Showing papers on "Annoyance published in 2018"

Annoyance Judgment and Measurements of Environmental Noise: A Focus on Italian Secondary Schools

Abstract: The effects of noise on students’ health, well-being, and learning are of growing concern among both the general public and policy-makers in Europe. Several studies have highlighted the consequences of noise on children’s learning and performance at school. This study investigates the relationship between noise judgment in school goers aged 11–18 and noise measurements aimed at evaluating their exposure at school. For this purpose, a questionnaire was administered to 521 individuals in 28 classrooms in eight schools of four cities in Italy, with different environmental characteristics. Using a Likert-type scale, a selected set of responses related to noise generated an Annoyance Index (AI) score for each student and a classroom median score (MAI). From the noise data acquired, a global noise score (GNS) was assigned to each classroom. A higher AI was found in industrialized areas and among younger students. No significant differences in noise judgment were found by gender. A significant inverse correlation was described between MAI and GNS, thus the better the acoustic quality of the classrooms, the less the perceived noise and annoyance. The results show that noise perception and consequent disturbance are highly correlated with classroom acoustics, and confirm that annoyance represents the most widespread subjective response to noise.

Health Effects Related to Wind Turbine Sound, Including Low-Frequency Sound and Infrasound

Abstract: A narrative review of observational and experimental studies was conducted to assess the association between exposure to wind turbine sound and its components and health effects in the general population. Literature databases Scopus, Medline and Embase and additional bibliographic sources such as reference sections of key publications and journal databases were systematically searched for peer-reviewed studies published from 2009 to 2017. For the period until early 2015 only reviews were included, while for the period between January 2015 and January 2017 all relevant publications were screened. Ten reviews and 22 studies met the inclusion criteria. Most studies examined subjective annoyance as the primary outcome, indicating an association between exposure levels and the percentage highly annoyed. Sound from wind turbines leads to a higher percentage of highly annoyed when compared to other sound sources. Annoyance due to aspects, like shadow flicker, the visual (in) appropriateness in the landscape and blinking lights, can add to the noise annoyance. There is no evidence of a specific effect of the low-frequency component nor of infrasound. There are indications that the rhythmic pressure pulses on a building can lead to additional annoyance indoors. Personal characteristics such as noise sensitivity, privacy issues and social acceptance, benefits and attitudes, the local situation and the conditions of planning a wind farm also play a role in reported annoyance. Less data are available to evaluate the effects of wind turbines on sleep and long-term health effects. Sleep disturbance as well as other health effects in the vicinity of wind turbines was found to be related to annoyance, rather than directly to exposure.

Neighbour and traffic noise annoyance: A nationwide study of associated mental health and perceived stress

Abstract: Background Noise exposure is a well-known risk factor for multiple adverse health effects. Annoyance is the most prevalent response to environmental noise and may result in negative emotional responses, including poor mental health and high levels of perceived stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between neighbour and traffic noise annoyance, and mental health and perceived stress. Methods Data were derived from the Danish Health and Morbidity surveys in 2010 and 2013. The study was based on a random sample of the adult population in Denmark living in multistorey housing (n = 7090). Information on neighbour and traffic noise annoyance during the past 2 weeks, and mental health and perceived stress, using Short Form-12 and Perceived Stress Scale instruments, respectively, was obtained by means of self-administered questionnaires. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between noise annoyance and poor mental health, and high perceived stress levels, respectively. Results Those who reported being very annoyed by neighbour noise had 2.34 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.83-2.99] times higher odds of having poor mental health and 2.78 (95% CI: 2.25-3.43) times higher odds to experience a high level of perceived stress than individuals not annoyed by noise from neighbours. Similar associations were observed with traffic noise annoyance. Conclusion The results from this study indicate that there is a strong relationship between noise annoyance and poor mental health and high levels of perceived stress among individuals living in multistorey housing in Denmark. Future studies are needed to determine the direction of causality.

Review of acoustic comfort evaluation in dwellings—part I: Associations of acoustic field data to subjective responses from building surveys

Abstract: Acoustic comfort is a concept hardly described in the literature. But it has been used in engineering typically to refer to low noise or annoyance in order to invoke no discomfort. Current standard...

