WHO Says Traffic Noises Lead to Sleep Disturbances

Experts with the UN World Health Organization (WHO) say that traffic noises were recently classified as a form of harmful pollution, on account of the negative effects they have on people's mental and physical well-being.

Details of the reasons the WHO invoked for this measure were published in the October issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Science Blog reports.

Primarily, traffic noises – especially in big cities – produce annoyance, sleep disturbance, and increased stress in populations living close to highways, ports and airports. This has significant psychosocial repercussions on these individuals' lives and work performances.

“Assessing and alleviating environmental noise is an essential element for improving or creating healthy communities where adults and children can play, work, and live,” says a co-investigator on the report, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expert, James B. Holt, PhD.