Increasing noise levels are a global environmental concern, and have been linked to important health issues, such as heart disease and cognitive development. New Danish research has now shown that it is also associated with an increased risk of diabetes.

Green roofs have the potential to significantly reduce road traffic noise in the urban environment, according to a new study. The results suggest that greening of roofs and walls with materials suitable for growing plants softens the urban environment keeping sound levels low, whereas hard, manmade structures tend to amplify traffic noise.

A recent pan-European study has reviewed the factors which influence how annoyed a person feels about road traffic and aircraft noise. Among its findings, residents in terraced housing or apartments were less annoyed by road traffic noise than residents in semi-detached or detached housing.

Increasing noise levels are a global environmental concern, and have been linked to important health issues, such as heart disease and cognitive development. New Danish research has now shown that it is also associated with an increased risk of diabetes.

Noise pollution is among the most common complaints regarding environmental issues in Europe, especially in densely populated and residential areas near major roads, railways and airports. But noise - unwanted sound - is more than a mere annoyance, even at levels below ear damaging volumes. The EU's Environmental Noise Directive (END) has initiated action plans in Member States to reduce environmental noise exposure and its effects. This Thematic Issue reports on recent research to help guide effective noise action plans throughout Europe.

Exposure to excessive noise is recognised as a major environmental health concern. This Thematic Issue examines the impact of noise on human health and outlines how policy initiatives may limit health effects from noise annoyance - and improve wellbeing.

In a new study, Spanish researchers describe a method specifically designed for measuring and characterising noise from building sites. They claim the method could help shape future policy related to noise pollution caused by the construction industry and provide important information to help reduce construction noise.

New research has identified 25 variables that influence noise in urban areas. By combining these into an equation, the study produced an accurate tool to describe urban sound environments that could be useful in urban planning.

New research has analysed some of the issues around the implementation of the EU's Environmental Noise Directive (END) by Member States. It demonstrated large differences in the way noise levels are calculated and geographically mapped between countries and called for more standardised and clearer guidelines.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has set the European target limit of outdoor night noise levels at annual average of 40 decibels (dB) in its new guidelines. This would protect the public, including the most vulnerable, such as children and the elderly.

New research has reviewed the Irish implementation of the first phase of the EU Noise Directive. So far 31 different organisations have been involved and this will increase throughout the second phase of the Directive's implementation. More standardisation is needed to harmonise activities, perhaps by establishing a national expert steering group.

A new World Health Organisation (WHO) study has estimated that the health impact of environmental noise in western Europe could be up to 1.6 million healthy life years lost annually through ill health, disability or early death.

A recent study suggests that exposure to aircraft noise during the day has a greater impact on cognitive ability in children than sleep-disruption caused by exposure to aircraft noise during the night. Protective policy is therefore likely to be most effective if focused at the school level.

Nearly 85% of residents in central Dublin, Ireland, could be exposed to damaging levels of night-time traffic noise, according to a recent study. The researchers explain how they assessed population exposure to noise and calculate the impacts of several noise reduction measures, providing information that could help EU Member States meet the Environmental Noise Directive’s requirements.

Surveys have suggested that the public have become more annoyed by aircraft noise over recent decades. A recent study has investigated whether these results are partly caused by changes in survey methods and participants. However, no methodological issues considered could satisfactorily explain the rise in reported levels of annoyance at a given noise exposure level.

New research in Spain has explored solutions to reducing traffic noise, and suggests that the best option is to combine global measures, such as speed restrictions, and local measures, such as noise screens.

Noise pollution in urban areas can harm our physical and mental wellbeing, and can have damaging effects on urban wildlife. Now, researchers from China have shown for the first time how a ‘land use regression method’ can be used to model urban noise and predict the effects of future planning decisions on noise levels.

Major roads, railways, airports and industrial areas can be a major source of noise nuisance for local communities. To help city planners and architects determine the most appropriate sound insulation design for the exterior of buildings, Turkish researchers have developed a new method that transforms noise maps into insulation maps.

A new study has assessed the annoyance caused by a combination of noises typically found on an industrial site. The results could help improve total noise annoyance prediction models. For example, it was found that ‘broadband’ noises, which consist of a wide range of frequencies, lead to more annoyance if they are combined with a specific additional set of low frequency noises, which can lead to an overall identical noise level.

It is difficult to compare estimates of noise exposure across EU Member States because the methods used to produce the data vary between countries. A new study has investigated five methods of estimating noise exposure and identified some of the reasons for variation in the data they produce.

A recent pan-European study has reviewed the factors which influence how annoyed a person feels about road traffic and aircraft noise. Among its findings, residents in terraced housing or apartments were less annoyed by road traffic noise than residents in semi-detached or detached housing.

Increasing noise levels are a global environmental concern, and have been linked to important health issues, such as heart disease and cognitive development. New Danish research has now shown that it is also associated with an increased risk of diabetes.

Green roofs have the potential to significantly reduce road traffic noise in the urban environment, according to a new study. The results suggest that greening of roofs and walls with materials suitable for growing plants softens the urban environment keeping sound levels low, whereas hard, manmade structures tend to amplify traffic noise.

Ship noise increases shore crabs’ metabolism, a new study suggests. The researchers found that larger crabs were particularly affected by recordings of ship noise in controlled experiments. Increased metabolism is a sign of stress and could potentially reduce the growth of crabs and have implications for their survival, as well as for fisheries.

Researchers in Greece have added a new dimension to noise level mapping by including data on residents’ perception and value of different sounds. This consideration of the experiences of residents in this way could lead to more effective policy implementation.

Companies that adopt the environmental management system ISO 14000, designed to help reduce businesses’ environmental impacts, generally back this up with sincere investment in environmentally-friendly practices, research suggests. Researchers found that adoption of the ISO 14000 was not ‘greenwash’, but reflected a move towards more sustainable practices in both European and North American companies.

