Living on a noisy street is harming your health: World Health Organisation

Residents who live on busy streets, near railways or under a flight path are at greater risk of a range of health problems, a report prepared by the World Health Organisation has revealed.

Heart disease, tinnitus, sleep disruption and cognitive impairment in children were all flagged as potential health risks posed by living with an unacceptable level of noise.

Depending on the type of noise, different levels were considered acceptable by the researchers.

For road traffic, anything above 53 decibels was considered a risk during the day, and 45 dB at night. For railways it was 54 dB and 44 dB for day and night respectively and 45 dB and 40 dB for aircraft noise.

University of Western Australia Bioacoustics researcher Shane Chambers said the effect of ambient noise on health was well known among experts, but residents living with noise could be unaware of how loud their environment is or the risks associated.

“It’s hard to know the noise level, even the background noise level, short of putting your own microphone out there,” he said. “There is very little information available.

“There are smartphone apps but they’re not very accurate.”

The Queensland government provides noise level maps to some residents, and the WA government was taking similar steps.

Until that solution was available nationwide, Mr Chambers said residents could always contact the Australian Acoustical Society to get their home’s noise level measured.

If noise levels were above recommendations, there are a few easy steps homeowners can take to soundproof their homes, Mr Chambers said.

“First port of call: double glazing. The second is insulation. That really drops it by a lot,” he said. “It is like night and day. Proper treatment can really impact the livability of a house.”

Having airtight doors and windows also helps, Mr Chambers added.

In particularly noisy environments like truck routes, residents felt these measures were sometimes not enough.

Maribyrnong Truck Action Group president Samantha McArthur said it wasn’t often an option for members of her group.

“Retrofitting 100-plus-year-old houses is expensive and has a questionable impact on the noise,” she said. “We’d like nighttime and weekend curfews which are mainly about giving people respite.”

The inner-western Melbourne area of Maribyrnong was beset with trucks travelling from the ports and then onto the highway, Ms McArthur said. 

In Sydney, Potts Point and Kings Cross locals have long complained about the ambient city noise.

Residents’ society president Andrew Woodhouse said his group had campaigned for limiting noise from pubs and clubs on health grounds.

“No, we’re not surprised to hear this,” he said. “I say we’re living in disturbia, not suburbia.”

Mr Woodhouse’s primary concern was the effect on sleep.

“It impacts people’s sleep and mental health. People need at least eight hours sleep a night to fully function,” he said. “Even after purchasing triple glazing a sound night’s sleep has been rare so it does impact your quality of life.”

RMIT professor Dinesh Kumar said loud but infrequent noises were hard to measure in these kinds of studies and made forcing government action on trucks and trams difficult.

“In reality, there is no real rule. There’s no real definition of the word noise as far as suburbia is concerned,” he said. “The trees or a river could be ‘noisy’ while a tram is not.

“Typically it’s measured over time, so a tram passing by quickly a couple of times isn’t that much.”