Long-term exposure to transportation noise can increase blood pressure in vulnerable populations

The results of SAPALDIA study strengthen the evidence on adverse impact of transportation noise on blood pressure and underline the need to investigate potentially vulnerable populations.

In fact, noise has been associated with numerous health outcomes, but evidence for an adverse impact on blood pressure is inconsistent and little is known about health effects of railway noise.

The Swiss cohort SAPALDIA investigated the impact of railway and street noise on blood pressure in 6450 adults using national noise data (SONBASE ) provided by the Federal Office of Environment. Linear regression analyses yielded a significant increase of 0.84 mmHg in systolic and 0.44 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure for a 10 dB(A) increase in railway noise at night and 0.6 mmHg during the day.

Stronger associations were estimated for participants with doctor diagnosed cardiovascular disease, diabetes and hypertension. Effects from traffic noise were not seen in the study population as a whole, but positive associations were estimated in subjects with self-reported diabetes and cardiovascular disease.