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June 2003

Consequences of Aircraft Noise on Children's Learning

A Summary of Recent Scientific Literature

Heathrow Studies
With a team of researchers at the University of London, Dr Mary Haines et al have been conducting a series of studies in primary schools around Heathrow Airport examining the effects of aircraft noise on children's health and performance. These projects were funded by the UK Government and the European Commission, reflecting the growing interest and policy importance of the impact of noise exposure on children in the UK and Europe.

Previous studies were designed to compare the school performance and health of children in schools exposed to high levels of aircraft noise (aircraft over flight every 90 seconds in some cases) with children in schools exposed to low levels of aircraft noise (equivalent to London average). Children chronically exposed to aircraft noise have lower reading ability (some have a reading age six months behind their peers) and report higher annoyance than children in less noisy schools. These studies have been designed to take into consideration other factors that may influence health and performance, such as parental education and employment status, household deprivation, school quality, other environmental factors and main language spoken at home, and the effects still remain.

These findings are comparable with similar studies conducted in schools in Munich, Los Angeles and New York. Although the results of these studies around Heathrow do not conclusively demonstrate that noise presents a significant threat to child health, they do suggest that aircraft noise may well present a significant threat to children's reading ability and quality of life.

SUMMARY

1. Children are a high-risk group vulnerable to the effects of chronic aircraft noise exposure (Haines et al. 2001c).
2. In children, chronic aircraft noise exposure impairs reading comprehension and long-term memory and may be associated with increased blood pressure (Stansfeld et al. 2000).
3. Chronic aircraft noise exposure was associated with higher levels of noise annoyance and poorer reading comprehension measured by standardised scales with adjustments for age, deprivation and main language spoken. The association between aircraft noise exposure and reading comprehension could not be accounted for by the mediating role of annoyance, confounding by social class, deprivation, main language or acute noise exposure. (Haines et al. 2001a)
4. Complex tasks that involve language comprehension such as reading, attention, problem solving and memory are more affected by noise exposure than simple tasks. (Haines et al 2001b).
5. The reading and annoyance effects do not habituate over a one-year period and do not provide strong evidence of adaptation. (Haines et al. 2001c).

RANCH Project
In January 2001 Barts and London's Dept. of Psychiatry began its 3-year Road Traffic and Aircraft Noise Exposure and Children's Cognition and Health (RANCH) project.

Children may be at high risk from noise pollution. Noise pollution from aircraft and road traffic may have an adverse effect on children's' cognition and health. Specifically, these effects could include: annoyance; stress-related psycho physiological effects; impaired cognitive function; raised blood pressure and disturbed sleep. Knowledge is lacking for exposure-effect relationships for cognitive function and health, from road traffic noise, aircraft noise and combinations of these, and on the link between child health and total physical and social environments at school and home

This research project is based on varied and complementary expertise from observational and experimental sciences, involving a partnership of scientific expertise from four European countries. Four large field studies and four in-depth studies will test for effects of noise on cognition and health, ensuring cross border replication and taking account of variation in noise exposure, in educational and living environments and social and cultural variation across Europe

This study will provide a robust evidence base for pan-European policies on noise, cognitive effects and health in children

This project is comprised of the following components:

1. 4 epidemiological field studies on chronic exposure from road and aircraft noise, conducted in The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK
2. 2 quasi-experimental psychological field studies, conducted in Sweden and the UK
3. 2 bio-medical laboratory studies on acute noise exposure, conducted in Sweden and the UK

See www.ranchproject.org/

References

S. Stansfeld, M. Haines, & B. Brown (2000): Noise and Health in the Urban Environment. Reviews on Environmental Health 15, p43-82.

M. Haines, S. Stansfeld, R. Job, B. Berglund and J. Head (2001a): Chronic aircraft noise exposure, stress responses, mental health and cognitive performance in school children. Psychological Medicine 31, p265-277.

M. Haines, S. Stansfeld, S. Brentnall, J. Head, B. Berry, M. Jiggins & S. Hygge (2001b): The West London Schools Study: the effects of chronic aircraft noise exposure on child health. Psychological Medicine 31, p1385-1396.

M. Haines, S. Stansfeld, R. Job, B. Berglund & J. Head (2001c): A follow-up study of effects of chronic noise exposure on child stress responses and cognition. International Journal of Epidemiology 30, p839-845.