Place effects on noise annoyance: Cumulative exposures, odour annoyance and noise sensitivity as mediators of environmental context

• A survey sample in Windsor, ON, Canada were assessed for exposure to traffic noise and NO2.
• Cumulative exposures to NO2 and traffic noise depends on environmental context.
• There is a multiplicative effect of NO2 and traffic noise on noise annoyance.
• Noise sensitivity and odour annoyance can capture place-effects on noise annoyance.

Previous research suggests there may be combined effects of outdoor air pollution and traffic noise on noise annoyance, but it is not known how environmental context can moderate these effects. Physical attributes of the environment can influence relative levels of exposure, while sociocultural contexts can moderate environmental perceptions. Noise sensitivity is an important factor in appraisal, but previous research has not linked levels of sensitivity to contextual factors. The objectives of this study were to understand how a high-volume traffic corridor and pollution hotspot could influence co-exposures to air pollution and traffic noise and consequent levels of noise annoyance. Data from a community survey (n = 610) along with modelled estimates of residential traffic noise and nitrogen dioxide exposure were utilized for the analyses. The effective loudness function for noise annoyance and an ordinal location-scale model showed that varying levels of co-exposure to traffic noise and air pollution along with odour annoyances in the corridor and a control area had strong effects on the noise annoyance dose–response. The results also indicated that there was a significantly higher level of error in predicting noise annoyance in the corridor area. There appeared to be neighbourhood-level differences in the effect of noise sensitivity on noise annoyance. The findings have important implications for our understanding of multiple exposures along with the influence of environmental context on noise annoyance. In particular, this study demonstrates that research on the effects of traffic noise across large urban areas may conceal important phenomena occurring at the neighbourhood level.