Aircraft Noise and Health

Following on from its 2016 work, the Trust continues to support ongoing efforts to better understand links between aircraft noise and public health. In March 2019, the Trust co-sponsored a major London conference on aircraft noise, and were delighted that Public Health England, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Department for Transport and the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise (ICCAN) all participated and shared their views.

One of the issues that emerged from the event was that the evidence cut-off for the World Health Organisation’s 2018 community exposure noise guidelines was 2014. The Trust has begun work to better understand how the evidence base may have changed since then, focusing on the studies that have been completed between 2015 and 2020 as well as identifying those that are underway and will deliver results in the coming years.

The Trust is also continuing to support NGO participation in the ANCO and RISTANCO projects being undertaken by Leicester University with funding from the Medical Research Council and NIHR, and support from Public Health England.

Aircraft Noise and Cardiovascular Outcomes (ANCO) aims to conduct the first comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular (CVD) impacts of aircraft noise near major airports in the UK, by carrying out both small-area and individual-level (cohort-based) analyses