Health impact assessment of noise in Rome, Italy

Our objective was to estimate the exposure levels and evaluate the health impact of road traffic noise on residents in Rome focusing on non-accidental mortality, hypertension, acute coronary events incidence, and sleep disturbances. We estimated road traffic noise indicators (LAeq16h, Lden, Lnigth) for all the residential addresses in Rome using the acoustic model Sound-Plan7.4 (2009 traffic-flow data). Available exposure-response functions were extrapolated from published meta-analyses. The counterfactual levels used were 55 dB(A) for LAeq16h and Lden, 40 dB(A) for Lnigth. Rome citizens (2,617,165 residents) are exposed to relatively high mean annual-levels of noise, 62.6dB(A) LAeq16h, 60.5 dB(A) Lden and 51.3 dB(A) Lnigth. We estimated 882 (CI 95% 78-1,487) non accidental deaths, 15,458 (CI 95 % 5,277-24,491) hypertension cases, 247 (CI 95 % 129-383) incident coronary events, and 146,744 (CI 95 % 76,187-261,099) sleep disorders attributable to traffic noise. The HIA indicates an important negative impact of noise in Rome. Although a certain overlap between the impact of air pollutants and noise must be clarified, results call for the adoption of interventions to reduce traffic and prevent health effects among residents.