Showing papers on "Noise pollution published in 2021"

Transportation noise pollution and cardiovascular disease.

Abstract: Epidemiological studies have found that transportation noise increases the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, with high-quality evidence for ischaemic heart disease. According to the WHO, ≥1.6 million healthy life-years are lost annually from traffic-related noise in Western Europe. Traffic noise at night causes fragmentation and shortening of sleep, elevation of stress hormone levels, and increased oxidative stress in the vasculature and the brain. These factors can promote vascular dysfunction, inflammation and hypertension, thereby elevating the risk of cardiovascular disease. In this Review, we focus on the indirect, non-auditory cardiovascular health effects of transportation noise. We provide an updated overview of epidemiological research on the effects of transportation noise on cardiovascular risk factors and disease, discuss the mechanistic insights from the latest clinical and experimental studies, and propose new risk markers to address noise-induced cardiovascular effects in the general population. We also explain, in detail, the potential effects of noise on alterations of gene networks, epigenetic pathways, gut microbiota, circadian rhythm, signal transduction along the neuronal-cardiovascular axis, oxidative stress, inflammation and metabolism. Lastly, we describe current and future noise-mitigation strategies and evaluate the status of the existing evidence on noise as a cardiovascular risk factor.

How Neighborhood Effect Averaging Might Affect Assessment of Individual Exposures to Air Pollution: A Study of Ozone Exposures in Los Angeles

Abstract: The neighborhood effect averaging problem (NEAP) can be a serious methodological problem that leads to erroneous assessments when studying mobility-dependent exposures (e.g., air or noise pollution...

Environmental noise in hospitals: a systematic review

Abstract: Environmental noise has been growing in recent years, causing numerous health problems. Highly sensitive environments such as hospitals deserve special attention, since noise can aggravate patients' health issues and impair the performance of healthcare professionals. This work consists of a systematic review of scientific articles describing environmental noise measurements taken in hospitals between the years 2015 and 2020. The researchers started with a consultation of three databases, namely, Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect. The results indicate that for the most part, these studies are published in journals in the fields of medicine, engineering, environmental sciences, acoustics, and nursing and that most of their authors work in the fields of architecture, engineering, medicine, and nursing. These studies, which are concentrated in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, use as reference values sound levels recommended by the World Health Organization. Leq measured in hospital environments showed daytime values ranging from 37 to 88.6 dB (A) and nighttime values of 38.7 to 68.8 dB (A). Leq values for outdoor noise were 74.3 and 56.6 dB (A) for daytime and nighttime, respectively. The measurements were taken mainly inside hospitals, prioritizing more sensitive departments such as intensive care units. There is a potential for growth in work carried out in this area, but research should also include discussions about guidelines for improvement measures aimed at reducing noise in hospitals.

Noise-pollution efficiency analysis of European railways: A network DEA model

Abstract: One of the most important effects that railways have on the environment is noise pollution, notably in Europe. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the environmental efficiency of railways in 22 European countries, considering two factors; a country’s response in retrofitting their wagon fleet with more silent braking technology and the number of people affected by railway noise. The railway transport process efficiency is decomposed into assets and service efficiency. The additive decomposition network Data Envelopment Analysis (NDEA) approach is customised to account for intermediate and undesirable outputs. Results suggest that Estonia, Germany and Poland are overall environmentally efficient and that except for Finland, asset efficient countries are also service efficient; the inverse does not hold. Sensitivity analysis revealed that efficiency rankings are robust to alterations in the decomposition weight restrictions. This is the first study that uses DEA to incorporate the noise-pollution problem in railway efficiency measurement.

Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on festival celebrations and noise pollution levels

Abstract: India is a country where every religion and community celebrates their culture Festivals have an important role in Indian culture and are celebrated whole-heartedly by the citizens Most of these celebrations culminate to causing pollution especially noise pollution due to festivities and rituals One such festival is Ganesh Chaturthi or Ganeshotsav which is magnificently celebrated in Maharashtra state of India In the present study, noise pollution levels during Ganeshotsav at famous community pandals in Mumbai city were monitored in the year 2020 Noise level data was analyzed based on indices such as L-10, L-50, L-90, noise pollution level (L-NP) and noise climate (NC) Comparison of noise levels was carried out for the collected data during Ganesh Chaturthi in the previous years of 2018 and 2019 The city witnessed simple festival celebration in eco-friendly manner leading to significant decrease in noise levels due to CoVID-19 pandemic The pandemic situation is an eye-opener for the city administration with demonstration in reduction of noise pollution Many aspects of the pandemic can be carried forward in making new guidelines and policies to curtail pollution and eco-friendly celebration of festivals

Impact of noise on development, physiological stress and behavioural patterns in larval zebrafish.