The Public Health Impact of Road-Traffic Noise in a Highly-Populated City, Republic of Korea: Annoyance and Sleep Disturbance

Abstract: Sustainable transportation is an essential part of a sustainable city; however, modern transportation systems with internal-combustion engines emits unacceptably high level of air-pollutants and noise. It is recognized widely that road-traffic noise has negative health impacts (such as annoyance and sleep disturbance) on exposed population in highly-populated cities. These harmful effects should be removed or at least reduced to guarantee the sustainability of modern cities. The estimation of pollutant levels at a specific location and the extent of the damage is therefore important for policy makers. This study presents a procedure to determine the levels of road-traffic noise at both day and night, and an assessment of the adverse health effects across Gwangju Metropolitan City (GMC), Republic of Korea (ROK). Road-traffic noise maps in 2-D and 3-D were generated, in order to find spatial distribution of noise levels across the city and noise level at the facade of a building-floor, respectively. The adoption of existing assessment models for the highly-annoyed (%HA) and highly-sleep-disturbed (%HSD) leads to building-based estimation of the affected population and spatial distribution of the road networks of the city. Very high noise levels were found to exist along major roads in the day and at night, with little difference between them. As a result, approximately 10% and 5% of the total population (n = 1,471,944) were estimated to experience high-level annoyance and sleep disturbance, respectively.

Relation between Observed and Perceived Traffic Noise and Socio-Economic Status in Urban Blocks of Different Characteristics

Abstract: Living in cities offers many benefits and thus more and more people are living in urban areas. However, the concentration of human activities also creates environmental stressors with severe influence on people’s health and well-being. Noise is an environmental stressor with known health impact. Despite this, studies investigating small-scale difference in noise exposure and annoyance are lacking. Against this background, this case study investigates environmental justice empirically, focusing on the distribution of road traffic noise and its perception in Hamburg, Germany. The study outlines a methodological approach that takes into account subjective and objective measures of exposure in small-scale residential blocks. The results show that annoyance by noise is clearly related to noise emission. Moreover, different groups are affected by noise pollution in our study area unequally. In particular, younger people and people with lower socio-economic status have higher probabilities to be affected by noise. Additionally, it emerged that participants reporting higher levels of annoyance from noise are on average younger than those feeling less annoyed. Overall, these results show that the current legal noise limits applicable to residential planning processes in German cities are not sufficient to prevent substantial annoyance effects in residential populations.

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

Abstract: 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-Exupery 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 interactive effect of occupational noise on attention and short-term memory: A pilot study.

Abstract: Introduction: Human performance is influenced by several job-related factors and workplace conditions, including occupational noise. This influence can occur at sound pressure levels lower than the ones that cause physiological damage, such as hearing loss, being mediated by the noise characteristics. However, studies concerning this issue are still scarce. Study. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of three noise conditions on attention and short-term memory: standard condition (C1), environmental noise without alarm sounds (C2), and environmental noise with alarm sounds (C3). Materials and Methods: First, noise levels were measured during a normal workweek in a fast food establishment. Second, an experiment was designed to simulate the noise normally prevailing in the workplace. The noise levels were fixed at 45 ± 0.3 dB(A) (C1), 60 ± 0.4 dB(A) (C2), and 68 ± 0.4 dB(A) (C3). The influence of noise on participants’ attention and short-term memory was assessed with the following test battery: serial recall, response inhibition, and Stroop interference. Because annoyance, stress, and discomfort perceptions during the tests can influence results, visual analog scales to assess these variables were applied in the end of each trial. Fifteen undergraduate students were included in this pilot study (20–23 years; M = 21.6; SD = 0.8; all female). Results: The results demonstrated that participants’ performance during the tests was lower in C3, that is, the number of errors was higher and the reaction time longer. Participants also experienced higher levels of discomfort, stress, and annoyance perceptions in this condition. However, task performance was not found to be influenced by these perceptions. Conclusion: This study provided important insights about the different noise conditions that workers are exposed in a fast food restaurant, and how they influence participants’ performance. Further research should involve workers, exploring how these conditions are implicated in their performance in the field.

