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Press release on Health

Exposure to traffic and aircraft noise are recipes for illness

Noise is not only a nuisance, it can also cause illness. People who are exposed to high levels of night-time aircraft noise often have higher blood pressure levels that those living in quieter residential areas.  Even an increase of the night-time noise level by 10 decibels [dB(A)] in noise level ranges between 30 and 60 [dB(A)] raises the risk of hypertension in men and women by about 14 percent. These are the findings of a new international study funded by the European Commission. The large-scale European study (with cooperation from the Federal Environment Agency) surveyed some 5,000 citizens living near the airports of Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, London, Milan, and Stockholm. The study’s experts focused on the health effects, especially on blood pressure, of aircraft and road traffic noise. read more

The Umweltbundesamt

For our environment