In addition, we estimate that 22 million people suffer chronic high annoyance and 6.5 million people suffer chronic high sleep disturbance. Looking at the current data, we estimate that environmental noise contributes to 48,000 new cases of ischaemic heart disease a year as well as 12,000 premature deaths. Long-term exposure to noise can cause a variety of health effects including annoyance, sleep disturbance, negative effects on the cardiovascular and metabolic system, as well as cognitive impairment in children. What are specific health impacts? How big of a problem is noise pollution compared to air pollution, for example?
In fact, based on our projections, it is unlikely that the number of people exposed to noise will significantly decrease in the future due to urban growth and increased mobility demand. The data also suggests that policy objectives on environmental noise have not been achieved. That corresponds to more than 100 million people within Europe. Twenty percent of Europe’s population are exposed to long-term noise levels that are harmful to their health. The report shows that environmental noise, and in particular road traffic noise, remains a major environmental problem affecting the health and well-being of millions of people in Europe. What are the main conclusions of the second report on environmental noise published by the EEA?
