Effects of nocturnal aircraft noise on performance, annoyance and stress hormones - Overview and results of the DLR study

Kurzfassung

Effects of Nocturnal Aircraft Noise on Performance, Annoyance and Stress Hormone Excretion – Overview and Results of the DLR-Study Samel A, Basner M, Maaß H, Quehl J and Wenzel J Institute of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Center (DLR), 51170 Cologne, Germany, alexander.samel@dlr.de AIMS From 1999 to 2004, the DLR-Institute of Aerospace Medicine studied human reactions to nocturnal aircraft noise in laboratory and field experiments in order to develop statistically sound criteria for the protection of residents living in the vicinity of airports. METHODS In total, 192 healthy volunteers (m/f), aged between 18 and 65 years, underwent altogether 2240 study nights. In the isolation facility of the institute, 128 subjects were examined during 13 consecutive nights. 16 subjects served as control. For 112 subjects, aircraft noise events were applied between 4 and 128 times per night with maximum sound pressure levels (SPLs) between 45 and 80 dB(A). Sleep disturbances were assessed by EEG, EOG, EMG and EKG, by respiration, finger-pulse amplitude and position in bed. These signals were simultaneously recorded with the acoustic signals for calculating event-correlated reactions. The concentration of cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine was determined from all night urine samples. At evening and morning, performance tests and questionnaires (fatigue, wellbeing, annoyance) were applied. These data and results were validated in two field studies with 64 volunteers during 9 consecutive nights at their homes near Cologne airport. RESULTS Performance and most of the psychological parameters did not show significant dose-effect relationships, whereas annoyance on night aircraft noise did. Epinephrine and norepinephrine did not alter under nocturnal aircraft noise, cortisol excretion only changed under laboratory conditions. When effects occurred, they were much less pronounced in the field than in the laboratory. CONCLUSIONS The results of these studies contribute profound experimental knowledge to the very controversial disputes about the degree of impairing effects on human specific reactions to nocturnal aircraft noise.