Night noise guidelines for Europe - WHO/Europe - World Health ...

2
METHODS AND CRITERIA
impact on the population. However, it neither provides limit values nor guidelines. The
same information that was used in the Position Paper also plays a role in these guidelines.
EU Member State
L night,outside
Table 1.1
Reported L night limit values
for road traffic noise in new
residential areas
France 62
Germany 49
Spain 45
Netherlands 40
Austria 50
Sweden 51
(converted from L Aeq limit 30 dB(A)
inside bedroom)
Finland 46
Hungary 55
Latvia 40
Estonia 45
Switzerland 50
Source: European Commission, 2006.
1.1.2 GENERAL MODEL
There is no doubt that a relation exists between sleep and health and well-being, as
most of us know from personal experience. That does not mean, however, that this
relation is simple. People who do not sleep well may not feel well the day after, but
the reverse is also true: unfit people may have a disturbed sleep. Untangling the relations
between health and disturbed sleep (night-time noise is only one of many causes)
proved difficult, and Fig. 2.1 at the end of Chapter 2 shows why.
Fig. 1.1.
General structure of the
report on the effects of
night noise
NIGHT
NOISE
a
Sleep
Quality
Health
The general structure of the report is given in Fig. 1.1: evidence for the effects of
night-time noise on health (c) is supported by evidence on the indirect route via (a)
and (b). In Chapter 2 the relations between sleep and health are examined (relation
(b) in Fig. 1.1), and this involves clinical evidence from sleep laboratories, but also
evidence from animal experiments. In Chapter 3 it is shown how noise disturbs sleep
from the basic, autonomous level up to conscious awakenings: relation (a). Chapter
4 presents the evidence between night-time noise and health and well-being: relation
(c) in Fig. 1.1. The last chapter, Chapter 5, then provides guidance on reducing
health impacts caused by night-time noise exposure.
c
b
NIGHT NOISE GUIDELINES FOR EUROPE