Road traffic noise and cardiovascular disease

SummaryIn a population study, an attempt was made to answer the question whether people living in a street with much traffic (noise) run an increased risk of contracting cardiovascular diseases.The necessary cardiovascular data were provided by the ‘Consultation Bureau Project Heart Diseases’ in a small town in The Netherlands. The study was restricted to housewives aged 40–49 years. Of 2,000 housewives 86% participated: 1342 living in quiet streets (Ldn<62.5 dB(A)) and 399 living in noisy streets (Ldn>62.5 dB(A)). For both groups, we studied the occurrence of consultation with a cardiologist, hypertension, angina pectoris, ischaemia on E.C.G., and heart shape pathology on X-ray photographs.No differences were found between the two groups of housewives. These results are discussed in the light of the question whether traffic noise can be a risk factor to cardiovascular disease. It is pointed out that the absolute exposure to traffic noise and the difference in exposure may have been too small to demonstrate an effect.