been developed....

Exposure-response relationships for environmental use

This paper presents an overview of the following exposure-response relationships that can be used for assessing the impact of environmental noise: • Lden - annoyance relationships from the EU Position Paper on exposure-response relationships for transportation noise annoyance (EC-WG/2 2002; Env. Health Persp. 2001, 109 (4) 409-416). In addition,...

Rating environmental noise on the basis of noise maps

A system that rates noise on the basis of noise maps has been developed which is based on empirical exposure-response relationships, so that effects in the community will be lower if the system gives a better rating. It is consistent with noise metrics and effect endpoint chosen in the EU, i.e., it uses L</field>den and L</field>night and...

Evaluating noise abatement measures using strategic noise maps

Noise annoyance due to transportation is widespread in industrialized countries and in urban areas in the developing countries. The European Noise Directive (END) requires an assessment of the noise situation as well as the formulation of action plans for the reduction of the number of people harmfully affected by environmental noise. In this...

Road traffic emission monitoring on motorways

Road traffic noise is one of the major environmental noise sources that is known to cause health problems. Despite existing noise reception items, the continuing growth of traffic causes higher levels than the lims allow. Consequently, excessive costs are incurred for noise barriers along roads and motorways. It's therefore essential to...

Noise exposure and public health

Exposure to noise constitutes a health risk. There is sufficient scientific evidence that noise exposure can induce hearing impairment, hypertension and ischemic heart disease, annoyance, sleep disturbance, and decreased school performance. For other effects such as changes in the immune system and birth defects, the evidence is limited. Most...