Showing papers on "Annoyance published in 2021"

Road traffic noise, noise sensitivity, noise annoyance, psychological and physical health and mortality.

Abstract: Both physical and psychological health outcomes have been associated with exposure to environmental noise. Noise sensitivity could have the same moderating effect on physical and psychological health outcomes related to environmental noise exposure as on annoyance but this has been little tested. A cohort of 2398 men between 45 and 59 years, the longitudinal Caerphilly Collaborative Heart Disease study, was established in 1984/88 and followed into the mid-1990s. Road traffic noise maps were assessed at baseline. Psychological ill-health was measured in phase 2 in 1984/88, phase 3 (1989/93) and phase 4 (1993/7). Ischaemic heart disease was measured in clinic at baseline and through hospital records and records of deaths during follow up. We examined the longitudinal associations between road traffic noise and ischaemic heart disease morbidity and mortality using Cox Proportional Hazard Models and psychological ill-health using Logistic Regression; we also examined whether noise sensitivity and noise annoyance might moderate these associations. We also tested if noise sensitivity and noise annoyance were longitudinal predictors of ischaemic heart disease morbidity and mortality and psychological ill-health. Road traffic noise was not associated with ischaemic heart disease morbidity or mortality. Neither noise sensitivity nor noise annoyance moderated the effects of road traffic noise on ischaemic heart disease morbidity or mortality. High noise sensitivity was associated with lower ischaemic heart disease mortality risk (HR = 0.74, 95%CI 0.57, 0.97). Road traffic noise was associated with Phase 4 psychological ill-health but only among those exposed to 56-60dBA (fully adjusted OR = 1.82 95%CI 1.07, 3.07). Noise sensitivity moderated the association of road traffic noise exposure with psychological ill-health. High noise sensitivity was associated longitudinally with psychological ill-health at phase 3 (OR = 1.85 95%CI 1.23, 2.78) and phase 4 (OR = 1.65 95%CI 1.09, 2.50). Noise annoyance predicted psychological ill-health at phase 4 (OR = 2.47 95%CI 1.00, 6.13). Noise sensitivity is a specific predictor of psychological ill-health and may be part of a wider construct of environmental susceptibility. Noise sensitivity may increase the risk of psychological ill-health when exposed to road traffic noise. Noise annoyance may be a mediator of the effects of road traffic noise on psychological ill-health.

Effect of COVID-19 lockdown on noise pollution levels in an Indian city: a case study of Kanpur.

Abstract: Noise pollution is an emerging environmental threat, prolonged exposure of which can cause annoyance, sleep disturbance, hypertension, psychiatric disorders, and also hormonal dysfunction. Among all the sources of noise pollution, the noise generated by road vehicle traffic significantly affects the quality of urban environments. Concerning the recent imposition of COVID-19 societal lockdown, this study attempts to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 lockdown on the changes in noise pollution levels before, during, and after lockdown phase in different residential, commercial, industrial, and silence zones of the city of Kanpur, India. Utilizing data collected from portable environmental sensors, the average noise levels before lockdown and during lockdown were found to be in the range of 44.85 dB to 79.57 dB and 38.55 dB to 57.79 dB, respectively, for different zones. Although a significant reduction in the noise levels was observed during lockdown, except for commercial zone, all other monitoring stations had reported sound levels quite higher than the recommended noise limits set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India. Results further indicated that the impact of road traffic noise on risk of high annoyance and sleep disturbance was found to be lower during lockdown as compared to that of pre-lockdown and unlock phase. While the annoyance level in residential (86.23%), industrial (87.44%), and silence (84.47%) was higher in pre-lockdown period, it reduced to 41.25, 50.28, and 43.07% in the lockdown phase. Even the risk of sleep disturbance in the residential zone was found to reduce from 37.96% during pre-lockdown to 14.72% during lockdown phase. Several noise mitigation strategies are also proposed, which may indeed pave the way for devising noise control measures in the local and regional level.

Exposure to the road traffic noise in an urban complex in Greece: the quantification of healthy life years lost due to noise-induced annoyance and noise-induced sleep disturbances

Abstract: In the recent years, the environmental noise is a global issue of great concern. Especially, it is considered to be one of the most deleterious environmental risk factors for the human health and well-being in urban areas. In this study, we focus on the major source of the transportation noise in the modern-day urbanized societies, which is the road traffic noise. The study was performed in the urban complex in Thessaloniki-Neapoli in Greece, and the estimation of the road traffic noise levels was based on the CoRTN (Calculation of Road Traffic Noise) prediction method. In addition, we estimated the EBD (environmental burden of disease), in terms of DALYs (disability-adjusted life years), due to the annoyance and sleep disturbances associated with the exposure to road traffic noise. The estimation of the EBD was based on the strategic noise mapping in Thessaloniki-Neapoli as well as on the guidance document produced by the WHO (World Health Organization) for the quantitative assessment on the humans’ health consequences of the environmental noise. Above all, the results revealed the magnitude of the health damage caused by the transportation noise.

