Living near busy roads with constant traffic noise can increase blood pressure and lead to hypertension, even after adjusting for air pollution. These findings come from a recent study published in JACC: Advances, which analyzed data from over 240,000 individuals aged 40 to 69 years. The study highlights the need for policymakers to consider noise pollution when assessing the potential health impacts of busy roads. The research supports public health measures such as setting stricter noise guidelines and enforcement, improving road conditions and urban design, and investing in advanced technology in quieter vehicles. Jiandong Zhang, cardiovascular disease fellow in the division of cardiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, commented that this is the first large-scale prospective study directly addressing the impact of road traffic noise on hypertension, providing high-quality evidence to support modifying road traffic noise and air pollution to improve cardiovascular health. Further studies are underway to better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms through which road noise affects hypertension.
Road Noise Linked with High Blood Pressure: New Study Finds
A recent study published in JACC: Advances has found that living close to a busy road with constant noise of motors, honking of horns, and sirens can raise your blood pressure, even after adjusting for air pollution. The study conducted by researchers in Beijing, China, looked at health outcomes over time using data from more than 240,000 people aged 40 to 69 years who initially did not have hypertension. The researchers estimated road traffic noise based on their residential addresses and used the Common Noise Assessment Method, a European modelling tool.
The study found that people living near road traffic noise were more likely to develop hypertension, and the risk increased with the noise “dose.” These associations held true even after researchers adjusted for exposure to fine particles and nitrogen dioxide. However, people who had high exposure to both traffic noise and air pollution had the highest hypertension risk, showing that air pollution also plays a role.
The previous studies on this issue were cross-sectional and only showed the link between traffic noise and hypertension, failing to show a causal relationship. However, this new study conducted a prospective study using UK Biobank data, providing evidence for the causal relationship between traffic noise and hypertension.
The lead author of the study, Jing Huang, assistant professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences in the School of Public Health at Peking University, said that the independent effects of road traffic noise should be explored rather than the total environment since road traffic noise and traffic-related air pollution coexist around us.
This study highlights the need for policymakers to consider noise pollution when assessing the potential health impacts of busy roads.
Study Reveals the Harmful Effects of Road Traffic Noise on Blood Pressure
A recent study published in JACC: Advances has established that living close to a busy road with constant traffic noise, such as motors, horns, and sirens, can increase blood pressure and lead to hypertension. The study analyzed data from over 240,000 individuals aged 40 to 69 years, estimating road traffic noise based on their residential addresses and the Common Noise Assessment Method.
The findings confirmed the link between traffic noise and hypertension, even after adjusting for air pollution. People who lived near road traffic noise were more likely to develop hypertension, and the risk increased with the noise “dose.” The study’s lead author, Jing Huang, assistant professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences at Peking University, recommended exploring the independent effects of road traffic noise and considering noise pollution in public health measures.
Jiandong Zhang, cardiovascular disease fellow in the division of cardiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, commented that this is the first large-scale prospective study directly addressing the impact of road traffic noise on hypertension, providing high-quality evidence to support modifying road traffic noise and air pollution at both individual and societal levels to improve cardiovascular health.
The study was supervised by Kazem Rahimi, lead of the Deep Medicine program at the Nuffield Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health at the University of Oxford, and Samuel Cai, lecturer in environmental epidemiology at the Centre for Environmental Health and Sustainability at the University of Leicester. As a follow-up, Huang stated that field studies are underway to better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms through which road noise affects hypertension.
The study suggests that policymakers should consider stricter noise guidelines and enforcement, improve road conditions and urban design, and invest in advanced technology in quieter vehicles to alleviate the adverse impacts of road traffic noise on public health.
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