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Evidence Base Home » Environmental Noise » Long term exposure to environmental noise can cause sleep disturbances Uninterrupted sleep is known to be a prerequisite for good physiological and mental functioning of healthy persons

• Reductions of noise by 6-14 dBA results in subjective and objective improvements in sleep.
  
  

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  London Health Commission. 2003. Noise and Health: Making the Link. Available at HYPERLINK "http://www.phel.gov.uk/hiadocs/noiseandhealth.pdf" http://www.phel.gov.uk/hiadocs/noiseandhealth.pdf.

• Noise can cause sleep disturbances.
  
  

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  Stansfeld S, Haines M, Brown B. 2000. Noise and health in the urban environment. Rev Environmental Health 15(1-2): 43-82.

• Sleep disturbances have been associated with a variety of health problems, such as functional impairment, medical disability, and utilization of treatment. Sleep difficulties are also associated with increased use of medical services even among those with no previous health problems.
  
  

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  Morh D, Vedantham K, Neylan T, Metzler TJ, Best S, Marmar CR. 2003. The medicating effects of sleep in the relationship between traumatic stress and health symptoms in urban police officers. Psychosomatic Medicine 65:485-489.

• Sleep was shown to mediate (or decrease) the relationship between traumatic stress and health problems.
  
  

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  Morh D, Vedantham K, Neylan T, Metzler TJ, Best S, Marmar CR. 2003. The medicating effects of sleep in the relationship between traumatic stress and health symptoms in urban police officers. Psychosomatic Medicine 65:485-489.

• Exposure to night-time noise also induces secondary effects, which are measured the day following the night-time exposure, while the individual is awake. The secondary effects include reduced perceived sleep quality; increased fatigue; depressed mood or well-being; and decreased performance.
  
  

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  Berglund B, Lindvall T, Schwela DH. 1999. Extract from Guidelines for Community Noise: Sleep Disturbance. World Health Organizations. Available at HYPERLINK "http://www.who.int/docstore/peh/noise/Comnoise-3.pdf" http://www.who.int/docstore/peh/noise/Comnoise-3.pdf.

• Sleep disturbance occurs if there are more than 50 noise events per night with a maximum level of 50 dBA indoors.
  
  

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  Stansfeld SA, Matheson MP. 2003. Noise pollution: non-auditory effects on health. British Medical Bulletin 68:243-257.

• A study in Oslo, Norway, among urban residents exposed to railway noise, showed that 6.1% of those questioned blamed traffic noise for their difficulty in falling asleep/awakening during the night.
  
  

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  Aasvang GM, Moum T, Engdahl B. 2008. Self-reported sleep disturbances due to railway noise: Exposure-response relationships for nighttime equivalent and maximum noise levels. J. Acoust Soc Am 124(1):257 – 268

• The odds of having difficulty falling asleep were 2.77 times greater at noise levels of 55-59 dB at the bedroom façade than at below 40 dB; 6.4 times greater at 60 – 64 dB than at below 40 dB; and 13.65 times greater at above 65 dB than below 40 dB.
  
  

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  Aasvang GM, Moum T, Engdahl B. 2008. Self-reported sleep disturbances due to railway noise: Exposure-response relationships for nighttime equivalent and maximum noise levels. J. Acoust Soc Am 124(1):257 – 268

• The odds of waking up at night due to environmental noise were 1.7 times greater with noise levels of 55 – 59 dB vs. below 40 dB; 3.6 times greater at 60 – 64 dB vs. below 40 dB; and 7.1 times greater at above 65 dB than below 40 dB.
  
  

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  Aasvang GM, Moum T, Engdahl B. 2008. Self-reported sleep disturbances due to railway noise: Exposure-response relationships for nighttime equivalent and maximum noise levels. J. Acoust Soc Am 124(1):257 – 268