A study on the assessment of traffic noise induced annoyance and awareness levels about the potential health effects among residents living around a noise-sensitive area

Abstract: The present cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the risk factors for traffic noise-induced annoyance and also assess the awareness levels among the exposed population concerning the health impacts caused by traffic noise. Field measurements were made to validate the application of the standard noise models, which were later used to present the acoustical environment and assess the exposure level around a super-speciality hospital surrounded by a residential zone. Results from the noise maps and facade maps revealed that the area was exposed to noise levels exceeding the upper safe limits by more than 10 dB(A). The effect of exposure in the form of annoyance and the awareness level were evaluated using a questionnaire survey in a sample of 565 residents. Attention questions were incorporated in the questionnaire, and the awareness level was evaluated using the mean awareness index score. Respondents living in noisy areas were having a higher risk for annoyance as compared to those living in quiet areas (OR = 4.06; 95% CI = 2.79-5.88). Reporting poor sleep quality, being sensitive to noise, and noise perception at home were the significant risk factors for annoyance. Most of the respondents were classified as having no/little awareness about serious health ailments caused by traffic noise. Lower awareness levels, despite a higher literacy rate and a higher percentage of the young population, imply that there is a need for undertaking mass awareness programmes so that the impacts can be reduced to a minimum, if not eliminated.

Effect of personality traits on sensitivity, annoyance and loudness perception of low- and high-frequency noise:

Abstract: This paper presents investigations into a comparative assessment of the effects of low- and high-frequency noise in relation to personality traits. The high- and low-frequency noises used are produ...

Prediction of traffic noise induced annoyance: A two-staged SEM-Artificial Neural Network approach

Abstract: The “two-staged Structural Equation Modeling-Artificial Neural Network” approach was used in this study to assess the annoyance caused by traffic noise in 158 people. The SEM-Partial Least Squares path revealed that sensitivity, exposure hours, profession, sleeping disorder, and education significantly affect annoyance. The variables, such as age, experience, gender, and Leq are found to be inconsequential. The measurement model confirmed 67.5 percent of the variance in annoyance. However, the effectiveness of the Artificial Neural Network model is justified by observing the Mean Square Error and Root Mean Square Error values, and the model's accuracy is 71.2 percent. Furthermore, the feed-forward back-propagation ANN approach confirmed that noise sensitivity is the most important predictor of noise annoyance, followed by exposure hours, profession, sleeping disorder, and education. The SEM-PLS path also revealed that combined socio-demographic factors affect annoyance indirectly through noise sensitivity and sleeping disorder and directly affect annoyance, sensitivity, and sleeping disorder.

Midregional pro atrial natriuretic peptide: a novel important biomarker for noise annoyance-induced cardiovascular morbidity and mortality?

Abstract: Environmental noise exposure has been associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Recently, noise annoyance was shown to induce atrial fibrillation, which was accompanied by significantly increased levels of midregional pro atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP). Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the association between noise annoyance, MR-proANP, incident cardiovascular events, and all-cause mortality. Levels of MR-proANP were measured in the first 5000 participants of the population-based Gutenberg Health Study. Annoyance was assessed separately for aircraft, road traffic, railway, neighborhood, and industrial/construction noise during the day and sleep. In cross-sectional analyses, aircraft noise annoyance during day and sleep, industrial/construction noise annoyance during day, and railway noise annoyance during sleep were independently associated with increased levels of MR-proANP after multivariable adjustment. After a 5-year follow-up period, there were 43 cases of incident atrial fibrillation and 103 of incident cardiovascular disease (comprising atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, heart failure, or stroke). Moreover, there were 301 deaths after a mean follow-up of 7.42 ± 1.66 years. An odds ratio (OR) of 2.82 ([95% confidence interval (CI) 1.86; 4.35], p < 0.0001) for incident atrial fibrillation and an OR of 1.49 ([95% CI 1.13; 1.96], p = 0.0046) for incident cardiovascular disease per 1-standard deviation (SD) increase in MR-proANP levels were found. A 36% (hazard ratio: 1.36 [95% CI 1.19; 1.55], p < 0.0001) higher risk of death was found per 1-SD increase in MR-proANP levels. Noise annoyance may contribute to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and is characterized by increased levels of MR-proANP.

