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Understanding the Consequences of Noise Exposure Research

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 21723

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Guoqing Di

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Guest Editor

College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou 310058, China
Interests: noise effect; environmental acoustics and noise control; acoustic metamaterials; sound quality; sound landscape

Dr. Yaqian Xu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

College of Science and Technology, Ningbo University, No. 521 Wenwei Road, Ningbo 315212, China
Interests: biological effects of noise; environmental acoustics and noise control; sound quality; soundscape

Dr. Zhengguang Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Architecture, Zhejiang University of Science & Technology, No. 318 Liuhe Road, Hangzhou 310023, China
Interests: noise annoyance; psychoacoustics; environmental acoustics and noise control; sound quality; soundscape

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sound environmental quality is an important evaluation index of human settlements. In the environment, there are a large number of noise sources from transportation, industrial enterprises, buildings construction, and so on. They induce a wide range of noise impact which affects a large population. Noise has been regarded as an important environmental impact factor in most countries. Epidemiological surveys in European countries show that noise pollution has become an important environmental factor affecting quality of life and human health. In a report about the impact of noise on health, i.e., the disease burden caused by noise pollution, published by the cooperative research center of World Health Organization and European Union, it was pointed out that the disease burden caused by noise pollution is second only to air pollution. In China, noise complaints accounted for 35 ~ 42% of all environmental complaints in the last three years, and noise also ranks as second in all pollution factors (air pollution ranks first). In order to present the latest developments and achievements in the field of noise exposure, this Special Issue has been organized. This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) focuses on understanding the consequences of noise exposure research. New research articles, reviews and case reports are welcome in this issue. Papers dealing with new approaches to noise predication, risk assessment, management and standards are also welcome. Other manuscript types accepted include methodological papers, position papers, brief reports, and commentaries. We will accept manuscripts from different disciplines including environmental science, exposure assessment science, epidemiology, risk and health impact assessment, risk management including noise standards.

Dr. Guoqing Di
Dr. Yaqian Xu
Dr. Zhengguang Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

noise exposure
noise effect
noise health
noise influence
noise measurement
noise assessment
environmental noise
noise annoyance
noise survey
prediction model
soundscape

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 854 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tinnitus Prevalence and Associated Factors among Dental Clinicians in the United Arab Emirates

by Mohannad Nassar, Md Sofiqul Islam, Stancey D’souza, Milan Praveen, Mohammad Hani Al Masri, Salvatore Sauro and Ahmed Jamleh

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(2), 1403; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph20021403 - 12 Jan 2023

Viewed by 1944

Abstract

Dental clinicians are at increased risk for developing tinnitus due to exposure to high levels of occupational noise. This study aimed to determine tinnitus prevalence and associated factors among dental clinicians. Interviews were conducted with 150 randomly selected dental clinicians using a questionnaire. Noise levels were measured at three points of time at the operating area. Tinnitus was reported in 19.33% of the participants. The average noise level was significantly higher among participants with tinnitus compared to those without the condition. More participants complained of intermittent tinnitus and the rest had the constant type, with the latter being significantly more bothersome. The weekly average time of using high-speed handpieces, suction and electric handpieces, age and experience had a significant effect on the presence of tinnitus. Only 2.7% of the participants reported the use of a hearing protection device. Tinnitus is a common finding among dental clinicians especially those with higher levels of occupational noise and more frequent use of noise-generating equipment. Knowledge of tinnitus prevalence aids in realizing the extent of its impact and making informed decisions. These results call for improved awareness of the negative impact of clinically-generated noise and emphasize the importance of preventive measures and periodic audiometry exams. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding the Consequences of Noise Exposure Research)

10 pages, 744 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Noise Disturbance and Well-Being in the North of Spain

by Maite Santurtún, María José García Tárrago, Pablo Fdez-Arroyabe and María T. Zarrabeitia

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(24), 16457; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph192416457 - 08 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1340

