Environmental burden of disease due to transportation noise in Flanders (Belgium)

Exposure to environmental noise due to transport affects public health. Cardiovascular diseases, sleep disturbance and annoyance are the most-reported harmful effects of noise exposure. Here, the burden of disease due to transportation noise in Flanders is quantified based on the disability adjusted life year methodology (DALY), combining the burden due to premature death and disability in a single index. The estimated number of DALYs due to transportation noise in Flanders in 2004 was 20,517, corresponding to 1.7% of the burden of disease in Flanders or 21.8% of the environmental burden of disease due to particular matter, ozone, carcinogenic air pollutants and noise. Nevertheless, the results must be interpreted carefully because of the rather large uncertainty range attributable to the variety in exposure level, the uncertainty of exposure–response functions and the choice of the severity weight.