Subjective Evaluation on the Annoyance of Environmental Noise Containing Low-Frequency Tonal Components

Abstract: Recently in Japan, noises from wind turbines and domestic use heat sources sometimes cause an increase in noise annoyance owing to low-frequency tonal components. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the tonal components on the annoyance of the environmental noise. The authors conducted an auditory test in the laboratory to evaluate the annoyance of tonal noise using a seven-step rating method. The stimuli were composed of a broadband noise modeling of the environmental noise (25, 30, and 35 dB) and a low-frequency tonal component. With the tonal component added to the broadband noise, the frequency and tonal audibility were varied to 40, 50, 100, 200, and 400 Hz and 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 dB, respectively. The amount of increase in annoyance owing to the addition of the tonal component was quantitatively evaluated as a tonal adjustment by comparing it with broadband noise. As a result, tonal adjustment ranged from 0 to 7 dB, and the higher the tonal frequency, the larger the value. For the test background noise level, the lower the background noise level of the test sound, the greater the value. This trend suggests that the influence of tonal components on subjective impressions is stronger in quiet environments such as residential areas. This result may provide a basis for the evaluation method, which varies the penalty in the noise evaluation according to the frequency of the pure tones and the noise level.

Health Effects Related to Wind Turbine Sound: An Update.

Abstract: Commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, an update of an earlier narrative review was prepared for the literature published between 2017 and mid-2020 about the effects of wind turbine sound on the health of local residents. Specific attention was hereby given to the health effects of low-frequency sound and infrasound. The Netherlands Institute for Public Health and the Environment and Mundonovo sound research collected the scientific literature on the effect of wind turbines on annoyance, sleep disturbance, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic effects, as well as mental and cognitive impacts. It also investigated what is known about annoyance from visual aspects of wind turbines and other non-acoustic factors, such as the local decision-making process. From the literature study, annoyance again came forward as the most important consequence of sound: the louder the sound (in dB) of wind turbines, the stronger the annoyance response was. The literature did not show that "low-frequency sound" (sound with a low pitch) results in extra annoyance on top of normal sound. Results of scientific research for other health effects are either not available or inconsistent, and we can conclude that a clear association with wind turbine related sound levels cannot be confirmed. There is evidence that long-term effects are related to the annoyance people experience. These results confirm earlier conclusions. There is increasing evidence that annoyance is lower when people can participate in the siting process. Worries of residents should be addressed in an early stage, by involving them in the process of planning and decision making.

Annoyance, perception, and physiological effects of wind turbine infrasound

Abstract: Even though some individuals subjectively associate various symptoms with infrasound, there are very few systematic studies on the contribution of infrasound to the perception, annoyance, and physiological reactions elicited by wind turbine sound. In this study, sound samples were selected among long-term measurement data from wind power plant and residential areas, both indoors and outdoors, and used in laboratory experiments. In the experiments, the detectability and annoyance of both inaudible and audible characteristics of wind turbine noise were determined, as well as autonomic nervous system responses: heart rate, heart rate variability, and skin conductance response. The participants were divided into two groups based on whether they reported experiencing wind turbine infrasound related symptoms or not. The participants did not detect infrasonic contents of wind turbine noise. The presence of infrasound had no influence on the reported annoyance nor the measured autonomic nervous system responses. No differences were observed between the two groups. These findings suggest that the levels of infrasound in the current study did not affect perception and annoyance or autonomic nervous system responses, even though the experimental conditions corresponded acoustically to real wind power plant areas.

Self-rated health status in relation to aircraft noise exposure, noise annoyance or noise sensitivity: the results of a cross-sectional study in France.