Abstract: Noise pollution is increasingly present in aquatic ecosystems, causing detrimental effects on growth, physiology and behaviour of organisms. However, limited information exists on how this stressor affects animals in early ontogeny, a critical period for development and establishment of phenotypic traits. We tested the effects of chronic noise exposure to increasing levels (130 and 150 dB re 1 μPa, continuous white noise) and different temporal regimes on larval zebrafish (Danio rerio), an important vertebrate model in ecotoxicology. The acoustic treatments did not affect general development or hatching but higher noise levels led to increased mortality. The cardiac rate, yolk sac consumption and cortisol levels increased significantly with increasing noise level at both 3 and 5 dpf (days post fertilization). Variation in noise temporal patterns (different random noise periods to simulate shipping activity) suggested that the time regime is more important than the total duration of noise exposure to down-regulate physiological stress. Moreover, 5 dpf larvae exposed to 150 dB continuous noise displayed increased dark avoidance in anxiety-related dark/light preference test and impaired spontaneous alternation behaviour. We provide first evidence of noise-induced physiological stress and behavioural disturbance in larval zebrafish, showing that both noise amplitude and timing negatively impact key developmental endpoints in early ontogeny.

Noise pollution and its impact on human health and the environment

Abstract: This chapter deals with (1) the basic theory of sound propagation; (2) an overview of noise pollution problem in view of policy and standards by the World Health Organization, the United States, and the European Union; (3) noise exposure sources from aircraft, road traffic and railways, in-vehicle, work, and construction sites, and occupations, and households; (4) the noise pollution impact on human health and the biological environment; (5) modeling of regional noise-affected habitats in protected and unprotected land areas and the marine environment; (6) noise control measures and sustainability in view of sustainable building design, noise mapping, and control measures such as barriers and berms along roadsides, acoustic building materials, roadway vehicle noise source control, road surface, and pavement materials; and (7) environmental noise pollution management measures and their impact on human health.

Rio de Janeiro noise mapping during the COVID-19 pandemic period

Abstract: This paper presents a comparison between the acoustic scenario at the Rio de Janeiro city center, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Undergoing one of the most important pandemics of the recent history, the social isolation led to a new acoustic scenario for Rio de Janeiro. The study was realized at the city center, an area of historical, economic and cultural relevance. The comparison consisted of analyzing measured data and noise maps produced for the city center area. The maps were created according to measured and collected data of the respective time periods. The acoustic scenario prior to the pandemic time was reconstructed based on previous measurements and data collection, while the pandemic one was built with data survey during the highest social isolation index on July 2020. The comparative analysis showed a considerable noise reduction, between 10 and 15 dB, for areas where the traffic noise was not intense and where the human activities were predominant on the streets. However, there was no substantial noise decrease for the areas around the major avenues. This occurred due to the traffic intensity drop to 50% during the pandemic, which meant a noise reduction between 3 and 5 dB. © 2021 Nayara Gevu et al., published by De Gruyter.

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.

Development of an adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system based vehicular traffic noise prediction model

Abstract: Noise pollution has been a global concern among the scientific community as it can cause long term and short-term adverse effects on human health. Vehicular traffic is one of the major causes of noise pollution. In the present work, an efficient methodology to predict the traffic noise level (Leq dBA) based upon vehicular traffic volume, percentage of heavy vehicles and average speed of vehicles has been proposed. To predict the noise level, adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) has been developed and a detailed comparative analysis has been performed with conventional soft-computing techniques such as neural networks (NN), generalized linear model (GLM), random forests (RF), Decision Trees and Support Vector Machine (SVM). Implementation of ANFIS proof-of-concept model on testing data has resulted in higher accuracy for noise level prediction within 0.5 dBA and yielded significantly lower value of root mean square Error as compared to the conventional techniques. The results of current study signify the efficacy of the proposed method in prediction of traffic noise level and validate its suitability in planning mitigation measures for the new and existing roads. In order to analyse the performance of proposed technique, a case study of the highway locations near the city of Patiala in India has been presented.

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.

