A Review of the Literature Related to Potential Health Effects of Aircraft Noise

A feature of this literature survey is its emphasis on cardiovascular outcomes and an evaluation of the potential pathways from aircraft noise to health outcomes for possible cardiovascular endpoints. This is in contrast to most previous reports on this subject, which were not focused as much on potential mechanisms for the proposed or observed effects. Two potential pathways are discussed: sleep disruption and noise-induced stress; because both have been related to possible cardiovascular outcomes. The relationship between aircraft noise and annoyance, disturbance of communication, and disruption of learning leading to delays in reading proficiency or difficulties in remembering material, have been reviewed elsewhere and readers are referred to that literature. However, a brief review of these topics is given in this report. The focus on the two pathways primarily covered in this report is because of the results of recent studies in Europe focused on the health impacts of transportation noise. Through these studies researchers have shown nighttime aircraft noise to be more highly correlated to health impacts than twenty-four hour or daytime noise, and have found that observed effects in road noise studies have become stronger when house orientation and window opening habits at night have been taken into account. Research into health effects of industrial noise exposure as well as health effects associated with annoyance from community noise suggests that stress reactions, such as arousal of the cardiovascular system in response to a loud noise, may lead to negative cardiovascular outcomes as well. It has been proposed that repeated short-term increases of blood pressure and heart rate associated with these reactions may lead to changes in the functioning of the cardiovascular system and eventual hypertension. Thus, both sleep and stress, because they have been proposed as pathways leading from noise exposure to eventual cardiovascular outcomes, are of interest and have been focused on in this report.

• Record URL:
  https://ascent.aero/documents/2020/01/potential-health-effects-of-aircraft-noise.pdf/
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, 37-395
  Cambridge, MA  United States  02139

  Federal Aviation Administration

  Office of Environment and Energy
  800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20591
• Authors:
  • Swift, Hales
• Publication Date: 2010-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Glossary; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 99p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aircraft noise; Cardiovascular system; Health; Literature reviews; Sleep deprivation; Stress (Physiology)
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Environment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01873347
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: PARTNER-COE-2010-003, PARTNER Project 19
• Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Feb 19 2023 5:53PM