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Noise Pollution

Extent

Noise pollution, defined by a level of sound that is harmful to humans and the ecology, is pervasive in modern cities.

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Sources: Iberdrola 1, McAlexander et al. 2, National Geographic 3, CDC 4, World Health Organization (5 and 6).

The biggest contributors to urban noise pollution are road traffic and aircraft 7.

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The Noise Annoyance Index, compiled by the statistical agency of Norway, is a measure of how often people complain about noise from a given source. Source: 8.

Impact

Noise pollution has severe, chronic impacts on human health, including disruption of the circadian rhythm and sleep patterns 9, hearing difficulty, hypertension, high cholesterol 10, and heart conditions 11. The following loss of quality of life has been found in Europe.

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This study assesses disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) lost due to noise pollution from several factors. A full year is lost is a person dies prematurely, and a fractional year is lost for a health problem or disturbance, with the fraction determined by the severity of the disturbance. Source: 12.

Noise pollution has been found to have a major negative effect on ecosystems, such as a decline of bird populations 13. In marine environments, noise has been implicated in a widespread loss of animals 14, including invertebrates 15.

The monetized impact of noise pollution has been estimated at around $25 billion per year in the UK 16, or around $70 billion per year 17 or $170 billion per year 18 in France. It has been estimated that the social value of reducing environmental noise by 5 dB in the United States would have a social value of $3.9 billion per year 19.

Mitigation

Several strategies are available for cities to reduce noise pollution. From cars and roads, typically the largest source, cities can use quieter pavements and noise barriers 20.

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Noise volume is typically measured in decibels. The decibel system is logarithmic, with 10 dB constituting a doubling of the volume of noise. Source: 21.

Problem:
Noise Pollution
Solution:
Quieter Pavement

Noise barriers at the side of highways have been a preferred solution to road noise mitigation. These barriers are generally more effective but more expensive than quieter pavement in reducing noise 22.

References

  1. Iberdrola. "Noise pollution: how to reduce the impact of an invisible threat?". Accessed April 15, 2021. ↩

  2. McAlexander, T. P., Gershon, R. R. M., Neitzel, R. L. "Street-level noise in an urban setting: assessment and contribution to personal exposure". Environmental Health 14: 18. February 2015. ↩

  3. National Geographic. "Noise Pollution". Accessed April 15, 2021. ↩

  4. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). "Occupational Noise Exposure". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. June 1998. ↩

  5. World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe. "Data and statistics". Accessed April 15, 2021. ↩

  6. World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe. "Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region (2018)". 2018. ↩

  7. Garcia, A., Raichel, D. A. "Environmental Urban Noise". WIT Press, ISBN 978-1-85312-752-6. 2001. ↩

  8. Statistics Norway. "Natural resources and the environment 2006". Statistical analyses 088, Statistisk sentralbyrå, ISBN 978-82-537-7206-6. June 2007. ↩

  9. Münzel, T., Schmidt, F. P., Steven, S., Herzog, J., Daiber, A., Sørensen, M. "Environmental Noise and the Cardiovascular System". Journal of the American College of Cardiology 71(6), pp. 688-697. February 2018. ↩

  10. Kerns, E., Masterson, E. A., Themann, C. L., Calvert, G. M. "Cardiovascular conditions, hearing difficulty, and occupational noise exposure within US industries and occupations". American journal of industrial medicine 61(6), pp. 477-491. June 2018. ↩

  11. Münzel, T., Kröller-Schön, S., Oelze, M., Gori, T., Schmidt, F. P., Steven, S., Hahad, O., Röösli, M., Wunderli, J., Daiber, A., Sørensen, M. "Adverse Cardiovascular Effects of Traffic Noise with a Focus on Nighttime Noise and the New WHO Noise Guidelines". Annual Review of Public Health 41, pp. 309-328. January 2020. ↩

  12. World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe, JRC European Commission. Burden of disease from environmental noise: Quantification of healthy life years lost in Europe. ISBN: 978 92 890 0229 5. 2011. ↩

  13. Perillo, A., Mazzoni, L. G., Figueiredo, Passos, L., Goulart, V. L. D. R., Duca, C., Young, R. J. "Anthropogenic noise reduces bird species richness and diversity in urban parks". Ibis 159(3), pp. 638-646. July 2017. ↩

  14. Duarte, C. M. et al. "The soundscape of the Anthropocene ocean". Science 371(6529): eaba4658. February 2021. ↩

  15. Morley, E. L., Jones, G., Radford, A. N. "The importance of invertebrates when considering the impacts of anthropogenic noise". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281(1776): 20132683. February 2014. ↩

  16. Simonsen, J. "The cost of noise pollution". Rockwool. May 2019. ↩

  17. Roul T., "The (VERY) high cost of noise". Acoustic Bulletin. September 2016. ↩

  18. Van Raemdonck, H. "‘Social cost’ of noise pollution exceeds €155 billion in France". New Mobility News. July 2021. ↩

  19. Swimburn, T. K., Hammer, M. S., Neitzel, R. L. "Valuing Quiet: An economic assessment of US environmental noise as a cardiovascular health hazard". American Journal of Preventive Medicine 49(3). September 2015. ↩

  20. Licitra, G., Vogiatzis, K. "Preface: New Solutions Mitigating Environmental Noise Pollution". Environments 6(11), 117. November 2019. ↩

  21. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Transportation Research Board, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Rochat, J., McKenna, S., Barrett, D., Cubick, K., Riffle, S., Samples, L., Rasmussen, R., Sohaney, R. "Breaking Barriers: Alternative Approaches to Avoiding and Reducing Highway Traffic Noise Impacts". 2022. ↩

  22. Vanchieri, C., Wood, E. W., Maling, G. C., Lang, W. W. "Cost-benefit analysis - noise barriers and quieter pavements". Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the USA. January 2014. ↩