Aviation noise and health

The most widespread and well documented subjective response to noise is annoyance; which can be defined as a feeling of resentment, displeasure, discomfort, dissatisfaction or offence which occurs when noise interferes with thoughts, feelings or activities. The annoyance of populations exposed to environmental noise varies not only with the sound itself (such as how loud it is, or its pitch), but also with social, psychological or economic factors.

There has been considerable research into the effect of aircraft noise on cognitive performance in school children, due to the interruptive nature of high levels of aircraft noise. Research has suggested effects on reading comprehension and memory. Cognitive performance affects attention, perception, mood, learning and memory.

Aircraft noise is intermittent in nature and exposure to it during the night may result in sleep disturbance. Noise-induced sleep disturbance refers to awakenings, changes to sleep structure such as changes to sleep stages, arousals in heart rate, and body movements. People can be aware of such disturbance, such as when they remember being awoken by noise, or the disturbance can go unnoticed at the time but may result in next-day fatigue.

Aircraft noise at high levels can be considered a stressor on the body, and research has found an association between high levels of aircraft noise and an increased risk of developing Cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is thought that this occurs due to the way such stressors interact with the body, and the fact that the cardiovascular response to noise does not decrease, even though the individual may no longer consciously notice or react to the noise. Cardiovascular disease includes all the diseases of the heart and circulation including coronary heart disease, angina, heart attack, congenital heart disease and stroke.

Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) are a means of measuring both the duration and quality of life, and are typically used to measure the health benefits of medical interventions or the detriment caused by negative health effects.

A year of life lived at perfect health (or 'quality of life') is considered equal to one QALY, while a year lived in imperfect 'quality of life' would be considered to be less than a QALY. According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): “Quality of life is often measured [on a 0 to 1 scale] in terms of the person's ability to carry out the activities of daily life, and freedom from pain and mental disturbance.”

• If a health condition causes a person to live one year fewer than they would have otherwise, and that year would have been lived at perfect health, that health condition has caused the loss of one QALY.
• If a health condition reduces a person's quality of life from 1 to 0.5 for two years of their life, then that health condition would have also caused the loss of one QALY.

• Aircraft Noise and Sleep Disturbance: A Review (K Jones, 2009) - ERCD report 0905: This review examines the physiological implications of noise induced sleep disturbance. It includes research finding that, when the level and duration of noise experienced is the same, aircraft noise is associated with more self-reported sleep disturbance than road traffic noise, and that road traffic noise is associated with more sleep disturbance than railway noise.
• Aircraft Noise, Sleep Disturbance and Health Effects: A Review (K Jones, D Rhodes, 2013) - ERCD Report 1208: This literature review provides an overview of the main findings in environmental noise and health research, and includes the effects of sleep disturbance due to aircraft noise. It finds that above dB Lnight, noise is a significant concern to public health; levels above 55 dB Lnight result in increased risk of heart attacks; and levels above 45 dB Lnight result in increased risk of hypertension, and this can lead to hypertensive strokes and dementia.
• Aircraft Noise, Sleep Disturbance and Health Effects (K Jones, 2014) - CAP 1164
  This paper reviews and takes account of several studies published after ERCD Report 1208 (above) including: two publications that use data around Heathrow airport to investigate cardiovascular impacts of aircraft noise; a meta-analysis of noise and exposure response curves for transportation noise and cardiovascular diseases by Babisch from the Federal Environment Agency in Germany; and a Harvard study that examined the cardiovascular impacts around 89 airports within the USA.
• Survey of Noise Attitudes 2014: Aircraft Noise and Sleep Disturbance - CAP 2161
  The main focus of the SoNA 2014 study was on annoyance responses and general attitudes to aircraft noise. However, there was also a subset of questions relating to self-reported sleep disturbance and night noise from aircraft. It is the responses to these questions that are described within this report. It should be noted that the SoNA 2014 study was not designed specifically with a view to analysing attitudes to aircraft noise at night, and therefore this is very much an exploratory examination, with the consequential limitations.

• Aircraft Noise and Sleep Disturbance: An update (2014-2022) - CAP 2370
  The aim of this report is to provide an update of the main findings on aircraft noise and sleep disturbance between 2014 – 2022. Such research findings include those from the NORAH study, the updated World Health Organisation (WHO) Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region (2018), the DEBATS study, the Survey of Noise Attitudes (SoNA) study, and other relevant publications.

