Latest ETC Reports (included in homepage)

The aim of this report is to critically evaluate methods to assess the health risk of environmental noise for Europe and propose adaptations to the previously used methodology where necessary. Part I presents a refined methods for noise exposure assessment in Europe. Part 2 presents up-to-date exposure-response associations from an Umbrella+ review. High certainty evidence was found for effects of transportation noise on all-cause mortality, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Additional, evidence is emerging for effects on depression, dementia, overweight, cognitive impairments in adults and children and behavioural problems in children. The new body of evidence shows negative effects due to transport noise at lower levels (Lden=45 dB) than those captured in the European Environmental Noise Directive. In Part 3, proposals for disability weights and quantifying economic costs of health risks are made. The proposed changes of the health risk assessment methods reflect recent progress in noise research.

The reporting guidelines are intended to support reporters that will be conducting the submission of data required under the Environmental Noise Directive. The document provides an overview to the reporting process in Reportnet 3 and it describes the reporting data schemas and the quality checks that are undertaken during the submission process. In addition to this, reporting examples are also provided. A key goal of this document is to ensure a common understanding among data providers working on the implementation of the Environmental Noise Directive. This document should further be of assistance to both thematic and IT experts.

This report examines the accessibility and distribution of quiet green areas within European urban centres. Utilising spatial analysis and data from the Copernicus Urban Atlas and Environmental Noise Directive, the study identifies green urban areas and assesses their acoustic quality by overlaying noise contour maps. The methodology focuses on urban centres as stable reference units, ensuring comparability with previous assessments by DG Regio. Key findings reveal that only 34% of the population in the 233 cities analysed can access quiet green areas within a 400-meter walk, highlighting the significant impact of road traffic noise. The study also uncovers considerable variability in accessibility between cities and countries, with Northern European countries generally exhibiting higher accessibility rates. The report underscores the importance of preserving existing green spaces and improving their acoustic quality, considering the equitable distribution of these areas.