Noise pollution near schools has serious effects
Children attending school or living in areas impacted by transport noise tend to score lower on reading comprehension and face more behavioural challenges according to an European Environment Agency (EEA) report. Picture: Denis Minihane
Noise pollution is getting worse. Ask anyone living near a motorway, major road, railways, or an airport. More traffic, more noise.
And, there’s increasing evidence that transport noise especially is linked to health issues such as heart disease, sleep disturbance, stress, and mental health problems.
Adults may complain regularly about excessive noise, but children growing up in an increasingly noisy society not so much. However, higher noise levels can damage children’s progress in school and lead to difficulties with their behaviour, a new study finds.
More than one out of five Europeans of all ages is exposed to harmful, long-term noise from transport, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA).
This noise exposure leads to more than 500,000 children suffering from impaired reading ability and almost 60,000 having behavioural difficulties in Europe.
Last year, a mapping exercise by our Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that 1,326,000 people here are exposed to noise levels above accepted limits for road traffic and also above World Health Organization (WHO) levels.
That’s a quarter of the population, including about 885,000 people, or half of their total population, in major urban centres such as Cork, Dublin, and Limerick.
Anyone walking around Cork city, suburban villages such as Douglas and Wilton, or the precincts of Cork University Hospital, will be well aware of this. The EPA says 54% of Cork’s urban population, close to 120,000, are subject to noise levels above mandatory limits.
A noise action plan has highlighted priority areas around the country for local authorities to work on but, says the EPA, there’s "only moderate" progress in getting on with necessary remedial work. It calls for a coordinated national policy on the issue.
Back to children. Research also indicates that those in homes, or schools, affected by transport noise tend to score lower in reading ability and show behavioural difficulties.
Children could have problems with memory and thinking, while being at risk of hyperactivity, or emotional problems if subjected to higher noise levels at night.
The EEA study shows that more than 500,000 children in Europe have problems with reading and 60,000 with behaviour issues arising from transport noise.
Reducing noise exposure at home, and in school, would help such children and the EEA calls for the implementation of effective noise reduction policies.
Its proposes lower speed limits, low-noise road surfaces and tyres, operational curbs for planes and trains, and keeping school classrooms and children’s rooms in homes away from busy roads.
The EU’s zero-pollution action plans aim to reduce the number of people chronically disturbed by transport noise by 30% by 2030. Based on current assessments, it is unlikely this target will be achieved, however.
