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Exposure to road noise increases the risk of heart attack
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Exposure to road noise over a long period of time increases the risk of heart attack and various cardiovascular diseases, according to a new study by a group of Danish scientists published in the latest issue of the journal PLoS ONE.
Recently, a group of scientists also tried to analyze combined factors of influence – road noise and air pollution, but the results in some parts of the study were quite contradictory. The study involved 50,614 people in Denmark. As a result, a special scale was developed, according to which if a person lives near a road, then depending on the noise it creates, the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases may vary.
So, if a person lives near the road, and the volume of passing cars is 10 decibels, then the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases increases by 12% compared to normal values. It is interesting that according to the traditional classification of sound volume, the volume of 10 decibels is equivalent to the sound of rustling leaves in the wind. In this case, the risk increases proportionally by 12% with every 10 decibels. It is interesting that the level of 40 decibels, which is currently the norm in many countries of the world, for the time from 7 am to 11 pm, as it is not difficult to calculate, increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases by 48%. The norm of 55 decibels, which is considered suitable for office premises, increases the risk accordingly by 66%.
At the same time, all the above conclusions were obtained by Danish researchers purely statistically – they cannot yet explain the relationship between two seemingly unrelated factors from a scientific point of view. It was suggested that the reason lies in the feeling of tension that a person subconsciously experiences due to traffic noise, as well as sleep disturbances that they may encounter due to passing cars.
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