• Survey of Noise Attitudes (SoNA) 2014: Aircraft (2017) - CAP 1506: This study examines evidence on attitudes to aviation noise around airports in England, including the effects of aviation noise on annoyance, wellbeing and health. If found that the level of noise exposure that leads to significant community annoyance has fallen from 57 dB LAeq 16h (in a previous survey) to 54 dB LAeq16h; evidence that people's average level of annoyance was associated with average summer day noise exposure, LAeq,16h; and evidence that non-acoustic factors such as noise sensitivity, approximated social grade, and expectations (both prior to moving to an area exposed to aircraft noise and in the future) influence reported aircraft noise annoyance.
• Aircraft Noise and Annoyance: Recent findings (2018 publication due) K Jones. - CAP 1588: This report provides an overview of the recent research into the state of knowledge on the effects of aircraft noise and annoyance responses. It: concludes that there has been a change in annoyance responses, with people now more highly annoyed by aircraft noise than 30 years ago; describes and assesses the results of the German NORAH study, which examined noise responses following the opening of a new runway, and implementation of a night curfew; and mentions that several attempts are being made at trying to explain the variance within the annoyance response, using modelling to calculate the weight of non-acoustic factors.
• Survey of Noise Attitudes 2014: Aircraft Noise and Annoyance, Second Edition - CAP 1506
  The first edition of CAP1506 described the aims, sampling strategy, determination of noise exposure, analytical approach and the results of the SoNA 2014 study.

  This second edition of the report has been produced to address two issues identified in the noise modelling following publication in February 2017. The first concerned an underestimation of LASmax noise levels for several important aircraft types. It was also discovered that logarithmic averaging had been inadvertently used instead of arithmetic averaging when accounting for the runway modal split. Both of these issues are explained in this report, and any associated tables and figures have been changed. The overall conclusions of the SoNA 2014 study remain unchanged.

• Environmental Noise and Health: A Review (K Jones, 2010) - ERCD Report 0907 This review provides an overview of literature in the field of noise and health and suggests areas for future research. It focuses on transportation noise, particularly aircraft noise, and looks at the possible effects on health, including annoyance and psychological health, cardiovascular and physiological health, performance, and the effects of noise on children.
• Aircraft noise and health effects: Recent findings (K Jones, 2016) - CAP 1278: The report examines the evidence to date relating to transportation noise, particularly aircraft noise and the resulting impacts on various health endpoints. Research assessed shows an association with aircraft and road noise and cardiovascular disease. There is emerging evidence to suggest that cardiovascular effects are more strongly linked with night time noise exposure than to day or total (24hr) noise exposure. Regarding aircraft noise and children's learning, further explorations of past studies have taken account of other factors that might account for observed differences, such as air pollution. It concluded that these did alter the associations previously found. The study's findings suggested that the association between aviation noise and cognitive performance in children does not appear as strong in older children as it does in younger children.

• Aircraft Noise and Children's Learning (K Jones 2010) - ERCD Report 0908: This literature review looks at the relationship between aircraft noise and episodic memory, semantic memory, sustained attention and reading comprehension. The results are not completely in agreement, but there is evidence to suggest that long-term aircraft noise has a harmful effect on memory, sustained attention, reading comprehension and reading ability. Early studies highlighted that aircraft noise was also implicated in children from noisy areas having a higher degree of helplessness i.e. were more likely to give up on difficult tasks than those children in quieter areas. Reports often indicated that children exposed to long-term aircraft noise showed a higher degree of annoyance than those children from quieter areas. Evidence has been presented to suggest that children do not habituate to aircraft noise over time, and that an increase in noise can be correlated with a delay in reading comprehension compared to those children not exposed to high levels of aircraft noise.

• Metrics for Aircraft Noise (K Jones, 2009) - ERCD Report 0904: The aim of this paper, originally produced for the Aircraft Noise Monitoring Advisory Committee (ANMAC), is to provide an overview of the current metrics used to measure aircraft noise. The review is a factual account of the methods used to measure noise internationally and outlines the main strengths and weaknesses of each metric.
• Tranquillity: an overview (K Jones, 2012) - ERCD report 1207: This report aims to provide an overview of the current area and state of knowledge of tranquillity and tranquil spaces within the UK. It provides a summary of key research into tranquillity with special attention to aviation.

• The Effects of Aircraft Noise on Biodiversity - CAP2517: This report provides a concise overview of the current knowledge on the impacts of aircraft noise on biodiversity and contains summaries of the available findings in this research area.

We publish regular updates on recent work and findings in the field of aircraft noise and health effects to provide a succinct overview of new work relating to aviation noise and health.

You can subscribe to be notified when these updates are published.

• Aircraft Noise and Health Effects: A six-month update (March - September 2023)
• Aircraft Noise and Health Effects: A six-month update (September 2022 - March 2023)
• Aircraft Noise and Health Effects: A six-month update (March - September 2022)
• Aircraft Noise and Health Effects: A six-month update (September 2021 - March 2022)
• Aircraft Noise and Health Effects: A six-month update (March - September 2021)
• Aircraft Noise and Health Effects: A six-month update (September 2020 - March 2021)
• Aircraft Noise and Health Effects: A six-month update (March - September 2020)
• Aircraft Noise and Health Effects: A six-month update (September 2019 - March 2020)
• Aircraft Noise and Health Effects: A six-month update (April - September 2019)