Aircraft noise promotes strokes and heart disease

Aircraft noise can be a serious health problem for airport residents

10/10/2013

If you live near an airport, you often have to deal with heavy noise. The noise can quickly become a health risk factor and, in severe cases, even heart disease such as heart attack or stroke. UK and US scientists have found evidence that residents around Heathrow Airport in London have an up to 25% increased risk of heart disease or stroke during their lifetime.

Again and again problems due to aircraft noise
Again and again problems and conflicts arise due to aircraft noise, flight times and entry lanes. People living in the immediate area feel disturbed and worried about their health. Justifiably - because the body reacts to the noise with stress, which can subsequently lead to difficulty concentrating, sleeping disorders or a general weakening of the immune system. It may even lead to serious illnesses, because, as various studies have shown, there is a connection between aircraft noise and cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension, heart attacks and strokes.

Increased risk of cardiovascular disease?
The noise from airplanes can therefore be said for the so-called „Airport-Sea“ become a real problem. As British and US researchers have now found out in two studies, there is also an increased risk of cardiovascular disease for people living near London's Heathrow Airport. According to the researchers, although the results are not direct evidence that aircraft noise has a negative impact on health, there is an urgent need for further research in this direction.

British researchers investigate the influence of aircraft noise on health
For their research, scientists from Imperial College in London explored the impact of air traffic at London's Heathrow Airport on the approximately 3.6 million airport residents. To do so, they compare the 2001-2005 data on aircraft noise exposure in several city districts of London with the number of people hospitalized or dying from cardiovascular disease over the same period.

Significantly increased risk in residential areas with high noise pollution
Researchers found that those with the highest levels of noise exposure in excess of 63 decibels had a 14 to 24 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease than those in much calmer areas (up to 51 percent) Decibel). For first author Anna Hansell, this is no coincidence: „High levels of aircraft noise were associated with increased risk of stroke, coronary heart disease and hospital admissions and mortality from cardiovascular disease in areas near Heathrow Airport in London“, said the scientist in a journal article in „British Medical Journal“. Nonetheless, according to Hansell, it can not be ruled out that there could be other triggers for the diseases - although some possible external influences such as smoking or air quality had already been taken into account in the study.

US study confirms the results
A similar finding came from US scientists at Harvard University in a study. A research team led by Francesca Dominici had studied hospitalization for cardiovascular disease for six million elderly US citizens aged 65 and over, who lived in the vicinity of 89 airports in the United States in 2009. Here, too, a clear picture emerges: Those living in areas with particularly high noise pollution (55 decibels and above) had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease than others. As the scientist Stephen Stansfeld of the Queen Queen University of London writes in a commentary, the studies mentioned would be so „preliminary information“ deliver to it, „That aircraft noise is not only a cause of anger, insomnia, and reduced quality of life, but may also contribute to problems and death from cardiovascular disease.“

Hessischer Verwaltungsgerichtshof dismisses complaints
But not only the inhabitants of the area around Heathrow Airport have to deal with a considerable amount of noise. Also in various German cities it comes again and again to trouble and problems, because neighbors feel bothered. Also the airport Frankfurt am Main gets in this context again and again in the headlines. Just a few days ago, the Hessian Administrative Court (VGH) in Kassel had rejected a lawsuit from the city of Offenbach, as well as a private landowner from the municipality Hasselroth and the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, against the so-called „extended horizontal approach“ went to the south train and the northwest runway of Frankfurt Main airport. The reasoning: „In the case of the applicants, the threshold for the unreasonableness of the noise pollution was not exceeded because of the so-called extended horizontal approach to Frankfurt Airport, which was set by the Federal Supervisory Office; also this is not to be expected in the future“, according to the notification of the Administrative Court. (No)

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Aircraft noise increases heart attack risk

Picture credits: Dieter Hopf