Adverse health effects due to environmental noise exposure in urban areas

Abstract

Environmental noise is a great burden for the population in Germany, especially in urban areas. People are often exposed not only to one but several noise sources. Long-term exposure to environmental noise can have several and severe adverse effects on human health, such as noise annoyance, sleep disturbances, ischaemic heart disease and depression. Additional burdens arise from multiple exposure to particulate matter or air pollutants. The current article describes the relevant adverse health effects due to long-term environmental noise exposure, discusses the challenges of environmental noise in urban areas different and introduces measures and instruments to abate environmental noise.