Abstract: Noise is a major public health issue because of its negative impacts on health, including annoyance, sleep disturbance, cardiovascular diseases and altered cognitive performance among children. Self-rated health status (SRHS) can be considered as a reliable indicator of quality of life, morbidity and mortality but few studies have considered SRHS in relation to aircraft noise exposure. The present study aims to investigate the association between this exposure and SRHS of people living near airports in France, and to consider the mediating or moderating role of aircraft noise annoyance and noise sensitivity in this association. This cross-sectional study included 1242 participants older than 18 and living near three major French airports. Information on their SRHS, aircraft noise annoyance, noise sensitivity and demographic, socioeconomic and lifestyle factors was collected during a face-to-face interview performed at home. Outdoor aircraft noise levels were estimated for each participant’s home address using noise maps. Logistic regressions with adjustment for potential confounders were used. The moderating and mediating effects of aircraft noise annoyance and noise sensitivity were investigated following Baron and Kenny’s recommendations. A significant association was shown between aircraft noise levels and a fair/poor SRHS, only in men (OR=1.55, 95%CI 1.01–2.39, for a 10 dB(A)-increase in Lden). This relationship was higher in men highly sensitive to noise (OR=3.26, 95%CI 1.19–8.88, for a 10 dB(A)-increase in Lden). Noise sensitivity was associated with a fair/poor SRHS significantly in women (OR=1.74, 95%CI 1.12–2.68) and at the borderline of significance in men (OR=1.68, 95% CI 0.94–3.00), whereas aircraft noise annoyance was associated with a fair/poor SRHS only in men (OR=1.81, 95%CI 1.00–3.27). The present study confirms findings in the small number of available studies to date suggesting a positive association between aircraft noise levels and a fair/poor SRHS. These results also support the hypothesis that noise sensitivity would moderate this association. However, a mediating effect of annoyance cannot be excluded.

Short-Term Annoyance Due to Night-Time Road, Railway, and Air Traffic Noise: Role of the Noise Source, the Acoustical Metric, and Non-Acoustical Factors.

Abstract: Field studies on traffic noise-induced annoyance have predominantly used estimated outside noise levels. We intended to complement existing knowledge with exposure-response relationships that are based on precise indoor noise measurements. Acoustic recordings inside the bedrooms of nightly road traffic and annoyance ratings in the following morning were obtained from 40 suburban residents (mean age 29.1 years ± 11.7; 26 females). We derived exposure-response functions for the probability to be "annoyed at least a little" (%LA). Further analyses compared data from the current study with those from two earlier studies on railway and aircraft noise. Annoyance increased with the number of traffic events and the equivalent sound pressure level. The inclusion of non-acoustical factors (such as assessment of road transport) improved the prediction considerably. When comparing the different traffic noise sources, %LA was higher for road than for air traffic at a given LAeq,night, but higher for road and railway than for air traffic at a given number of noise events. Acoustical as well as non-acoustical factors impact short-term annoyance induced by road, railway, and air traffic. Annoyance varies across noise sources, which may be due to differences in acoustical characteristics or in the temporal noise distribution throughout the night.

Quantification of the Psychoacoustic Effect of Noise from Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a study evaluating the human perception of the noise produced by four different small quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This study utilised measurements and recordings of the noise produced by the quadcopter UAVs in hover and in constant-speed flight at a fixed altitude. Measurements made using a ½″ microphone were used to calculate a range of different noise metrics for each noise event. Noise recordings were also made using a spherical microphone array (an Eigenmike system). The recordings were reproduced using a 3D sound reproduction system installed in a large anechoic chamber located at The University of Auckland. Thirty-seven participants were subjected to the recordings and asked to rate their levels of annoyance in response to the noise, and asked to perform a simple cognitive task in order to assess the level of distraction caused by the noise. This study discusses the noise levels measured during the test and how the various noise metrics relate to the annoyance ratings. It was found that annoyance strongly correlates with the sound pressure level and loudness metrics, and that there is a very strong correlation between the annoyance caused by a UAV in hover and in flyby at the same height. While some significant differences between the distraction caused by the UAV noise for different cases were observed in the cognitive distraction test, the results were inconclusive. This was likely due to a ceiling effect observed in the participants’ test scores.

Application of the noise annoyance equivalents model for aircraft, rail and road traffic noise to self-reported sleep disturbance

Abstract: Sleep disturbances caused by noise exposure are the most relevant outcome measured in disability adjusted life years (DALYs). In analogy to the combined effects of noise from multiple sources on annoyance, these are also of interest for sleep disorders. The study “Overall Noise Assessment” Innsbruck examined data from 1031 personal interviews. Aircraft, rail and road noise were correlated. To choose participants combined exposures were clustered into small, medium and severely affected living situations. The effect of demographic features, noise sensitivity, access to a silent facade and other factors on self-reported sleep disturbances was investigated applying bivariate analyses. Exposure-response curves and their 95% confidence intervals with cut-off values of 72% for “highly disturbed sleep” were generated and the results were discussed in comparison to recently published curves. Using source-specific exposure-response relationships, an overall model for evaluating sleep disorders was developed based on the “annoyance equivalents model”. The “total sleep disturbance response” shows an accumulative outcome for each source measured. A protective effect of road traffic noise as background noise for air and railroad sources could not be proven. Both the “Total Sleep Disruption Assessment Model” and the “Dominant Source Model” have a Spearman-Rho of 0.3 and are therefore suitable for use in noise assessment.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on aircraft noise levels, annoyance, and health effects in an urban area in Oman.

