Noise has many effects on health: sleep disturbances, higher risk of cardiovascular disease, reduced life expectancy… According to a study, noise pollution costs 147 billion euros per year to the France.
- 7 out of 10 French people say they are regularly bothered by noise, and 21% feel that their sensitivity to this nuisance has increased since the health crisis.
- According to Bruitparif, in Île-de-France, nearly 11 years of life in good health are lost due to noise pollution for each Ile-de-France resident on average (i.e. 107,766 years of life for the entire population of the region).
- One in five Europeans is exposed to noise pollution that is dangerous to their health.
On the occasion of National conference on the quality of the sound environment, closed this Wednesday, September 28, the ecological transition agency (formerly ADEME) took stock of the health and social consequences of noise pollution. According to their study, relayed by Europe 1, noise costs France 147 billion euros a year. How to explain such an invoice?
Noise is the 2nd most harmful environmental cause for health
Repeated daily noise pollution has a direct impact on health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), noise is also the second environmental cause causing the most health damage, behind air pollution. “The health impacts of noise exposure are of two types: impacts on hearing and so-called extra-auditory impacts.“, writes Bruitparif in a previous study. These auditory impacts”can affect the outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear“.
Road traffic noise is “the main source of morbidity, concentrating on its own 85% of the estimates of years of healthy life lost in the Paris conurbation“. Noise pollution due to transport also constitutes the majority of the bill: “about two thirds” according to BruitParif. The rest of the note is noise due to work and neighborhood noise.
Noise pollution: it causes many health problems
This noise pollution leads to a whole host of health problems. First, sleep disturbances: a 12-hour daytime exposure to 85 dB(A) causes a reduction in the number and duration of sleep cycles. Thus, noise disrupts the restorative function of sleep and can lead to chronic fatigue. This phenomenon is even more pronounced in people working at night who have to sleep during the day.
Furthermore, noise pollution increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Too much noise also increases the risk ofobesityof dementiathe risks of developing Alzheimer’s disease and stroke risk. Finally, what justifies such an invoice, it is the poor physical and mental state the French.
Added to this are non-health parameters such as the loss of productivity in companies: a 2016 survey estimates that 6 million French people in professional activity lose 30 minutes of work time per day due to noise and noise pollution.