Methodological guidance for estimating the burden of disease from environmental noise

ABSTRACT

The World Health Organization, supported by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, is issuing this technical document as guidance for national and local authorities in risk assessment and environmental health planning related to environmental noise. The principles of quantitative assessment of the burden of disease from environmental noise, the status of implementation of the European Noise Directive, and lessons from the project on Environmental Burden of Disease in the European countries (EBoDE) are summarized, together with a review of evidence on exposure‒ response relationships between noise and cardiovascular diseases. Step-by-step guidance is presented on how to calculate the burden of cardiovascular diseases and sleep disturbance. The limitations and uncertainties of estimating disability-adjusted life years and the usefulness and limitations of noise map data are discussed.