Abstract: This study aimed at investigating aircraft noise exposure levels, their annoyance, and potential health effects among communities living within airport catchment areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both field measurements and an online survey approach were used to investigate aircraft noise exposure levels, annoyance, and general health effects among residents living near Muscat International Airport (MCT) in Muscat, Oman, amid the COVID-19 period. The study found a drastic decline in aircraft noise levels due to the introduction of COVID-19 intervention measures such as lockdowns, social distancing, and closure of airports. In June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, average daily aircraft noise levels of LAeq (39.9 dB(A)) and Lmax (49.7 dB(A)) was observed compared to the previous year (April–May 2019) of 58.5 and 76.8 dB(A), indicating aircraft noise reductions level of 32% and 35%, respectively. The results of the online social survey among 187 participants showed that most (58.8%) of the respondents did not feel that the level of noise produced by aircraft causes annoyance. During the day, the vast majority of the interviewees did not complain of any annoyance during the morning (45.5%), afternoon (39.6%), and evening (31%) with only < 4% of residents have reported a very high degree of annoyance of during COVID-19 pandemic period. Very few people (17%) did complain of experiencing general health problems while 29% did not know of any potential health effects that could be attributed to aircraft noise exposures. Aircraft noise annoyance complaints among the As-Seeb residents during the pre-COVID-19 pandemic periods were reported to be extremely high reaching about 84% compared to 41% during this current COVID-19 pandemic period. These findings support the need to develop future sustainable noise mitigation policies in order to help reduce noise exposures and improve human health during post-COVID-19 pandemic periods.

Sound quality assessment of a medium-range aircraft with enhanced fan-noise shielding design

Abstract: The investigation of technologies that can improve the sustainability of the air transport system requires not only the development of alternative fuel concepts and novel vehicle technologies but also the definition of appropriate assessment strategies. Regarding noise, the assessment should reflect the situation of communities living near airports, i.e., not only addressing sound levels but also accounting for the annoyance caused by aircraft noise. For this purpose, conventional A-weighted sound pressure level metrics provide initial but limited information as the level- and frequency-dependency of the human hearing is accounted for in a simplified manner. Ideally, subjective evaluations are required to adequately quantify the perceived short-term annoyance associated with aircraft noise. However, listening tests are time-consuming and not suitable to be applied during the conceptual aircraft design stage, where a large solution space needs to be explored. Aiming at bridging this gap, this work presents a methodology for the sound quality assessment of computational aircraft noise predictions, which is hereby conducted in terms of objective psychoacoustic metrics. The proposed methodology is applied to a novel medium-range vehicle with fan noise shielding architecture during take-off and landing procedures. The relevance of individual sound sources, i.e., airframe and engine noise contributions, and their dependencies on the aircraft architecture and flight procedures are assessed in terms of loudness, sharpness, and tonality. Moreover, the methodology is steered towards community noise assessment, where the impacts on short-term annoyance brought by the novel aircraft design are analysed. The assessment is based on the modified psychoacoustic annoyance, a metric that provides a quantitative description of human annoyance as a combination of different hearing sensations. The present work is understood as an essential step towards low-annoyance aircraft design.

Noise annoyance and vibration perception assessment on passengers during train operation in Guangzhou Metro.

Abstract: With the development of urban rail transit, taking the metro train has become one of the main modes of transportation, and passengers have an increasing demand for the comfort of taking the metro trains. This paper mainly discusses the impact of noise and vibration caused by metro train on passengers. All 13 metro lines in Guangzhou, China, were selected to conduct the questionnaire survey on the subjective perception of 601 respondents. At the same time, noise and vibration measurements were carried out in the train. The results show that the distribution of noise and vibrations along the metro lines is not uniform, and 50.6% of the interviewees are disturbed by noise. Wheel-rail squeal was found to be the most annoying and disturbing noise source. Three dose-response relationships for noise, vertical vibration, and horizontal vibration are proposed, respectively. The proposed dose-response relationship can be applied to the evaluation of noise annoyance or vibration perception in an environment similar to metro lines. Once the noise or vibration level of a metro line is obtained, the noise disturbance or vibration perception can be estimated. As for the dose-response relationship of vibration perception, people's sensitivity to vibration is much lower than that to noise. Horizontal vibrations are more acceptable to passengers, while vertical vibrations are more disturbing to passengers. The results are helpful to predict the noise annoyance and vibration perception of train passengers between metro stations, and to achieve the purpose of designing effective noise and vibration reduction measures.