Digital noise maps developed under the EU’s Environmental Noise Directive (END) are a useful way of assessing traffic noise exposure for local residents, according to a recent Swedish study. The END maps could also be used to standardise noise exposure information in noise and health research.

Exposure to aircraft noise at night for more than 20 years could increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, according to research conducted around six European airports. Risk also increased for those constantly exposed to road traffic, but this may have been caused by air pollution rather than noise.

Noise from underwater geological surveys may be affecting the feeding and social interactions of harbour porpoises, new research has found. The study, conducted off the north-east coast of Scotland, found that the buzz clicks used by porpoises to hunt and socialise were reduced by 15% during the surveys.

The noise generated by commercial shipping can impair the ability of the critically endangered European eel to avoid predators, new research has found. The results show that marine noise can have serious effects on these animals with potentially fatal consequences.

People living close to road, rail and aircraft noise are likely to experience negative health effects. Long-term noise exposure may lead to problems with their heart and circulatory (cardiovascular) system and night-time noise is particularly disruptive of sleep patterns, which in turn may lead to cardiovascular health problems, a review of research into the effects of noise on cardiovascular diseases has found.

Exposure to environmental noise levels above recommended levels results in 1169 cases of dementia, 788 strokes and 542 heart attacks every year in the UK alone, new research suggests. Valuing a year of healthy life at £60 000 (€74 002) means that these health impacts together have a ‘cost’ of £1.09 billion (€1.34 billion), the study’s authors conclude.

Recent research into the impact of different levels of noise on 75 volunteers reveals that disturbed sleep caused by night-time aircraft noise can damage blood vessels and increase the levels of stress hormones. As these physical changes are potential pathways to high blood pressure, heart and circulatory disease over the long term, reducing night-time aircraft noise is important for preventing cardiovascular disease in people living near airports.

Vulnerable groups of people, including those with long-term illnesses, those sensitive to noise or tinnitus (ringing of the ears), people with mental health problems and unborn and newly born babies, are often more susceptible to physical and emotional stresses. As a result, vulnerable groups of people may be more at risk from exposure to environmental noise than healthy adults. However, there is comparatively little research focusing on the adverse health effects of noise on vulnerable people, say scientists reviewing these health impacts.

While occupational exposure to noise has declined, ‘social’ exposure in the form of personal music players or rock concerts is estimated to have tripled for young people since the 1980s. A new review examines studies that have investigated noise sources, including environmental (e.g. traffic) and social (e.g. via headphones) sources. The review also explores research into the range of health effects beyond hearing impairments, such as annoyance and cardiovascular problems.

Physical inactivity raises the risk of ill health, so environmental factors that reduce the level of physical activity in people should be of concern to policymakers as well as to individuals. A new study has associated long-term annoyance with transportation noise with reduced physical activity in Swiss residents, which may indirectly contribute to diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.

People who are annoyed by environmental noise are also more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety, a new, large-scale study from Germany suggests. The results do not prove that noise causes mental health issues but suggest a possible link, which the study’s authors are exploring further. Of all the types of noise considered in the study, aircraft noise was reported to be the most annoying.

Techniques for reducing the noise caused by wind turbines are reviewed in a new study. Noise pollution is one drawback of wind power and restricts where wind farms can be located in relation to people and wildlife. The researchers identify methods that could aid the design of low-noise wind turbines, including modifying the blade’s shape and adding rows of brushes to the edge of the blade.

Noise caused by construction of Germany’s first offshore wind farm caused significant habitat disturbance for harbour porpoises, according to a recent study. Its results suggest that porpoises avoided areas up to 20 kilometres from the noise source during construction of the wind farm’s foundations.

Researchers have found that natural materials, such as plant fibres or wool, can be used to construct sustainable sound absorbers that help prevent noise pollution, which are as effective as conventional absorbers made from combinations of minerals and plastics.

Networks of wireless sensors could be used to monitor traffic noise. A new study shows that the wifi sensor systems, although slightly less accurate than precision noise monitoring systems, can provide detailed information, with dense coverage, about traffic noise over a longer period. Their low cost and low energy requirements make them particularly suitable and attractive for use by local authorities or even community groups.

A new mobile phone application which can help monitor traffic-noise exposure is presented in a recent study. The app, ‘2Loud?’, can measure indoor night-time noise exposure and, given large-scale community participation, could provide valuable data to aid urban planning, the researchers say. In an Australian pilot study, nearly half of participants who used the app found that they were exposed to potentially unhealthy levels of night-time noise.

A recent report has assessed the latest research on the adverse affects of noise on health, focusing on approaches to estimating the economic cost of noise. This information could help policy makers tasked with designing cost-effective noise reduction and management policies.

A new study into the impact of railway noise has revealed that it is not just the level of noise that contributes to annoyance for local residents, but also the number of trains and the vibrations they cause. As railway transport is likely to increase in coming years, plans are needed to reduce these effects.

Speed constraints for aircraft are put in place, at some airports, to minimise noise pollution in local areas, however, such practices can be very fuel-inefficient. New research has now shown that relaxing departure speed limits could substantially reduce CO2 emissions, while maintaining acceptable noise levels.

Residents living near a busy railway line in Strasbourg were found by researchers to have reduced cognitive function compared to residents in quieter areas, which may be the result of long-term exposure to night-time noise. Psychological tests suggested that they had not adapted to the noise over the years, and they did not become less affected with time.

A new method of assessing the sustainability of noise reduction devices (NRDs) used in transport infrastructure, such as noise barriers or absorptive claddings, is presented in a recent study. The new set of specially designed sustainability criteria allows NRDs to be easily and accurately evaluated, its developers suggest.