A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology echoes previous findings that show exposure to aircraft noise, particularly at night, can lead to life-threatening problems with heart health.
The research involved over 3,600 participants with no self-declared hearing difficulties who all live near the UK’s four major airports. Night-time aircraft noise levels and weighted 24-hour, day-evening-night aircraft noise levels were provided by the UK Civil Aviation Authority. It aimed to investigate associations between noise exposure and cardiovascular MRI metrics.
Thickened heart tissue and poorer heart performance
Bluntly, it was discovered that participants who experienced high levels of night-time aircraft noise had heart damage. This showed up in the form of 7% excessive development of their left heart ventricles, known as “hypertrophy”, and 4% thicker ventricle walls, as well as worse left ventricle blood pumping action or “myocardial dynamics”. These could lead to “an increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events,” the authors said.
No cause and effect have yet been proven, the study’s senior author Gabriella Captur, MD pointed out. “Our study is observational so we cannot say with certainty that high levels of aircraft noise caused these differences in heart structure and function,” she noted. “However, our findings add to a growing body of evidence that aircraft noise can adversely affect heart health and our health more generally.”
Captur called for “Concerted efforts from government and industry” which she said “are needed to reduce our exposure to aircraft noise and mitigate its impact on the health of millions of people who live close to airports or under flight paths.”
Risk of major cardiac event up to four times higher
Interestingly, the study found that results in people exposed to day, evening and night-time aircraft noise were not as clear, but “broadly similar”. What’s more, the researchers found that other adverse health conditions, such as high body mass index (BMI) and high blood pressure or hypertension, were “mediating factors”. In other words, they are factors that correlate both with aircraft noise and impaired heart tissue and heart function.
The authors summed up the health risks neatly: “high decibels mean higher stakes, a simple formula for the cardiovascular fallout for aircraft noise.” How high are those stakes? According to a separate study, involving more than 21,000 people from the UK Biobank, the types of heart abnormalities observed could result in two-to four-fold increased risks of a major cardiac event such as a heart attack, life-threatening heart rhythms, or stroke, compared with individuals who living outside of high noise areas.
