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Indicator Assessment
This indicator provides an overview of the estimated number of people exposed to levels of environmental noise in Europe that are above the noise indicator levels set by the EU Environmental Noise Directive (2002/49/EC) within and outside urban areas. The major source of noise pollution both inside and outside urban areas is road traffic. Noise from railways and aircraft has a much lower impact in terms of overall population noise exposure, but both remain important sources of localised noise pollution.
It is estimated that more than 120 million people in the EU are exposed to Lden noise levels (annual average day, evening and night period of exposure) from road traffic that are above 55 dB. Night-time road traffic is another major source of noise exposure, with over 83 million Europeans being exposed to harmful Lnight levels above 50 dB. In addition, many people are also exposed to rail, aircraft and industrial noise, particularly in towns and cities. More general impacts of exposure to harmful levels of environmental noise include annoyance, stress reactions, sleep disturbance and an increase in the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease which can lead to premature death. While aircraft noise does not affect a wide geographical area, its documented harmful effects extend beyond health impacts on nearby populations to also impairing the ability of younger generations to concentrate in schools that are affected by aircraft flight paths.
This indicator presents the estimated number of people exposed to harmful levels of environmental noise from industry, roads with more than 3 million vehicles per year, railways with more than 30 000 railway movements per year, airports with more than 50 000 air traffic movements per year and in urban areas with more than 100 000 inhabitants.
Lden: Long-term average indicator designed to assess annoyance and defined by the Environmental Noise Directive (END). It refers to an annual average day, evening and night period of exposure with an evening weighting of 5 dB(A) and a night weighting of 10 dB(A).
Lnight: Long-term average indicator defined by the END and designed to assess sleep disturbance. It refers to an annual average night period of exposure.
dB: Shortened reference to the decibel, a unit of measurement for sound.
The END is the main EU instrument through which noise emissions are monitored and actions developed. It defines environmental noise as 'unwanted or harmful outdoor sound created by human activities, including noise emitted by means of transport, road traffic, rail traffic, air traffic and from sites of industrial activity'. It places an obligation on EU Member States to assess noise levels by producing strategic noise maps for all major roads, railways, airports and urban areas. Based on these noise-mapping results, Member States must prepare action plans containing measures that address noise issues and their effects for those areas where the specific END indicators (i.e. 55 dB averaged across the day, evening and night periods (Lden) and 50 dB averaged across the night period (Lnight)) have been exceeded. The END neither sets limit values for noise exposure, nor prescribes measures for inclusion in the action plans. Finally, Member States are required to select and preserve areas of good acoustic environmental quality, referred to as quiet areas, in order to protect the European soundscape.
High noise levels are defined in the 7th EAP as noise levels for Lden above 55 dB and for Lnight above 50 dB. During the night, environmental noise starting at Lnight levels below 40 dB can cause negative effects on sleep to occur such as body movements, awakenings, self-reported sleep disturbance and, in addition, effects on the cardiovascular system that become apparent above 55 dB. All these impacts can contribute to a range of health outcomes, including premature mortality. The WHO has set a Night Noise Guideline level for Europe at 40 dB Lnight.
The EU's current 7th EAP contains the objective that by 2020 noise pollution in the EU will have significantly decreased, moving closer to WHO recommended levels. In order to achieve this objective, an updated EU noise policy aligned with the latest scientific knowledge must be implemented along with measures to reduce noise at source, including improvements in city design.
This indicator is based on data reported by EEA member countries in accordance with Directive 2002/49/EC.
The indicator is based on data officially reported by countries under the EU Environmental Noise Directive (2002/49/EC). Because of gaps in the reported data, a gap-filling routine is used to estimate the total population exposure to high noise levels.
Lack of a common assessment methodology means that comparability between datasets is not guaranteed.
Data reported in accordance with Directive 2002/49/EC may not be complete.
No uncertainty has been specified
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/exposure-to-and-annoyance-by-2/assessment or scan the QR code.
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