Modelling noise annoyance responses to combined sound sources and views of sea, road traffic, and mountain greenery

Abstract: This paper studies the effect of human perception of visual and audio settings in an urban environment on annoyance. Video clips were projected onto a window panel of a living room to simulate neighborhood views containing different percentages of sea, mountain greenery, and road. These video clips were combined with audio stimuli corresponding to the congruent traffic and sea sounds. 246 participants were presented with 11 audio-visual stimuli and requested to respond to questions after the presentation. The collected responses were used to formulate a multivariate ordered logit model to predict the probability of evoking a high annoyance response. The findings revealed that views embracing mountain greenery close-by could enhance annoyance, which is contrary to other findings that greenery could always moderate noise annoyance. In addition, a 60% sea view was found to be able to yield 1 dB equivalent reduction in total sound pressure level. The trade-off was comparable to that achieved by having sea sound at a level 5 dB higher than road traffic noise. Exposure to road traffic noise level being 3 dB higher than sea sound level (i.e., signal-to-noise ratio = −3) together with a 60% sea view could provide an additional 1.5 dB equivalent reduction.

Effects of Different Spectral Shapes and Amplitude Modulation of Broadband Noise on Annoyance Reactions in a Controlled Listening Experiment

Abstract: Environmental noise from transportation or industrial infrastructure typically has a broad frequency range. Different sources may have disparate acoustical characteristics, which may in turn affect noise annoyance. However, knowledge of the relative contribution of the different acoustical characteristics of broadband noise to annoyance is still scarce. In this study, the subjectively perceived short-term (acute) annoyance reactions to different broadband sounds (namely, realistic outdoor wind turbine and artificial, generic sounds) at 40 dBA were investigated in a controlled laboratory listening experiment. Combined with the factorial design of the experiment, the sounds allowed for separation of the effects of three acoustical characteristics on annoyance, namely, spectral shape, depth of periodic amplitude modulation (AM), and occurrence (or absence) of random AM. Fifty-two participants rated their annoyance with the sounds. Annoyance increased with increasing energy content in the low-frequency range as well as with depth of periodic AM, and was higher in situations with random AM than without. Similar annoyance changes would be evoked by sound pressure level changes of up to 8 dB. The results suggest that besides standard sound pressure level metrics, other acoustical characteristics of (broadband) noise should also be considered in environmental impact assessments, e.g., in the context of wind turbine installations.

Emotions evoked by exposure to footstep noise in residential buildings

Abstract: In the present study, the effect of footstep noise on emotions was investigated. This study used noise stimulus of human footsteps throughout the study. First, Korean emotion lexicons were collected from narratives of residents living in multi-family housing buildings. The lexicons were then classified into four emotion clusters, with three expressing negative emotions (anger, dislike, and pain) and the fourth depicting empathy. Since self-reported annoyance has long been investigated as one of the major non-auditory responses to noise, annoyance was measured along with affective responses in a laboratory experiment with varying noise levels. The findings revealed that the emotion and noise annoyance experienced by the participants were significantly affected by noise levels. All clusters expressing negative emotions showed strong correlations with noise annoyance, whereas that representing empathy showed the weakest correlation. Noise sensitivity and attitudes to the noise source were observed as possible moderators in emotional responses and annoyance ratings.

Response to Noise Emitted by Wind Farms in People Living in Nearby Areas.

Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the perception and annoyance of noise from wind turbines in populated areas of Poland. A questionnaire inquiry was carried out among 517 subjects, aged 18⁻88, living within 204⁻1726 m from the nearest wind turbine. For areas where respondents lived, A-weighted sound pressure levels (SPLs) were calculated as the sum of the contributions from the wind power plants in the specific area. It has been shown that the wind turbine noise at the calculated A-weighted SPL of 33⁻50 dB was perceived as annoying or highly annoying by 46% and 28% of respondents, respectively. Moreover, 34% and 18% of them said that they were annoyed or highly annoyed indoors, respectively. The perception of high annoyance was associated with the A-weighted sound pressure level or the distance from the nearest wind turbine, general attitude to wind farms, noise sensitivity and terrain shape (annoyance outdoors) or road-traffic intensity (annoyance indoors). About 48⁻66% of variance in noise annoyance rating might be explained by the aforesaid factors. It was estimated that at the distance of 1000 m the wind turbine noise might be perceived as highly annoying outdoors by 43% and 2% of people with negative and positive attitude towards wind turbines, respectively. There was no significant association between noise level (or distance) and various health and well-being aspects. However, all variables measuring health and well-being aspects, including stress symptoms, were positively associated with annoyance related to wind turbine noise.

Review of acoustic comfort evaluation in dwellings : Part III—airborne sound data associated with subjective responses in laboratory tests

Abstract: Acoustic comfort has been used in engineering to refer to conditions of low noise levels or annoyance, while current standardized methods for airborne and impact sound reduction are used to assess ...

Annoyance in Response to Vibrations from Railways

Abstract: Rail transport is a key stepping stone in the EU's transport policy and is pinpointed for investment and growth over the coming decades. This expanding infrastructure implies increased exposure to environmental stressors, such as noise and ground-borne vibrations. Little is known about the health impacts of exposure to these vibrations. The aim of this paper is to examine the association between annoyance from rail vibrations and the distance of residential dwelling from the railway. It reports the first results of a large epidemiological study, EpiVib, which was designed to investigate the long-term health effects of exposure to rail vibrations. The first part of this study examines a self-reported questionnaire. In total, 6894 individuals aged between 18 and 80 living within 1 km of a railway in west Sweden participated. Results presented here examine the association between distance to the railway and annoyance from vibrations and are stratified by train type. A positive association between closer distance and increased annoyance is seen. After adjustment for important modifiers, results showed that vibrations from freight trains and maintenance operations are reported to be moderately and highly annoying at distances of up to 400 m from the railway and diesel up to 300 m. Vibration from passenger and fast trains are significantly annoying up to 200 m from the track. Vibration from freight trains and maintenance operations were considered highly annoying up to 300 m from the track, diesel up to 400 m. Vibration from passenger and fast trains are not reported to be highly annoying after adjustment. Heavier, slower moving locomotives, in the form of diesel and freight trains, appear to be the source of annoyance at distances further from the railway compared to passenger and fast trains. This has implications in terms of property, transport, and infrastructure planning.

Assessing aircraft noise-induced annoyance around a major German airport and its predictors via telephone survey – The COSMA study

Abstract: Background Despite technological improvements and noise mitigation schemes, annoyance due to aircraft noise remains an ongoing issue for residents near airports, and increasing annoyance has been observed in many affected communities. Objectives This study investigates aircraft noise-induced annoyance near a German airport that is particularly busy at night. In addition to established predictors, it examines variables not considered in studies of recent years. Annoyance ratings are compared to the current European standard exposure-response curve and the community tolerance level (Lct) is calculated as described in the 2016 revision of ISO 1996-1. Methods A telephone survey was conducted with 1262 residents near Cologne/Bonn Airport (IATA: CGN, Germany) which can be classified as a low-rate change (LRC) airport. Acoustical (Ldn in 5 dB-steps, flight altitude , and predominant type of operation) and non-acoustical variables (e.g., attitudes, noise sensitivity, urbanisation level of area) were recorded for every participant. Respondents assessed their aircraft noise-induced overall annoyance as well as their night-time annoyance using the verbal 5-point ICBEN scale. Results The Ldn explained 16.5% of variance in the annoyance ratings. The inclusion of non-acoustical variables into the regression model increased the proportion of explained variance to 54.8%. Annoyance prevalence rates at CGN were higher than predicted by the EU-standard curve and the Lct was lower than predicted by recent work. Conclusion For a LRC airport, the community around CGN shows an uncommonly high percentage of highly annoyed residents and a low tolerance to aircraft noise exposure. Non-acoustical factors including personal and situational factors seem to have substantial impact on annoyance.

