Listening to Canadians about environmental noise
Exposure to environmental noise is a growing concern in Canada and worldwide. Environmental noise refers to unwanted sounds caused by human activity, and encompasses sounds that surround us every day—road traffic, public transit, planes, construction, leaf blowers, and even pickle ball courts. Noise exposure is expected to increase worldwide due to increased demand for transport, housing, and infrastructure driven by population growth. Recently, the global quieting of urban centres during COVID-19 lockdowns and a renewed appreciation for the health benefits of typically quieter green spaces have influenced how Canadians perceive noise exposure. This blog provides an overview of current knowledge, attitudes, and trends of environmental noise exposure and discusses the how environmental health practitioners can contribute to proactive noise management planning.
What are the health effects of noise exposure?
Often people are aware of the adverse effects of exposure to very loud noises, including hearing loss and tinnitus. Short-term, non-auditory effects of noise exposure—such as discomfort, annoyance, loss of productivity, and loss of sleep—can also affect people’s health, especially if the exposure occurs where individuals spend a lot of time, such as at work or at home. Chronic exposure to noise has been shown to cause damage to the inner ear, and is associated with numerous health effects that are believed to arise from biological stress mechanisms including cardiovascular diseases, metabolic diseases, cognitive, and mental health impacts.
What do Canadians think about noise?
In March 2022, Health Canada released the results of a national survey of perceptions and attitudes towards noise exposure, an update to a previous national noise survey completed in 2005. The survey asked residents about their level of annoyance from various sources of noise. Noise annoyance is a commonly used measure in noise impact assessments to estimate the health burden of noise exposure. An increased prevalence of noise annoyance has been shown to be associated with increasing noise levels.
The results of the Health Canada survey highlight the differences in sources of noise annoyance among urban, suburban, and rural residents. Road traffic is a top source of environmental noise for urban residents, who are significantly more likely to report annoyance due to road traffic and that road traffic than suburban and rural residents. The survey also compared the prevalence of noise annoyance due to different sources of noise by geographic region, as shown in the table below.
|
Urban |
Suburban |
Rural |
Top sources of noise annoyance among Canadians |
Road traffic noise |
Lawnmowers |
Wind turbines |
Aircraft noise |
Hedge trimmers |
Mining activities |
|
Industry (unrelated to mining) |
Leaf blowers |
Marine activity |
|
Construction (including backup warning alarms) |
Chain saws |
|
Table adapted from the findings of the Canadian Perspectives on Environmental Noise Survey (2022).
Changing trends in noise exposure
Urban communities are generally exposed to greater levels of environmental noise than suburban and rural populations. However, changing trends in where people work and live arising from the COVID-19 pandemic have the potential to change the types of noise they are exposed to. For example, the increase in working from home may result in individuals being bothered by daytime noise that they may not have noticed as they had previously spent their working hours away from their home. A recent survey of Canadians in October 2020 found that 78% of respondents aged 18–34 reported being disturbed by noise at home in the past year, the highest proportion of any age group in the study. This may reflect the fact that this age group is more likely to be working remotely in multi-residential buildings, which tend to be more often located close to noise-emitting infrastructure such as roads and public transit. The rise of teleworking, along with rising real estate prices in urban centres, has also fueled a national “urban exodus”, with many Canadians seeking to live in suburban and rural areas. A 2021 survey found that one in three Canadians were interested in moving to a smaller community or rural location, and that 40% of those who wanted to move cited a quieter pace of life as their top reason for wanting to leave their current community. Rural residents also have a greater expectation of quiet in their community compared to their urban and suburban counterparts, which may present a challenge as rural communities expand to meet the infrastructure demands of an increasing population.
The sound of opportunity
To meet the housing demands of increasing population growth in urban and rural communities, Canada is currently in an unprecedented phase of housing construction. A recent report estimated that in 2021, the highest number of housing units began construction in Canada since 1977. With new construction comes new neighbourhoods and an opportunity to include considerations for noise exposure during land-use planning. Actions taken to manage noise exposure are often reactive, rather than proactive. Noise mitigation is an important part of reducing exposure from existing sources of noise, but current research indicates that including noise considerations as part of land-use planning is more effective at promoting a beneficial soundscape. While managing noise in urban areas will continue to be an important part of reducing the health burden of environmental noise, the preservation of quiet in green space and rural areas is an equally important consideration as a means to reduce the overall noise exposure of Canadians.
There is a need for increased collaboration between environmental health practitioners and land use planners around noise and noise management. Environmental health practitioners can advocate for noise management in their communities by providing evidence-based information about the health effects of environmental noise exposure and working with regional authorities to develop noise management policies that meet the needs of their population. One tool for managing noise exposure is a community noise action plan that provides a framework for reducing environmental noise from known noise sources (such as roads, airports, and railways) and for protecting quiet areas. Environmental health practitioners can help stakeholders develop a noise action plan by:
- Carrying out or providing guidance on an assessment of noise exposure in the community, using tools such as a noise annoyance survey or noise mapping
- Providing evidence-based guidance on noise reduction targets
- Supporting public consultation efforts relating to noise exposure and noise reduction strategies through public education and/or assessing public attitudes towards environmental noise
- Supporting continued monitoring of noise exposure and evaluation of the effectiveness of implemented mitigation measures
Summary
Noise exposure in Canada is expected to increase due to population growth and densification of communities. While urban centres experience a greater overall burden of noise exposure, rural areas face different challenges due to noise, partly stemming from a greater expectation of quiet from residents and an increased need for the construction of infrastructure to meet a growing population. Including noise management considerations as part of land-use planning has been shown to be the most effective at reducing noise exposure. Environmental health practitioners can help communities commit to making noise exposure a priority by assisting in the development of a noise action plan. As demonstrated in the 2022 Health Canada noise survey, environmental noise exposure is a growing concern in Canada. As such, a proactive approach to noise management is needed to protect Canadians from the health effects of exposure to environmental noise.
Author
Kelsey James is an EH & KT Scientist at the NCCEH.