More than 110 million people across Europe suffer high levels of health-damaging noise pollution, according to a report. The resulting physiological stress and sleep disturbance leads to 66,000 early deaths a year and many cases of heart disease, diabetes and depression.
The report, from the European Environment Agency (EEA), focuses on noise from cars, trains and aeroplanes and found that 20% of the population of the European Economic Area (EEA) were affected. Separate research, using a slightly lower threshold for dangerous noise pollution, found that 40% of the UK population were exposed to harmful transport noise.
Seventeen million people endure particularly high noise pollution – “long-term, high-annoyance” – and almost 5 million suffer “severe” sleep disturbance. Fifteen million children live in areas of harmful noise. The harm to health from noise is greater than that from higher-profile risks including secondhand tobacco smoke or lead exposure, and incurs an economic cost of almost €100bn (£86bn) a year, the analysis found.
The damage to health is likely to be an underestimate, the researchers said. Using the World Health Organization’s stricter threshold for risky noise pollution gives an estimate of 150 million people across Europe exposed. The EU’s target to cut the number of people chronically disturbed by transport noise by 30% by 2030 will not be met without further action, the researchers said.
“Noise pollution impacts our health by keeping our bodies in a constant state of fight or flight, even if we don’t consciously realise it,” said Dr Eulalia Peris at the EEA. “This can lead to harmful physiological responses such as inflammation and oxidative stress, and over time, this increases the risk of various health issues, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, obesity, cognitive impairment in children and mental health problems.”
“Noise pollution is not only an annoyance,” added Peris, who has been affected herself. “My God, yes. I’m very aware of the impacts of noise pollution, and I’m very sensitive to it. It limits your life.”
The report is based on data reported by EEA countries on transport noise, which is the most widespread and significant type of noise pollution. Other kinds, such as loud neighbours and music from bars, are also likely to damage health but are difficult to measure because of their intermittency.
The report found 92 million people across Europe were harmed by road transport noise, 18 million by railway noise and 2.6 million by aircraft noise. Published research on the health impact of noise pollution was used to estimate an annual toll of 66,000 premature deaths, 50,000 cases of cardiovascular diseases and 22,000 cases of type 2 diabetes.
The number of people in Europe affected by noise fell by only 3% between 2017 and 2022, but the researchers said numerous measures could be taken. Cutting speed limits for vehicles in urban areas and boosting the use of low-noise tyres would cut road traffic noise, they said, as would promoting public transport, walking and cycling.
The increasing number of electric cars will reduce noise less than might be expected, the researchers said, because the key source of noise at lower speeds is from the contact between the tyres and the road, not the engine. Traffic noise is also dominated by a small number of very loud vehicles.
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Railway noise could be cut by better maintenance of trains and track, and aircraft noise could be reduced by optimising landing and takeoff patterns and encouraging the introduction of quieter planes.
“Noise pollution is often overlooked, considered just an annoyance of everyday life,” said the EEA’s executive director, Leena Ylä-Mononen. One reason for this is that transport noise pollution is chronic, unlike air pollution which has peaks that lead to health alerts and raise awareness.
“However, long-term impacts of noise on our health and environment are widespread and significant,” she said. “Children are also particularly vulnerable to the effects of noise, and it’s a problem all countries need to address urgently.”
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