Environmental noise challenges and policies in low- and middle- income countries

Abstract: Information on environmental noise challenges was gathered for 139 countries, identified by the World Bank as of low income (31), lower middle income (52), and upper middle income (56). Data on noise levels were found in urban agglomerations of two low-income, 13 lower middle-income, and 20 upper middle-income countries. Environmental noise pollution continues to grow in all studied cities due to increase in motor vehicle fleets, airport operations and industries. The main driving forces are population growth, urbanization, motorization and to a large extent technological development. In this paper the major noise sources in two low-income countries, 13 lower middle-income countries and 13 upper middle-income countries (excluding Member States of and countries on the road to the European Union) are identified and observed environmental noise levels reviewed. The paper also compiles the adverse health effects of extensive noise exposures in urban agglomerations that have already been observed in some of these countries. The key laws and by-laws and other regulations on noise pollution in these countries and the level of their enforcement are discussed.

Does real-time and perceived environmental exposure to air pollution and noise affect travel satisfaction? evidence from Beijing, China

Abstract: Poor air quality and noise pollution have become major environmental risks in urban China. However, the effect of personal exposure to air pollution and noise in various traffic microenvironments on individuals’ daily travel satisfaction has rarely been investigated. Drawing upon real-time data collected using portable sensors and GPS tracking devices in Beijing from December 2017 to February 2018, this paper explores the variations in the co-exposure to real-time air pollution and noise among various transportation modes. It then employs structural equation models to investigate whether and how the objectively measured and subjectively perceived exposure to air pollution and noise in different traffic microenvironments influences individuals’ daily travel satisfaction. Findings show that travel satisfaction and co-exposure to real-time air pollution and noise vary greatly among different transportation modes. People travelling by public transport experience high personal noise exposure and tend to have lower levels of travel satisfaction. While perceived air pollution and noise have significant direct effects on travel experiences, the pathways between objective pollution and travel satisfaction differ for air pollution and noise. Objective air pollution negatively affects travel satisfaction indirectly by influencing perceived air pollution, whereas objective noise has a positive and direct effect on travel satisfaction. Moreover, people with different socio-economic backgrounds tend to bear unequal burdens of air pollution and noise during their daily travels. These findings indicate that more research should be conducted to enhance our understanding of the relationships between personal micro-environmental exposures and subjective wellbeing.

The Severity of Environmental Pollution in the Developing Countries and Its Remedial Measures

Abstract: Environmental pollution has a great impact on human health, ecosystems, and financial development. This paper depicts the recent studies on the severity of environmental pollution in developing countries. Its remedial measures were based on a questionnaire survey in the polluted sites, which collected data and information on the types, causes, effects, sources, and duration of environmental pollution, obtained from available publications and newspaper information reported in recent years. A total of 400 respondents from 10 zones of Dhaka City Corporation, Bangladesh, were interviewed as a case study via a semi-structured questionnaire survey. The results revealed that only 39.0% of respondents had explicit knowledge about environmental pollution. Air pollution was identified by 73.8%, noise pollution by 63.0%, water pollution by 55.2%, and soil pollution by only 6.5% of respondents in their surroundings. Automobiles, domestic activities, municipal garbage, and vehicle horns are significant sources of environmental pollutions. Around 49.0% of the respondents did not understand the effectiveness of currently conducted environmental programs. A discussion regarding the urgency of forming a local level environmental committee, the mass media’s active role, and monitoring the development activities was presented.

Soundwalk, questionnaires and noise measurements in a university campus: A soundscape study

Abstract: In order to manage noise pollution and reduce its environmental impact and health outcomes, several regulations have been issued in the last few decades, defining acoustic indicators and their thresholds. However, the acoustic environment can be considered a resource, focusing on people’s subjective perception of sounds in accordance with the soundscape approach. The integration of the tools, already applied by the legislation, and the soundscape technique produces a more thorough and comprehensive evaluation of the environmental noise that is necessary for its management. Starting from the best practice of the soundscape in urban planning, this paper presents an application of this approach at the Fisciano campus of the University of Salerno (Italy). The overarching goal is the comparison between the physical parameters, obtained by measuring the sound pressure level, and the psychoacoustic ones, derived by questionnaires given to a group of local experts during a soundwalk. The results will show, for example, some areas characterized by high sound pressure levels and a good perception of the soundscape. As a consequence, the application would seem to have discrepancies between the results of the two methods, but a deeper analysis can reveal further information to the traditional measurements that allow a more accurate knowledge of the acoustic environment.

Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown Measures on Noise Levels in Urban Areas-A Pre/during Comparison of Long-Term Sound Pressure Measurements in the Ruhr Area, Germany

Abstract: Background: A major source of noise pollution is traffic. In Germany, the SARS-CoV-2 lockdown caused a substantial decrease in mobility, possibly affecting noise levels. The aim is to analyze the effects of the lockdown measures on noise levels in the densely populated Ruhr Area. We focus on the analysis of noise levels before and during lockdown considering different land use types, weekdays, and time of day. Methods: We used data from 22 automatic sound devices of the SALVE (Acoustic Quality and Health in Urban Environments) project, running since 2019 in Bochum, Germany. We performed a pre/during lockdown comparison of A-weighted equivalent continuous sound pressure levels. The study period includes five weeks before and five weeks during the SARS-CoV-2 induced administrative lockdown measures starting on 16 March 2020. We stratified our data by land use category (LUC), days of the week, and daytime. Results: We observed highest noise levels pre-lockdown in the ‘main street’ and ‘commercial areas’ (68.4 ± 6.7 dB resp. 61.0 ± 8.0 dB), while in ‘urban forests’ they were lowest (50.9 ± 6.6 dB). A distinct mean overall noise reduction of 5.1 dB took place, with noise reductions occurring in each LUC. However, the magnitude of noise levels differed considerably between the categories. Weakest noise reductions were found in the ‘main street’ (3.9 dB), and strongest in the ‘urban forest’, ‘green space’, and ‘residential area’ (5.9 dB each). Conclusions: Our results are in line with studies from European cities. Strikingly, all studies report noise reductions of about 5 dB. Aiming at a transformation to a health-promoting urban mobility can be a promising approach to mitigating health risks of noise in cities. Overall, the experiences currently generated by the pandemic offer data for best practices and policies for the development of healthy urban transportation—the effects of a lower traffic and more tranquil world were experienced firsthand by people during this time.

Effects of COVID-19 outbreak on the sound environment of the city of Milan, Italy

Abstract: In this paper, we present the results of the noise monitoring in the urban area of Milan, Italy, associated with COVID-19 outbreak In order to limit the diffusion of the pandemic, Italy adopted growing levels of restrictive measures, which ended with a 41-day lockdown from March 23 to May 3 2020 This action created a new kind of environment including a remarkable reduction of air, water and soil pollutants, together with a partial recovery of the ecosystems otherwise compromised The presence of a permanent noise monitoring system made of 24 sensors installed in the city of Milan, allowed capturing the changes in the urban sound environment in a pre, during and post-lockdown period (months from February to June 2020) The comparison of the noise levels in terms of both absolute noise levels (Lden) and hourly noise profiles (median over lockdown period) with the same period of 2019, showed a dramatic reduction of the noise levels of approximately 6 dB Splitting the contribution of all-non-traffic noises or anomalous noise events (ANE) from the recorded noise levels, we observe a greater contribution of the latter during the lockdown period The use of DYNAMAP noise prediction system over an extended urban area allowed the evaluation of the population exposure to noise, estimating an increase of 14 9% and 16 4% of the exposed population to noises with Lden below 53 dB(A) and Lnight below 45 dB(A) with respect to 2019

Geo-crowdsourced sound level data in support of the community facilities planning. A methodological proposal

Abstract: To reduce environmental noise pollution and to safeguard people’s well-being, it is urgently necessary to move towards sustainable urban development and reconcile demographic and economic growth with the protection and restoration of the environment and the improvement of the quality of human lives. This challenge should be a concern to policymakers, who must issue regulations and define the appropriate actions for noise monitoring and management, and citizens, who must be sensitive to the problem and act accordingly. Starting from an analysis of several crowdsourcing noise data collection tools, this paper focuses on the definition of a methodology for data analysis and mapping. The sound sensing system, indeed, enables mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, to become a low-cost data collection for monitoring environmental noise. For this study, the “NoiseCapture” application developed in France by CNRS and IFSTTAR has been utilized. The measurements acquired in 2018 and 2019 at the Fisciano Campus at the University of Salerno were integrated with the kernel density estimation. This is a spatial analysis technique that allows for the elaboration of sound level density maps, defined spatially and temporally. These maps, overlaid on a campus facilities map, can become tools to support the appropriate mitigation actions.