Jet noise risk to sleepers

Professor Graham McGregor, an expert in blood pressure, said the study was interesting, but more work would have to be done to confirm the link.

He said people who lived close to airports tended to be poor, and high blood pressure was associated with poverty.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk Night-time noise from aircraft or traffic raises blood pressure even while people sleep Researchers monitored 140 sleeping volunteers in their homes near Heathrow and three other big European airports Volunteers' blood pressure increased after exposure to a noise louder than 35 decibels - whether it comes from overhead aircraft, or snoring The study is reported in the European Heart Journal Aircraft noise caused an average increase in systolic blood pressure of 6.2 mmHg and an average increase in diastolic blood pressure of 7.4 mmHg Similar increases in blood pressure were seen also for other noise sources such as road traffic The louder the noise, the greater the increase in blood pressure Measures need to be taken to reduce noise levels from aircraft, in particular during night-time, in order to protect the health of people living near airports Imperial College London Dr Lars Jarup "Noise pollution may be the latest in a long line of issues that the airline industry needs to tackle."