What are the effects of aircraft noise on our health?
A carte blanche from Anne-Sophie Evrard, Research Fellow in Epidemiology, Gustave Eiffel University and Bernard Laumon, Emeritus Research Director, Gustave Eiffel University.
As revealed by a survey conducted in 2010, half of French people consider transport noise to be the main source of noise pollution. And according to an INRETS survey (now IFSTTAR, then Gustave Eiffel University) dating back to 2005, 6.6% of French people say they are bothered by aircraft noise.
In an opinion dating from 2004, the Superior Council of Public Hygiene of France considered that this noise constitutes a public health problem, both by the annoyance it induces and by its effects on sleep. However, more data were needed to make recommendations: this is the raison d'être of the Debats research program (Discussion on the health effects of aircraft noise).
Led by the Airport Nuisance Control Authority, entrusted to Gustave Eiffel University and launched in 2009, it has delivered many results, some of which have just been published. A brief overview of observations…
One survey, three approaches
Set up near three major French airports (Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, Lyon-Saint-Exupéry and Toulouse-Blagnac), Debats aims to better quantify the effects of aircraft noise on the physical and mental health of local residents. And there are three complementary parts:
More deaths linked to cardiovascular disease
The first of these so-called ecological studies was carried out in 161 municipalities: 108 around Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, 22 near Toulouse -Blagnac and 31 in the vicinity of Lyon-Saint-Exupéry. For each of them, it used the mortality data transmitted by the Epidemiological Center for Medical Causes of Death at Inserm over the period 2007-
2010, and the noise maps produced by Aéroports de Paris and the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (respectively in 2008, 2004 and 2003 for the three airports).
According to his results, and after taking into account confounding factors (age, gender, population density, air pollution, etc.), an increase in exposure to aircraft noise of 10 decibels (dB (A)) is associated with an 18% higher mortality risk for all cardiovascular diseases, 24% for ischemic heart disease alone and 28% for myocardial infarction alone. But no significant link was found with strokes.
Although they confirm the results of previous studies, these data do not make it possible to conclude on any effect at the individual level: this is why two other individual studies have been set up, one relating to the monitoring of residents for four years, the other focusing on the quality of sleep of a small sample of individuals.
An affected state of health
After drawing lots via the telephone directory in the major noise zones defined around the three airports, some 1,244 residents aged over 18 were included in the longitudinal study in 2013, 992 of them participated in the follow-up in 2015, and 811 were reviewed in 2017.
Questioned at home by an investigator from Gustave Eiffel University about their lifestyle, their state of health (self-assessment), their possible psychological problems, their annoyance due to aircraft noise, the quality of their sleep or their cardiovascular health, these participants also underwent measurements of physiological parameters (blood pressure, heart rate and concentration of salivary cortisol). What have we observed?
After taking into account the potential confounding factors (i.e. factors that can lead to errors in the intensity of the association between exposure and the health event studied), and on the only data collected in 2013 so far, it has been noted that an increase in noise level of 10 dB(A) is associated with:
Objectified sleep disorders
At the end of the interviews conducted at home, the investigators asked local residents if they agreed to take part in a second study, centered on their sleep and requiring the installation of several measuring instruments. A total of 112 people accepted, of which 79 were followed in 2015, and 62 in 2017.
In addition to the data collected as part of the longitudinal individual study, we carried out in their homes: acoustic measurements inside and outside the bedroom for seven days; actimetric measurements during the seven nights and heart rate recordings during one night; an acoustic individual exposure measurement continuously over 24 hours.
This instrumentation made it possible to note, in connection with an increase in aircraft noise level of 10 dB(A) and/or ten aircraft noise events:
Reinforced conclusions
For the time being, only the results of the analyzes of individual data collected in 2013 have been the subject of scientific publications – those based on the data collected in 2015 and 2017 and on all the data still remain confidential until their publication in international journals. It is clear, however, that the first data from Debats confirms what has already been observed by other research teams abroad.
The results reinforce in particular the conclusions of the most important study carried out to date on the effects (high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases) of noise generated by air traffic and road traffic near six major European airports (in Milan , Berlin, Stockholm, London, Amsterdam and Athens).
Finally, by improving knowledge of the French health situation, Debats should make it possible to meet the demand of residents living near major airports and to assess the potential benefits of measures to reduce noise pollution.
Thanks to ANSES, Acnusa, DGAC, DGPR, DGS and Gustave Eiffel University who funded Debats, as well as to Marie Lefèvre, Clémence Baudin (IRSN), Ali-Mohamed Nassur ( Action Against Hunger), Liacine Bouaoun (IARC), Bruitparif, Marie-Christine Carlier (HCL), Patricia Champelovier (Univ Eiffel), Lise Giorgis-Allemand (Univ Eiffel), Aboud Kourieh (Univ Eiffel), Jacques Lambert and Damien Léger (Hotel Dieu Sleep and Vigilance Center) for their collaboration.
This article originally appeared on The Conversation France. Read the original article here.
