Health damage from road and rail traffic noise is higher in Oslo than in Stockholm, Helsinki or Copenhagen. This results from a comparative analysis of health losses caused by transport noise in the capitals of Nordic countries. The researchers conducting this study also found that health losses from noise are equal to or even greater than health losses from airborne dust.
As we read on the website of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the aim of the study was to estimate the burden of diseases caused by road and rail traffic noise in four Nordic countries and their capitals. The burden of disease is presented in the form of health-adjusted life years, so-called DALYs (disability-adjusted life years). This is an indicator that takes into account both years of life lost and years of life lost, and allows data to be compared between countries.
— It is well documented that transport noise can disrupt communication, concentration, rest and sleep and contribute to people feeling harassed by noise. Studies have also shown that the risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes increases when exposed to traffic noise for long periods of time. , says senior researcher Gunn Marit Aasvang of FHI.
— When calculating the burden of disease from transport noise, we only include health losses for which there is a good knowledge base and sum them up as health loss-adjusted life years. When we have data on the number of people exposed to different levels of noise, we can calculate health loss based on knowledge of the links between noise levels and health risk, explains Aasvang.
— Our study found that traffic noise contributed significantly to the burden of disease in Nordic capital cities, ranging from 300 to 500 health-adjusted life years (DALYs/100) for road noise and 000 to 40 health-adjusted life years (DALYs) /150) for railway noise, says Aasvang.
The highest in Oslo, the lowest in Stockholm
For both road and rail noise, the highest disease burden was found in Oslo and the lowest in Stockholm.
The reason for the differences is a combination of different noise exposure in Nordic capitals and differences in the incidence of cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes.
– We cannot ignore the fact that some differences also result from methodological differences in noise mapping between Nordic capitals. We assumed the same health risk at a given noise level, which results from comparative studies, which also included results from Nordic countries, says Aasvang.
The study is based on comparable noise studies in the Nordic countries, which must be reported to the EU every five years. The calculations used data from the noise map from 2017, which was the last map available at the time of the calculations.
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Traffic noise and particulate matter and a high degree of sleep disorders
The researchers also compared health-adjusted life years between road noise and particulate matter, which are important environmental risk factors, especially in cities and larger towns.
The burden of disease from noise is of the same order of magnitude as that from particulate matter if we only include diseases assessed by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) project, such as heart attacks, strokes and diabetes.
— It is worth noting that WHO considers both severe noise annoyance and high levels of noise-related sleep disturbances to be health losses that should be prevented (WHO, 2018). If these health losses are included in the calculations for Oslo, the health loss caused by noise will be much higher than the health loss caused by air pollution, says Aasvang.
— To provide a better basis for comparison, environmental noise should be included in the international burden of disease project. It will provide more comparable data on health losses caused by the two most important environmental risk factors in Norway, namely noise and air pollution. Better data on exposure and monitoring of health loss due to environmental factors is also to be desired, concludes Gunn Marit Aasvang.
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Source: Norwegian Institute of Health Public
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