Urban road-traffic noise and blood pressure in school children

Blood pressure regulation might be disturbed during a long term exposure to noise through the raise of circulatory stress hormones: adrenaline, nor-adrenaline and cortisol (Maschke et al. 2000). Several epidemiological studies have shown that roadtraffic noise might increase the risk of arterial hypertension (RR between 1.5 and 3.0) in adults who live in areas with daytime average sound pressure levels exceeding 65 dB(A) (Babisch 2006). However, the results of the studies on noise exposure and children’s blood pressure are less consistent. This association was found to be negative and non-significant (Lercher 1992), negative and significant (van Kempen et al. 2006), positive and borderline significant (Evans et al. 2001), or positive and significant (Regecova & Kellerova 1995; Belojevic et al. 2008).