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Researchers find new hazards in traffic noise
When Western Australia cut speed limits in urban areas it not only made residential roads safer but made them quieter too. For the community, the health benefits will come in fewer traffic injuries and lower levels of noise-related stress.
Now two reports from Europe suggest planners need to pay even more attention to noise levels in an effort to create quiet cities.
Excessive traffic noise is known to be harmful but now researchers at Berlin's Charite University Medical Centre have now found new evidence that "chronic exposure" can increase the risk of heart attacks.
The researchers, lead by Dr Stefan Millich, say the threshold at which the risk occurs "appears to be around 60 decibels" - a noise level that can be found both in traffic - and in a busy office.
"A mechanism that might explain the link is that noise could increase psychological stress and anger, leading to physiological changes in the body such as increased levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline, which are associated with increased blood pressure and plasma lipids," Dr Millich said in a media statement.
"Such mechanism may be further modified by personal parameters - smoking or pressure from meeting deadlines. In that case, chronic noise would be the equivalent of an outside risk factor contributing to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease."
The findings have just been published in the European Heart Journal and have brought a recommendation from Dr Millich that workplace ear protection be worn if noise levels exceed 65 decibels - particularly if anyone working in such an area suffers from an existing cardiovascular disease.
Dr Willich said the increased risk of a heart attack appeared more closely associated with actual sound levels than with "subjective annoyance". Dr Willich said however, there were differences found between the way men and women reacted to noise and these need further investigation.
"General environmental noise, such as that of traffic, affected both sexes, increasing the risk of heart attack by nearly 50% for men and about three-fold for women."
The findings were based on a study of 2000 heart attack patients and more than 2000 control patients admitted to trauma and general surgery departments between 1998 and 2001. The research team used interviews and independent environmental and work noise assessments in their analysis.
The results brought a call from the British Heart Foundation for more research into the wider impact of noise on people's lives.
"Past studies have looked at the effects of noise on hearing, heart rate, blood pressure, sleep, mental health and performance," said a spokesman. "These noise effects in themselves can also indirectly influence heart health."
The scan also showed:
A Danish solution
Denmark has calculated that traffic noise could be costing the country up to $2 billion a year in health related expenses and depressed property prices.
The figures have prompted the Danish Road Directorate and the Environmental Protection Agency to suggest a new approach to tackling noise abatement so that costs of reducing it can be more evenly spread across the community.
The agency has put forward the concept in an article and guide just published in the agency journal: Nordic Road & Transport Research. In it the authors suggest that cities should first map out their noise hotspots as part of a long-term strategy to reduce the problem.
In areas identified as noisy, municipal authorities would be encouraged to develop quiet parks and play-grounds. In zones identified as quiet, plans would be drawn up to ensure they stayed that way. The authors suggest noise should be made an important consideration when considering whether to introduce new housing into an area - and when deciding whether rebuilding or housing expansion should take place.
"A starting point could be drawing up a set of municipal goals for noise related issues in existing urban areas," said the article.
Overseeing design
Australian architect, John Denton, whose most well known projects include Melbourne's Southbank Promenade and the Melbourne Museum, has been selected to head Victoria's newly created "Office of the Victorian Architect".
According to Victoria's Minister for Planning, Rob Hulls, the office will provide the State Government with strategic advice about architecture and urban design. Mr Denton's international work includes Australia's embassies in Beijing and Tokyo. He is currently working on a number of master planning and residential projects in China.