Abstract

Environmental noise is considered one of the main risks for physical and mental health and well-being, with a significant associated burden of disease in Europe. This work aims to explore the main sources of noise exposure at home and its effect on well-being in northern Spain. A transversal opinion study has been performed through a closed questionnaire. The questionnaire included three different parts: sociodemographic data, noise disturbance, and the 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5). A Binary Logistics Regression model was performed to analyze the relationship between noise exposure and well-being. Overall, 16.6% of the participants consider that the noise isolation of their homes is bad or very bad. The noise generated by the neighbors (air and impact noise) is considered the most disturbing indoor noise source, while street works are the most disturbing outdoor noise source in urban areas and road traffic is the most disturbing in rural areas. People who indicate that noise interferes with their life at home have a worse score on the WHO-5 (decreased perception of well-being). The exposure to outdoor noise (specifically the noise coming from the street and trains), internal impact noise produced by neighbors, and in general, the noise that wakes you up, is related to receiving a worse score in the WHO-5 (p < 0.05). Administrative bodies must ensure that laws regulating at-home noise levels, which are continually being updated with stricter restrictions, are enforced. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding the Consequences of Noise Exposure Research)

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16 pages, 1809 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Effects of Soundscape Complexity on Urban Noise Annoyance Ratings: A Large-Scale Online Listening Experiment

by Andrew Mitchell, Mercede Erfanian, Christopher Soelistyo, Tin Oberman, Jian Kang, Robert Aldridge, Jing-Hao Xue and Francesco Aletta

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(22), 14872; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph192214872 - 11 Nov 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2555

Abstract

Noise annoyance has been often reported as one of the main adverse effects of noise exposure on human health, and there is consensus that it relates to several factors going beyond the mere energy content of the signal. Research has historically focused on a limited set of sound sources (e.g., transport and industrial noise); only more recently is attention being given to more holistic aspects of urban acoustic environments and the role they play in the noise annoyance perceptual construct. This is the main approach promoted in soundscape studies, looking at both wanted and unwanted sounds. In this study, three specific aspects were investigated, namely: (1) the effect of different sound sources combinations, (2) the number of sound sources present in the soundscape, and (3) the presence of individual sound source, on noise annoyance perception. For this purpose, a large-scale online experiment was carried out with 1.2k+ participants, using 2.8k+ audio recordings of complex urban acoustic environments to investigate how they would influence the perceived noise annoyance. Results showed that: (1) the combinations of different sound sources were not important, compared, instead, to the number of sound sources identified in the soundscape recording (regardless of sound sources type); (2) the annoyance ratings expressed a minimum when any two clearly distinguishable sound sources were present in a given urban soundscape; and (3) the presence (either in isolation or combination) of traffic-related sound sources increases noise annoyance, while the presence (either in isolation or combination) of nature-related sound sources decreases noise annoyance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding the Consequences of Noise Exposure Research)

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19 pages, 43333 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on Subjective Evaluation of Acoustic Environment in Urban Open Space Based on “Effective Characteristics”

by Xiaodan Hong, Weichen Zhang, Yiping Chu and Wenying Zhu

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(15), 9231; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19159231 - 28 Jul 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1326

Abstract

With the continuous expansion of urban scale with dense population and traffic and the gradual improvement of residents’ requirements for environmental quality, the traditional evaluation method relying on acoustic energy is not enough to reflect the feelings of urban crowds about acoustic environment quality. The acoustic environment quality evaluation method based on human subjective perception has gradually become one of the research focuses in the field of environmental noise control. In recent years, various subjective and objective acoustic characteristic parameters have been introduced into the study of acoustic environment assessment in the global literature. However, the extraction of “effective characteristics” from a large number of physical and psychoacoustic characteristics contained in acoustic signals and the creation of a scientific and efficient subjective evaluation model have always been key technical problems in the field of acoustic environment evaluation. Based on subjective human perceptions, the overall acoustic environment quality evaluation of urban open spaces is studied in this paper. Based on the “effective characteristic” parameters and the subjective characteristic proposed in the previous research, including equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure level (L_A), the difference between median noise and ambient background noise (L₅₀ − L₉₀), Sharpness (Sh), as well as satisfaction (Sat), the multivariable linear regression algorithm is used to further study the intrinsic correlation between the proposed “effective characteristics” and subjective perception. Then, a satisfaction evaluation model of the acoustic environment based on “effective characteristics” is built in this paper. Furthermore, the soundwalk evaluation experiment and the MATLAB numerical simulation experiment are carried out, which verify that the prediction accuracy of the proposed model is more than 92%, the consistency of satisfaction level is more than 88%, as well as the changes in the values of Sh and L₅₀ − L₉₀ have a significant impact on the satisfaction prediction of the proposed model. It shows that the proposed “effective characteristics” more comprehensively describe the quality level of the regional acoustic environment in urban open space compared with a single L_A index, and the proposed acoustic environment satisfaction evaluation model based on “effective characteristics” has significant accuracy superiority and regional applicability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding the Consequences of Noise Exposure Research)

