Testing of the European Union exposure-response relationships and annoyance equivalents model for annoyance due to transportation noises: The need of revised exposure-response relationships and annoyance equivalents model. (September 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gille, Laure-Anne; Marquis-Favre, Catherine; Morel, Julien
• Is Part Of: Environment international. Volume 94(2016:Sep.)
• Page Start: 83
• Page End: 94
• Publication Date: 2016-09
• Subjects: Transportation noise -- Noise annoyance -- Exposure-response relationship -- Multilevel regression -- Annoyance equivalents model -- Combined noises; Environmental protection -- Periodicals; Environmental health -- Periodicals; Environmental monitoring -- Periodicals; Environmental Monitoring -- Periodicals; Environnement -- Protection -- Périodiques; Hygiène du milieu -- Périodiques; Environnement -- Surveillance -- Périodiques; Environmental health; Environmental monitoring; Environmental protection; Periodicals; 333.705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2016.04.027
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0160-4120

Abstract

Abstract: An in situ survey was performed in 8 French cities in 2012 to study the annoyance due to combined transportation noises. As the European Commission recommends to use the exposure–response relationships suggested by Miedema and Oudshoorn [Environmental Health Perspective, 2001] to predict annoyance due to single transportation noise, these exposure–response relationships were tested using the annoyance due to each transportation noise measured during the French survey. These relationships only enabled a good prediction in terms of the percentages of people highly annoyed by road traffic noise. For the percentages of people annoyed and a little annoyed by road traffic noise, the quality of prediction is weak. For aircraft and railway noises, prediction of annoyance is not satisfactory either. As a consequence, the annoyance equivalents model of Miedema [The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2004], based on these exposure-response relationships did not enable a good prediction of annoyance due to combined transportation noises. Local exposure-response relationships were derived, following the whole computation suggested by Miedema and Oudshoorn [Environmental Health Perspective, 2001]. They led to a better calculation of annoyance due to each transportation noise in the French cities. A new version of the annoyance equivalents model was proposed using these new exposure-response relationships. This model enabled a better prediction of the total annoyance due to the combined transportation noises. These results encourage therefore to improve the annoyance prediction for noise in isolation with local or revised exposure-response relationships, which will also contribute to improve annoyance modeling for combined noises. With this aim in mind, a methodology is proposed to consider noise sensitivity in exposure-response relationships and in the annoyance equivalents model. The results showed that taking into account such variable did not enable to enhance both exposure-response relationships and the annoyance equivalents model. Highlights: New survey data dealing with annoyance due to transportation noises were collected. European Union exposure-response relationships were tested and new ones derived. Measured total annoyance was used to test the annoyance equivalents model. A new annoyance equivalents model was derived using new exposure-response relationships. A way to consider sensitivity in single and total noise annoyance model is proposed.