Exposure to road traffic noise at school, but not at home, was associated with slower working memory, complex working memory, and attention development, in primary school children in Barcelona, Spain.

Noise causes annoyance and stress and disrupts sleep and daily activities. These responses set off a cascade of physiological events involving increased production of stress hormones and neurotransmitters that raise blood pressure, heart rate, and other factors which, in turn, raise the risks of stroke, hypertension, heart attack, metabolic disturbances, and death.

Nighttime exposure to aircraft noise with similar Leq, but different number of noise events, results in a comparable worsening of vascular function. Adverse effects of nighttime aircraft noise exposure on cardiac function (diastolic dysfunction) seemed stronger the higher number of noise events.

Observational and experimental studies have shown that noise exposure leads to annoyance, disturbs sleep and causes daytime sleepiness, affects patient outcomes and staff performance in hospitals, increases the occurrence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, and impairs cognitive performance in schoolchildren. In this Review, we stress the importance of adequate noise prevention and mitigation strategies for public health.

In this small area study covering a population of 3.6 million people living near Heathrow airport in London, [the authors] identified significant excess risks of stroke, coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular disease, especially among the 2% of the population affected by the highest levels of daytime and night time aircraft noise.

Aircraft noise was associated with mortality from myocardial infarction, with a dose-response relationship for level and duration of exposure. The association does not appear to be explained by exposure to particulate matter air pollution, education, or socioeconomic status of the municipality.