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20 pages, 2624 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of Aircraft Delays on Population Noise Exposure in Airport’s Surroundings

by Nermin Zijadić, Emir Ganić, Matija Bračić and Igor Štimac

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(15), 8921; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19158921 - 22 Jul 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1975

Abstract

The motivation behind this research was to analyse the consequences of aircraft operations’ delays on cumulative noise levels produced upon the neighbouring communities and to estimate the relative change in the number of people annoyed by aircraft noise. Many studies showed that residents’ reactions to abrupt changes in noise exposure were more intense compared to the anticipated ones. Aircraft delays may cause such abrupt changes in noise exposure by increasing the traffic in some periods compared to the scheduled traffic. The methodology applied includes noise contour development for two different scenarios for intervals where aircraft delays occur. Only delays connected with the Total Airport Management (TAM) were analysed, since such delays can be influenced by airports. The first scenario considered the influence of aircraft operations on population noise exposure without TAM delays, whereas the second one included all delayed flights (actual traffic). The proposed method was tested through case studies of three southeast European airports. The results showed that the highest potential of decrease in the number of people annoyed by the noise was recorded at Niš Airport (59%), followed by Zadar Airport (49%) and Sarajevo Airport (25%). Similar results were obtained in the context of highly annoyed people. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding the Consequences of Noise Exposure Research)

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14 pages, 1852 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influencing Factors Identification and Prediction of Noise Annoyance—A Case Study on Substation Noise

by Guoqing Di, Yihang Wang, Yao Yao, Jiangang Ma and Jian Wu

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(14), 8394; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19148394 - 09 Jul 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1335

Abstract

Noise-induced annoyance is one person’s individual adverse reaction to noise. Noise annoyance is an important basis for determining the acceptability of environmental noise exposure and for formulating environmental noise standards. It is influenced by both acoustic and non-acoustic factors. To identify non-acoustic factors significantly influencing noise annoyance, 40 noise samples with a loudness level of 60–90 phon from 500–1000 kV substations were selected in this study. A total of 246 subjects were recruited randomly. Using the assessment scale of noise annoyance specified by ISO 15666-2021, listening tests were conducted. Meanwhile, basic information and noise sensitivity of each subject were obtained through a questionnaire and the Weinstein’s noise sensitivity scale. Based on the five non-acoustic indices which were identified in this study and had a significant influence on noise annoyance, a prediction model of annoyance from substation noise was proposed by a stepwise regression. Results showed that the influence weight of acoustic indices in the model accounted for 80% in which the equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure level and the sound pressure level above 1/1 octave band of 125 Hz were 65% and 15%, respectively. The influence weight of non-acoustic indices entering the model was 20% in which age, education level, noise sensitivity, income, and noisy degree in the workplace were 8%, 2%, 4%, 4%, and 2%, respectively. The result of this study can provide a basis for factors identification and prediction of noise annoyance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding the Consequences of Noise Exposure Research)

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19 pages, 3720 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluating the Impact of Metro Interior Noise on Passenger Annoyance: An Experimental Study

by Meng Ma, Wenqian Ran, Jinping Wu, Minghang Li and Xiangyu Qu

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(9), 5041; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19095041 - 21 Apr 2022

Viewed by 1750

Abstract

The operation of a large-scale metro system creates problematic interior noise; the impact of this noise on passengers and drivers is a subject of increasing concern. To investigate the quantitative relationship between metro interior noise and passengers’ annoyance, this study analyzed questionnaires on passenger annoyance completed by 118 volunteers. The feedback from the questionnaire concerned eleven metro lines in Beijing. To test the interior noise levels, the volunteers were divided into two groups: A and B. The volunteers in group A took the same metro train as the testers, whereas those in group B took different trains. A total of 2080 noise annoyance samples from metro tunnel sections were collected and analyzed. Finally, the exposure-response relationship between interior noise and passenger annoyance was obtained by fitting these data with a logistic function. The results indicated that there was a significant positive correlation between the average subjective annoyance and the averaged equivalent sound pressure level. The fitting result was better for group A than for group B. For the mixed samples of two groups, the fitting result was greatly affected by the contribution of group A. To provide an acoustically comfortable environment, metro interior noise should not exceed 84–85 dB(A). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding the Consequences of Noise Exposure Research)

