Measuring Noise for Health Impact Assessment
Encyclopedia of Environmental Health, (2011)Abstract
A good estimate of noise exposure of the population is needed to assess
its health impacts. Measuring noise levels seems the most direct
way to obtain exposure, but this contribution shows that this is
not always as trivial as it might look. A first important issue is
the selection of a suitable spectro-temporal integrated indicator.
Secondly, the choice between personal exposure monitoring and environmental
monitoring needs to be considered. This contribution also compares
noise measurement to calculating noise exposure levels and discusses
the advantages and disadvantages of both angles of attack. Finally,
the problem of relating the noise levels to the population is addressed.
The latter boils down to finding out where people live based on limited
geospatial information.