RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The WHO has recognized environmental noise as harmful pollution that causes adverse psychosocial and physiologic effects (i.e., annoyance and sleep disturbance) on human health. In Europe, noise-related health studies have been actively conducted, but the U.S. has lagged behind in this research field. PURPOSE: This research predicted ambient levels of road traffic noise for a highly urbanized area: Fulton County GA. Assessment was made of noise impacts on the population, focusing on annoyance and sleep disturbance. METHODS: All the data sets were collected during 2009-2011, and data analysis was performed in 2010-2011. The study used a sound-propagation model for noise-level prediction and derived noise-impact indicators for annoyance and sleep disturbance from exposure-response models. Then, annoyed and sleep-disturbed populations were predicted with the use of each noise-impact indicator. RESULTS: It was predicted that 109,967 people would be at risk of being highly annoyed, with 19,621 people at risk for high sleep disturbance for Fulton County GA. Noise-impact indicators such as the percentage of those who were highly annoyed and who had high levels of sleep disturbance were expected to be valuable metrics to compare noise equity among urban communities. CONCLUSIONS: Many residents of the greater Atlanta area may be exposed to noise levels that put them at risk of being highly annoyed or having high levels of sleep disturbance. These results, if generalized to other urban areas with high levels of road traffic, indicate that it may be important for the public's health to update existing noise-related policies or develop new ones to control and abate noise concerns in urban communities.
Asunto(s)
Ruido del Transporte/efectos adversos , Salud Pública , Trastornos del Sueño-Vigilia/etiología , Recolección de Datos , Georgia , Humanos , Modelos Teóricos , Política Pública , Trastornos del Sueño-Vigilia/psicología , Población UrbanaRESUMEN
Environmental noise is a major source of public complaints. Noise in the community causes physical and socio-economic effects and has been shown to be related to adverse health impacts. Noise, however, has not been actively researched in the United States compared with the European Union countries in recent years. In this research, we aimed at modeling road traffic noise and analyzing human exposure in Fulton County, Georgia, United States. We modeled road traffic noise levels using the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Traffic Noise Model implemented in SoundPLAN®. After analyzing noise levels with raster, vector and façade maps, we estimated human exposure to high noise levels. Accurate digital elevation models and building heights were derived from Light Detection And Ranging survey datasets and building footprint boundaries. Traffic datasets were collected from the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Atlanta Regional Commission. Noise level simulation was performed with 62 computers in a distributed computing environment. Finally, the noise-exposed population was calculated using geographic information system techniques. Results show that 48% of the total county population [N=870,166 residents] is potentially exposed to 55 dB(A) or higher noise levels during daytime. About 9% of the population is potentially exposed to 67 dB(A) or higher noises. At nighttime, 32% of the population is expected to be exposed to noise levels higher than 50 dB(A). This research shows that large-scale traffic noise estimation is possible with the help of various organizations. We believe that this research is a significant stepping stone for analyzing community health associated with noise exposures in the United States.