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18 pages, 5564 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Soundscape Evaluation Outside a Taoist Temple: A Case Study of Laojundong Temple in Chongqing, China

by Hui Xie, Zhaohui Peng, Jian Kang, Chang Liu and Huifei Wu

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(8), 4571; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19084571 - 11 Apr 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2366

Abstract

The unique architectural form and religious background of Taoist buildings can lead to a special acoustic environment, but there is a lack of research on the soundscape evaluation of Taoist buildings. Laojundong Taoist Temple was selected as the research site. The psychological and physiological responses of Taoist priests and ordinary people, and strategies for soundscape renovation were investigated by conducting field measurements, interviews, soundwalks, and audio–visual experiments. There was significant negative linear regression between the L_Aeq,5min and soundscape comfort (p < 0.01). The visual landscape comfort of ordinary people was notably correlated with landscape diversity (p < 0.01), whereas their soundscape comfort was markedly correlated with the degree of natural soundscape and audio–visual harmony (p < 0.01). The soundscape evaluation by Taoist priests was affected by their belief, activity types, social factors, and spatial positions. With the increasing proportion of the natural elements in the visual landscape in the temple, the acoustic comfort of Taoist priests and ordinary people significantly increased with the addition of bird sounds (p < 0.01). However, with the increasing proportion of Taoist scenes, Taoist music only significantly improved the acoustic comfort and heart rate of ordinary people (p < 0.01). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding the Consequences of Noise Exposure Research)

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20 pages, 586 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Conceptual Framework Proposal for a Noise Modelling Service for Drones in U-Space Architecture

by Tommy Langen, Vimala Nunavath and Ole Henrik Dahle

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(1), 223; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19010223 - 25 Dec 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3792

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a rapid growth in the development and usage of flying drones due to their diverse capabilities worldwide. Public and private sectors will actively use drone technology in the logistics of goods and transporting passengers in the future. There are concerns regarding privacy and noise exposure in and around the rural and urban environment with the rapid expansion. Further, drone noise could affect human health. European Union has defined a service-orientated architecture to provide air traffic management for drones, called U-space. However, it lacks a noise modelling service (NMS). This paper proposes a conceptual framework for such a noise modelling service for drones with a use case scenario and verification method. The framework is conceptualized based on noise modelling from the aviation sector. The NMS can be used to model the noise to understand the accepted drone noise levels in different scenarios and take measures needed to reduce the noise impact on the community. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding the Consequences of Noise Exposure Research)

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Review

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21 pages, 798 KiB

Open AccessReview

Neurobehavioral Alterations from Noise Exposure in Animals: A Systematic Review

by Giulio Arcangeli, Lucrezia Ginevra Lulli, Veronica Traversini, Simone De Sio, Emanuele Cannizzaro, Raymond Paul Galea and Nicola Mucci

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(1), 591; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph20010591 - 29 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2032

Abstract

Ecosystems are increasingly involved and influenced by human activities, which are ever-increasing. These activities are mainly due to vehicular, air and sea transportation, thus causing possible repercussions on the fauna that exists there. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the possible consequences that these activities may have in the field of animal neurobehavior, with special emphasis on the species involved, the most common environment concerned, the noise source and the disturbance that is caused. This research includes articles published in the major databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Embase, Web of Sciences); the online search yielded 1901 references. After selection, 49 articles (14 reviews and 35 original articles) were finally scrutinized. The main problems that were reported were in relation to movement, reproduction, offspring care and foraging. In live experiments carried out, the repercussions on the marine environment mainly concerned altered swimming, shallower descents, less foraging and an escape reaction for fear of cetaceans and fish. In birds, alterations in foraging, vocalizations and nests were noted; laboratory studies, on the other hand, carried out on small mammals, highlighted spatio-temporal cognitive alterations and memory loss. In conclusion, it appears that greater attention to all ecosystems should be given as soon as possible so as to try to achieve a balance between human activity and the well-being of terrestrial fauna. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding the Consequences of Noise Exposure Research)

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