Examining nocturnal railway noise and aircraft noise in the field: Sleep, psychomotor performance, and annoyance

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 424; pp. 48 - 56
• Main Authors: Elmenhorst, Eva-Maria, Pennig, Sibylle, Rolny, Vinzent, Quehl, Julia, Mueller, Uwe, Maaß, Hartmut, Basner, Mathias
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier B.V 01.05.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; adverse effects; Aged; Aircraft; Aircraft noise; Annoyance; Awakening reaction; Biological and medical sciences; Effects of various physical factors on living matter (vibrations, electric field, ultrasound, sound...); Environment. Living conditions; Female; females; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Germany; Humans; Irritable Mood; Logistic Models; logit analysis; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Noise, Transportation; Noise, Transportation - adverse effects; Photic Stimulation; Polysomnography; probability; Psychomotor Performance; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; PVT; rail transportation; Railroads; Railway noise; Sleep; Sleep Stages; surveys; Tissues, organs and organisms biophysics; traffic; Young Adult; Germany; Germany, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Cologne; Sleep; Aircraft noise; Annoyance; Railway noise; Awakening reaction; PVT; Human; Vigilance; Railway; Night; Psychomotricity; Health and environment; Air traffic; Noise pollution; Traffic noise; Public health
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.02.024

Traffic noise is interfering during day- and nighttime causing distress and adverse physiological reactions in large parts of the population. Railway noise proved less annoying than aircraft noise in surveys which were the bases for a so called 5dB railway bonus regarding noise protection in many European countries. The present field study investigated railway noise-induced awakenings during sleep, nighttime annoyance and the impact on performance the following day. Comparing these results with those from a field study on aircraft noise allowed for a ranking of traffic modes concerning physiological and psychological reactions. 33 participants (mean age 36.2years±10.3 (SD); 22 females) living alongside railway tracks around Cologne/Bonn (Germany) were polysomnographically investigated. These data were pooled with data from a field study on aircraft noise (61 subjects) directly comparing the effects of railway and aircraft noise in one random subject effects logistic regression model. Annoyance was rated in the morning evaluating the previous night. Probability of sleep stage changes to wake/S1 from railway noise increased significantly from 6.5% at 35dB(A) to 20.5% at 80dB(A) LAFmax. Rise time of noise events had a significant impact on awakening probability. Nocturnal railway noise led to significantly higher awakening probabilities than aircraft noise, partly explained by the different rise times, whereas the order was inversed for annoyance. Freight train noise compared to passenger train noise proved to have the most impact on awakening probability. Nocturnal railway noise had no effect on psychomotor vigilance. Nocturnal freight train noise exposure in Germany was associated with increased awakening probabilities exceeding those for aircraft noise and contrasting the findings of many annoyance surveys and annoyance ratings of our study. During nighttime a bonus for railway noise seems not appropriate. ► Railway noise leads to higher awakening probabilities than aircraft noise. ► Aircraft noise is more annoying than railway noise evaluating the previous night. ► Freight train noise is more sleep disturbing than passenger train noise. ► During nighttime a bonus for railway noise seems not appropriate.