The ENNAH project (The European Network on Noise and Health) was funded by the European Union’s
7th Framework Program (FP7‐ENV‐2008‐1, project no.226442) to establish a research network of experts
on noise and health in Europe. The network brought together 33 European research centres from 16
countries to establish future research directions and policy needs for noise and health in Europe. ENNAH
focused on the study of environmental noise sources, in particular transport noise. This network
facilitated high level scientific communication and encouraged productive interdisciplinary discussion
and exchange through a series of workshops and reports.
An important aspect of the ENNAH Network has been identifying gaps in noise and health research while
at the same time assessing, prioritizing and integrating the future research orientation into policy
development which would lead to an efficient investment of resources allocated to noise and health
research. Noise maps produced under the direction of the Environmental Noise Directive (2002/49/EC)
are potentially a very useful resource for noise and health research. We have reviewed the advantages and
disadvantages of current noise maps and recommended future changes that would make these maps more
appropriate for noise and health research. We have also considered possible new methods for acoustic
measurement and modelling which will help to develop innovative exposure measurement techniques in
future noise and health studies.
Primarily, ENNAH focused on outlining new priorities for research on environmental noise and health
which will hopefully feed into future calls for funding on environment and health matters from the EU. In
some areas this means strengthening the evidence on existing exposure effect relationships and using
more robust methods such as longitudinal rather than cross sectional studies. This is particularly relevant
to the research on environmental noise and hypertension and coronary heart disease and on studies of
noise and children’s learning. Increasingly relevant for policy is new research that tests whether
interventions to reduce noise are effective and also whether they have an impact on health. This is of great
practical importance because it can suggest what interventions are efficient and cost optimized.
Last but not least, a further important area identified is to assess where new investment in noise research
should be placed, whether this relates to previously non‐ or poorly studied health outcomes or
improvements in the noise and health methodological framework.
LEKAVICIUTE GADAL Jurgita;
KEPHALOPOULOS Stylianos;
STANSFELD Stephen;
CLARK Charlotte;
Lekaviciute Gadal J, Kephalopoulos S, Stansfeld S, Clark C. Final Report of the ENNAH (European Network on Noise and Health) project. EUR 25809. Luxembourg (Luxembourg): Publications Office of the European Union; 2013. JRC77642
2013-04-09
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC77642
978-92-79-28594-3 (print),
978-92-79-28593-6,
1018-5593 (print),
1831-9424 (online),
EUR 25809,
OP LB-NA-25809-EN-C (print),
OP LB-NA-25809-EN-N (online),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC77642,
10.2788/83719 (print),
10.2788/83694 (online),
