Suchergebnisse

Relationships between transportation noise and the level of annoyance attributed to a certain noise source are well established in adults. Little is known about the noise annoyance in children. The authors assessed the reported annoyance due to different noise sources of 8- to 14-year-old children in a representative population and compared the results with existing data on adults. The primary focus was on road traffic noise because of its pervasiveness. From all over Germany, 1,048 children were randomly selected. They completed a questionnaire regarding living conditions, including noise annoyance from different noise sources such as road traffic noise. The percentage of children's homes located on busy roads was 16.5%, and approximately half of the children (47.7%) had their bedroom facing the street. Among the 8- to 10-year-olds, 7.3% were annoyed by road traffic noise during daytime ("yes" on a dichotomous annoyance scale). Among the 11- to 14-year-olds, 16.4% were at least "slightly" annoyed by road traffic noise during daytime (sum of the upper four categories of a 5-point annoyance scale). Compared with regularly reported representative data on adults, the relative frequency of children annoyed by road traffic noise at home was considerably lower.

An increasing number of people live near airports with considerable noise and air pollution. The Hypertension and Exposure to Noise near Airports (HYENA) project aims to assess the impact of airport-related noise exposure on blood pressure (BP) and cardiovascular disease using a cross-sectional study design. We selected 6,000 persons (45–70 years of age) who had lived at least 5 years near one of six major European airports. We used modeled aircraft noise contours, aiming to maximize exposure contrast. Automated BP instruments are used to reduce observer error. We designed a standardized questionnaire to collect data on annoyance, noise disturbance, and major confounders. Cortisol in saliva was collected in a subsample of the study population (n = 500) stratified by noise exposure level. To investigate short-term noise effects on BP and possible effects on nighttime BP dipping, we measured 24-hr BP and assessed continuous night noise in another sub-sample (n = 200). To ensure comparability between countries, we used common noise models to assess individual noise exposure, with a resolution of 1 dB(A). Modifiers of individual exposure, such as the orientation of living and bedroom toward roads, window-opening habits, and sound insulation, were assessed by the questionnaire. For four airports, we estimated exposure to air pollution to explore modifying effects of air pollution on cardiovascular disease. The project assesses exposure to traffic-related air pollutants, primarily using data from another project funded by the European Union (APMoSPHERE, Air Pollution Modelling for Support to Policy on Health and Environmental Risks in Europe).