Noise and air pollution from urban traffic

Together with atmospheric emission of pollutants, noise can affect the health of the population. Especially urban traffic is important for the population health, because its proximity to the receptors. In comparison with other pollutants, the control of environmental noise has been hampered by insufficient knowledge of its effects on human and of dose-response relationships, as well as by a lack of defined criteria. Due to high levels of external noise and interior noise, difficulties are in communication and a series of nonspecific symptoms: irritability, headache, palpitations, sleep disorders, stress. Concerning air pollution, the health of population is directly influenced by the primary emissions or atmospheric transformation from the motor vehicles. Few studies have characterized the spatial correlation between both factors, air pollutants and noise, thus this paper, based on urban noise measurements, presents preliminary data on noise level in a European capital and a discussion where interactions with air quality are dealt with. Data demonstrate that the urban structure of the city analysed cannot guarantee an adequate protection of the population against noise, because of the interactions between neighbour areas.