Evaluation of Psychoacoustic Annoyance and Perception of Noise Annoyance Inside University Facilities

Abstract: The levels of noise produced in university facilities by students, increases the noise annoyance. The quality of life and the academic performance of university students could be inuenced by this factor. Unfortunately, as far as methodology is concerned, there are no regulations or standards that allow for the correct evaluation of noise annoyance at educative facilities. In this work a method for the evaluation of noise annoyance and an indicator of noise annoyance are presented. In order to obtain a numerical value, a percentage index, and a verbal index that represents the noise annoyance in a specific area at university facilities, psychoacoustic annoyance (PA) and evaluation of perception of noise annoyance has been related. Resulting from this correlation an indicator of noise annoyance was proposed. The results were associated with this indicator. The method and the proposed indicator allow for deeper evaluation of noise annoyance and facilitate the development of appropriate actions against noise. 1

A Systematic Review of the Basis for WHO’s New Recommendation for Limiting Aircraft Noise Annoyance

Abstract: The new WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region have recommendations for limiting noise exposure associated with adverse health effects. The limits are said to be based on a systematic review of existing evidence. This paper gives a systematic assessment of the presented evidence with respect to annoyance from aircraft noise. The new guidelines have been based on the results from a selection of existing aircraft noise studies. This paper demonstrates that a similar selection of other existing post-2000 studies will yield very different results. In addition, the validity of the presented evidence has been questioned as some of the referenced studies have not been conducted according to standardized methods, and the selection of respondents is not representative of the general airport population.

The Development of a Multiple-Item Annoyance Scale (MIAS) for Transportation Noise Annoyance

Abstract: In 2001, Team#6 of the International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise (ICBEN) recommended the use of two single international standardised questions and response scales. This recommendation has been widely accepted in the scientific community. Nevertheless, annoyance can be regarded as a multidimensional construct comprising the three elements: (1) experience of an often repeated noise-related disturbance and the behavioural response to cope with it, (2) an emotional/attitudinal response to the sound and its disturbing impact, and (3) the perceived control or coping capacity with regard to the noise situation. The psychometric properties of items reflecting these three elements have been explored for aircraft noise annoyance. Analyses were conducted using data of the NORAH-Study (Noise-Related Annoyance, Cognition, and Health), and a multi-item noise annoyance scale (MIAS) has been developed and tested post hoc by using a stepwise process (exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses). Preliminary results were presented to the 12th ICBEN Congress in 2017. In this study, the validation of MIAS is done for aircraft noise and extended to railway and road traffic noise. The results largely confirm the concept of MIAS as a second-order construct of annoyance for all of the investigated transportation noise sources; however, improvements can be made, in particular with regard to items addressing the perceived coping capacity.

Relations between Objective and Perceived Built Environments and the Modifying Role of Individual Socioeconomic Position. A Cross-Sectional Study on Traffic Noise and Urban Green Space in a Large German City

Abstract: Perceived annoyance due to traffic noise and lack of urban green space is mostly determined using data from self-administered questionnaires However, there is still no clear evidence to what extent such perceived measures are related to objectively assessed environmental data and whether socioeconomic dimensions modify such relationships In a cross-sectional study in Dortmund, Germany, georeferenced home addresses from parents with preschool aged children were used to analyse relations between exposures to objectively measured green space and traffic noise and subjective annoyance due to noise and lack of green space with the additional consideration of socioeconomic characteristics as effect modifiers Higher perceived annoyance correlated with higher objectively measured traffic noise and lower objectively measured green, respectively Stratified logistic regression models indicated a modifying role of socioeconomic characteristics The strengths of associations between objectively measured environmental exposures and perceived annoyance differed by socioeconomic strata Especially for noise, odds ratios were higher in low socioeconomic strata than in high socioeconomic strata Therefore, using objective measures of the built environment as a proxy for individual perception should be made with caution as negative relations between objectively assessed built environments and health could be underestimated when considering individual socioeconomic position only as a confounder