Does traffic noise ever bother you -- when you're not driving of course...?
A new report has revealed the noisiest and quietest urban areas in England. The Widex Noise Report -- Widex makes hearing aids -- found that the noisiest presents a serious threat to our health.
Newcastle-upon Tyne comes top of the traffic noise table with 80.4 deciBels (dB) – equivalent to a loud alarm clock constantly ringing in your ear -- while at the bottom of the table, Torquay was bottom with a relatively peaceful 60 dB, the same level as a normal conversation. As decibels are a logarithmic index this makes Newcastle 100 times noisier than Torquay.
The biggest cities appear in the top three (2nd ranked Birmingham 79.1dB, 3rd ranked London 78.5 dB) as youmight expect, but smaller towns can be noisy too. Darlington and Gillingham are ranked well above larger metropolitan areas such as Manchester and Liverpool. The full list of towns and cities measured for traffic noise pollution is below.
The Widex Noise Report was compiled by measuring traffic noise in 41 towns and cities around England during rush hour periods. Measurement locations were chosen where people come into close proximity to traffic.
The report’s author Professor Deepak Prasher, of the Ear Institute, University College London, worked with Widex to devise a methodology that would give a ‘snapshot’ of the levels of noise pollution around the country. Prasher and his team carried out the measurements during October and November 2006.
Traffic noise was measured because everyone's exposed to it, said Widex. Transport is a major noise polluter and traffic noise is the largest element of it, reckoned the report. The levels of traffic noise the report has uncovered are a threat to our health and wellbeing and should be seen as detrimental as air pollution, the company said. If loud enough, prolonged exposure to traffic noise could lead to irreversible hearing damage requiring a visit to a professional audiologist, according to Widex.
Prasher said: "Noise pollution in our towns and cities is a growing problem and can have a serious long-term impact on our health and well-being. Noise not only annoys but also can raise our stress levels and associated hormone levels. It can disturb sleep and increase the risk of heart disease and if the noise is loud enough it can lead to permanent hearing impairment and tinnitus.”
|
Rank
|
Location
|
dB
|
|
1
|
Newcastle upon Tyne
|
80.4
|
|
2
|
Birmingham
|
79.1
|
|
3
|
London
|
78.5
|
|
=4
|
Darlington
|
78.3
|
|
=4
|
Doncaster
|
78.3
|
|
=6
|
Gillingham
|
77.8
|
|
=6
|
Leeds
|
77.8
|
|
=8
|
Leicester
|
77.5
|
|
=8
|
Liverpool
|
77.5
|
|
10
|
Stoke
|
77.4
|
|
11
|
Manchester
|
77.3
|
|
12
|
Sheffield
|
76.3
|
|
13
|
Nottingham
|
76.2
|
|
14
|
Bournemouth
|
76
|
|
15
|
Norwich
|
75.9
|
|
=16
|
Bristol
|
75.8
|
|
=16
|
Blackpool
|
75.8
|
|
18
|
Croydon
|
75.5
|
|
19
|
Swindon
|
75.2
|
| |
|
|
|
20
|
Exeter
|
74.6
|
|
21
|
Coventry
|
74.5
|
|
22
|
Brighton
|
74.3
|
|
23
|
Carlisle
|
74.2
|
|
24
|
Sunderland
|
73.8
|
|
25
|
Plymouth
|
73.6
|
|
26
|
Southampton
|
72.5
|
|
=27
|
Cheltenham
|
72.4
|
|
=27
|
Lincoln
|
72.4
|
|
29
|
Bury St.Edmunds
|
72.3
|
|
30
|
Ipswich
|
71.9
|
|
31
|
York
|
71.5
|
|
32
|
Eastbourne
|
70.8
|
|
33
|
Oxford
|
70.7
|
|
34
|
Chelmsford
|
70.3
|
|
=35
|
Reading
|
69.8
|
|
=35
|
Cambridge
|
69.8
|
|
37
|
Colchester
|
68.1
|
|
38
|
Folkestone
|
66.8
|
|
39
|
Scunthorpe
|
66.4
|
|
40
|
Paignton
|
65.7
|
|
41
|
Torquay
|
60.2
|
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