Update: June 20, 2006

Aviation Noise: Health and Learning Impacts

Washington County residents are subjected to the noise pollution of more aircraft operations than any other county in the entire state of Oregon. Aviation noise intrusions within this jurisdiction include:

• All of the more than a quarter of a million aircraft flying to and from the Hillsboro Airport each year, an average of more than 670 per day. A substantial number of these are helicopter and fixed wing flight training activities that fly relentlessly and repetitively over rural and urban communities alike.
• Hundreds of commercial, cargo, and military over-flights arriving and departing from Portland International Airport (PDX) on a daily basis
• Aircraft arriving and departing at the other 26 airports, airstrips, and airparks located throughout the county.
• Aircraft flying to and from airports located in nearby jurisdictions including:
  • Scappoose Industrial Airpark, located within 15 miles of both downtown Portland and the Hillsboro Airport: 75,000 annual operations.
  • The Aurora State Airport within 20 miles of downtown Portland and the Hillsboro Airport: 80,000 annual operations.
  • McMinnville Airport within 22 miles of the Hillsboro Airport: more than 74,000 annual operations.

The purpose of this update is to review some of the noise and health impacts of this excessive aviation build-up and to provide perspective on the unseen costs carried by area residents who are forced to bear the burden.

Aircraft Noise Linked to Reading and Memory Impairment in Children

An article on the effects of aviation noise on children's learning in the June 4, 2005 issue of the highly respected medical journal, The Lancet, concluded that exposure to chronic aircraft noise was associated with significant impairments in reading comprehension and memory recognition among the 2844 school children between the ages of 9-10 who were assessed. The authors, who controlled for socioeconomic variations among the participants, stated that tasks involving "central processing, and language comprehension, such as reading, attention, problem solving and memory seem most affected by exposure to noise." The article suggested that attention, auditory discrimination, and speech perception deficits may result in part from the indiscriminate and inadvertent tuning out of relevant information in an effort to block out unwanted aircraft sound. The students who participated in the study were from 89 different schools near three international European airports - Heathrow in England, Schiphol near the Netherlands, and Barajas in Spain. The largest of these is Heathrow.

For a local perspective, please note that the Port of Portland network of airports - PDX, Hillsboro, Troutdale, and Mulino combined, all of which are located within 20 miles of downtown Portland, log more than 600,000 operations annually - 125,000 more than Heathrow which logged 469,560 in 2005.

Aircraft Noise Linked to Increase in Blood Pressure and Stress in Children

A 1998 report on a longitudinal study conducted by Cornell University in Ithaca New York measured the health impacts of aviation noise on 217 children in a rural area located 22 miles from Munich, Germany. The findings revealed that 3rd and 4th graders residing under a new flight path experienced an increase in both blood pressure and stress hormone production when compared to a group of children living in a quieter area. In addition they experienced an overall decline in their quality of life.

The EPA on Noise and Health Noise: A Health Problem (1978) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states: "...noise is more than a nuisance. It constitutes a real and present danger to people's health." The following are identified in this report as potential health problems linked to the stress response associated with noise:

• Hearing loss: "Noise levels in many places and in some of the transportation vehicles we use are above the levels believed to cause hearing damage over prolonged periods."
• Heart disease: "A growing body of evidence strongly suggests a link between exposure to noise and the development and aggravation of a number of heart disease problems...Noise causes stress and the body reacts with increased adrenaline, changes in heart rate, and elevated blood pressure." Grade school children exposed to aircraft noise were found to have higher blood pressure readings.
• Increase in "diseases of adaptation" including ulcers, colitis, asthma, headaches, and high blood pressure due to stress response. "The idea that people get used to noise is a myth. Even when we think we have become accustomed to noise biological changes take place inside us, preparing us for physical activity if necessary." This section further explained that noise does not have to be loud to bring on the stress response. "Noise below the levels usually associated with hearing damage can cause regular and predictable changes in the body."
• Potential for lower birth weights and possible birth defects in developing fetuses exposed to noise.
• Reading difficulties in children due in part to the disruption in learning and requisite time needed to refocus.
• Sleep disturbance from aircraft noise may disrupt the normal sleep cycle of children and adults which can in turn undermine physical and mental well-being and functioning.
• Increase in annoyance and agitation can lead to psychological destabilization and an increase in social conflicts. "Research in the United States and England point to higher rates of admission to psychiatric hospitals among people living close to airports. And studies of several industries show that prolonged noise exposure may lead to a larger number of psychological problems among workers."

Concluding Remarks

A review of the foregoing literature indicates that a significant reduction in air traffic noise intrusions would be likely to increase school and job performance; promote the health and well-being of developing fetuses, children, and adults over the course of their life span; decrease emergency room visits and hospital admissions for both medical and psychiatric patients; reduce learning and memory impairments; improve sleep; and contribute substantially to the overall quality of life for hundreds of thousands of area residents.

Additional Information

The League for the Hard of Hearing in their "Airport Noise Fact Sheet" refers to a body of research linking noise to stress, hypertension, sleep disturbances, and to negative impacts on work-related, learning, and academic performance in both children and adults. This site also includes a number of other informative articles on noise issues. The Alliance of Residents Concerning O'Hare lists a number of helpful links on noise as does the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse. For information on Airport Noise Law and litigation issues click on http://home.netvista.net/~hpb.