Road traffic remains biggest noise polluter in Europe

The European Environment Agency on Monday said that road traffic remained the largest source of noise pollution in Europe.

The environmental agency published a new assessment on the state of noise pollution in the environment which was based on data reported to the agency by its member countries.

According to the new assessment, road traffic noise, both inside and outside urban areas, is still the most important source affecting human exposure above the European Union's (EU) threshold of 55 decibels (dB) for daily exposure and 50 dB for night exposure.

Around 100 million people are exposed to road traffic noise above 55 dB in the agency's members. This is followed by railway and aircraft noise, with 19 million and 4.1 million people exposed to levels above 55 dB respectively.

Noise pollution is still a major environmental health problem in Europe and the EU has required its member states to take actions to tackle the problem, such as introducing low noise road surfaces, quieter aircraft, and railway stock.