Effects of ground-borne noise from railway tunnels on sleep: A polysomnographic study

Smith, Michael G.; Ögren, Mikael; Morsing, Julia Ageborg; Waye, Kerstin Persson

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2018.12.009

Cited by 36 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Especially high frequencies that are filtered for aircraft noise via the atmosphere were found to explain differences in awakening probability between traffic noise sources [20]. Recently, it has also been shown for railway noise that high frequency components are more likely to induce event-related arousals and increases in heart rate than low frequency events [48]. The fluctuations in freight train sounds as well as its sharpness have also been found to have an impact [49].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the Effects of Road, Railway, and Aircraft Noise on Sleep: Exposure–Response Relationships from Pooled Data of Three Laboratory Studies

Elmenhorst

Griefahn

Rolny

et al. 2019

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: Air, road, and railway traffic, the three major sources of traffic noise, have been reported to differently impact on annoyance. However, these findings may not be transferable to physiological reactions during sleep which are considered to decrease nighttime recovery and might mediate long-term negative health effects. Studies on awakenings from sleep indicate that railway noise, while having the least impact on annoyance, may have the most disturbing properties on sleep compared to aircraft noise. This study presents a comparison between the three major traffic modes and their probability to cause awakenings. In combining acoustical and polysomnographical data from three laboratory studies sample size and generalizability of the findings were increased. Methods: Data from three laboratory studies were pooled, conducted at two sites in Germany (German Aerospace Center, Cologne, and Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund). In total, the impact of 109,836 noise events on polysomnographically assessed awakenings was analyzed in 237 subjects using a random intercept logistic regression model. Results: The best model fit according to the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) included different acoustical and sleep parameters. After adjusting for these moderators results showed that the probability to wake up from equal maximum A-weighted sound pressure levels (SPL) increased in the order aircraft < road < railway noise, the awakening probability from road and railway noise being not significantly different (p = 0.988). At 70 dB SPL, it was more than 7% less probable to wake up due to aircraft noise than due to railway noise. Conclusions: The three major traffic noise sources differ in their impact on sleep. The order with which their impact increased was inversed compared to the order that was found in annoyance surveys. It is thus important to choose the correct concept for noise legislation, i.e., physiological sleep metrics in addition to noise annoyance for nighttime noise protection.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the Effects of Road, Railway, and Aircraft Noise on Sleep: Exposure–Response Relationships from Pooled Data of Three Laboratory Studies

Elmenhorst

Griefahn

Rolny

et al. 2019

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, the 32 dB noise level in the WTN nights is low relative to other environmental noise pollutants and corresponds to levels that have been used as “quiet” or “control” nights in some previous investigations of noise and sleep [ 69 , 70 ]. The effects of noise from other sources (air, road, and rail traffic) at comparable levels to the WTN nights in the current study have accordingly found no effects on sleep macrostructure [ 50 , 63 , 71 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

“…Effects of noise on REM sleep are not specific to wind turbines. For instance, it was recently reported that nights with rather low levels (35–45 dB L AEq,indoor,night ) of ground-borne low-frequency noise from railway tunnels led to a reduction in total REM time of around 5–7 min compared to a quiet control night [ 50 ]. Longer REM latencies have been observed during nights with road or rail traffic noise [ 61 , 62 ], although other studies have found shorter REM latencies or no effect [ 63 , 64 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The measured noise level during the different 2-h noise scenarios (low or high AM; window closed or ajar) is given in Table 2 . Previous measurements of low-frequency noise indicated there was a spatial-dependent level variation of less than 1 dB at positions ±15 cm horizontally around this central pillow position [ 50 ]. As such, WTN levels at the calibration position would closely match WTN levels at the ears of the study participants during sleep, even if they moved around.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We calculated two event-related measures of autonomic arousal that we previously found were sensitive to low-frequency noise at low maximum sound pressure levels [ 50 ] and could therefore be suitable for detecting response to WTN events. For each event we calculated the maximum change in heart rate (ΔHR max ) in the screening window relative to the mean baseline heart rate in the 30 s epoch preceding the event.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A laboratory study on the effects of wind turbine noise on sleep: results of the polysomnographic WiTNES study

Smith

Ögren

Thorsson

et al. 2020

Sleep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Study Objectives Assess the physiologic and self-reported effects of wind turbine noise (WTN) on sleep. Methods Laboratory sleep study (n = 50 participants: n = 24 living close to wind turbines and n = 26 as a reference group) using polysomnography, electrocardiography, salivary cortisol, and questionnaire endpoints. Three consecutive nights (23:00–07:00): one habituation followed by a randomized quiet Control and an intervention night with synthesized 32 dB LAEq WTN. Noise in WTN nights simulated closed and ajar windows and low and high amplitude modulation depth. Results There was a longer rapid eye movement (REM) sleep latency (+16.8 min) and lower amount of REM sleep (−11.1 min, −2.2%) in WTN nights. Other measures of objective sleep did not differ significantly between nights, including key indicators of sleep disturbance (sleep efficiency: Control 86.6%, WTN 84.2%; wakefulness after sleep onset: Control 45.2 min, WTN 52.3 min; awakenings: Control n = 11.4, WTN n = 11.5) or the cortisol awakening response. Self-reported sleep was consistently rated as worse following WTN nights, and individuals living close to wind turbines had worse self-reported sleep in both the Control and WTN nights than the reference group. Conclusions Amplitude-modulated continuous WTN may impact on self-assessed and some aspects of physiologic sleep. Future studies are needed to generalize these findings outside of the laboratory and should include more exposure nights and further examine possible habituation or sensitization.

show abstract

The effect of noise exposure on sleep quality of urban residents: A comparative study in Shanghai, China

Lan

Sun

et al. 2023

Build. Simul.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Effects of ground-borne noise from railway tunnels on sleep: A polysomnographic study

Cited by 36 publications

References 39 publications

Comparing the Effects of Road, Railway, and Aircraft Noise on Sleep: Exposure–Response Relationships from Pooled Data of Three Laboratory Studies

Comparing the Effects of Road, Railway, and Aircraft Noise on Sleep: Exposure–Response Relationships from Pooled Data of Three Laboratory Studies

A laboratory study on the effects of wind turbine noise on sleep: results of the polysomnographic WiTNES study

The effect of noise exposure on sleep quality of urban residents: A comparative study in Shanghai, China

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About