title: Road traffic noise: annoyance, sleep disturbance, and public health implications.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The WHO has recognized environmental noise as harmful pollution that causes adverse psychosocial and physiologic effects (i.e., annoyance and sleep disturbance) on human health. In Europe, noise-related health studies have been actively conducted, but the U.S. has lagged behind in this research field.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This research predicted ambient levels of road traffic noise for a highly urbanized area: Fulton County GA. Assessment was made of noise impacts on the population, focusing on annoyance and sleep disturbance.
  
  
  METHODS
  All the data sets were collected during 2009-2011, and data analysis was performed in 2010-2011. The study used a sound-propagation model for noise-level prediction and derived noise-impact indicators for annoyance and sleep disturbance from exposure-response models. Then, annoyed and sleep-disturbed populations were predicted with the use of each noise-impact indicator.
  
  
  RESULTS
  It was predicted that 109,967 people would be at risk of being highly annoyed, with 19,621 people at risk for high sleep disturbance for Fulton County GA. Noise-impact indicators such as the percentage of those who were highly annoyed and who had high levels of sleep disturbance were expected to be valuable metrics to compare noise equity among urban communities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Many residents of the greater Atlanta area may be exposed to noise levels that put them at risk of being highly annoyed or having high levels of sleep disturbance. These results, if generalized to other urban areas with high levels of road traffic, indicate that it may be important for the public's health to update existing noise-related policies or develop new ones to control and abate noise concerns in urban communities.
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology and SurveillanceBranch, Division of Population Health, National Center for Chronic DiseasePrevention and Health Promotion, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. mhkim73@gmail.com
authors.forename: Minho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seo I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Jeong C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Seong
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.forename: Tae H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Joon H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Janet B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Croft
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection; D005845:Georgia; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009624:Noise, Transportation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011634:Public Health; D011640:Public Policy; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D014505:Urban Population