Leicester research making a big noise wins national award
Left to right: Dr Ben Fenech (UKHSA), Dr Calvin Jephcote (University of Leicester), Dr Sierra Clarke (St George’s), Professor Anna Hansell (University of Leicester)
Research estimating the impact of transport noise on the health of the nation by a team including University of Leicester scientists has received a national award in what is often referred to as the ‘Noise Oscars’.
The Centre for Environmental Health and Sustainability at Leicester has won the John Connell Innovation Award 2024, organised by the Noise Abatement Society, at a ceremony in the Palace of Westminster on 16 October. The awards recognise innovative services, campaigns, products and programmes that are shining examples of community co-operation, education and creative solutions to solving noise pollution problems.
The team, led by Ben Fenech, noise lead at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), were nominated for their research that generated the first estimate of the burden of disease of transport noise in England.
Calvin Jephcote, Lecturer at the Centre for Environmental Health and Sustainability and the lead author of the journal publication arising from this work, said: “We are delighted to receive this important award. A particular highlight of this work is that we were able to estimate burden of disease from noise for each local authority. The work brought together a team with expertise in acoustics, exposure modelling, evidence synthesis, epidemiology and burden of disease quantification and involved many of the Centre’s researchers.”
Transportation noise has a large impact on public health. According to government estimates, the social cost of road traffic noise in England is £7-10 billion per year and social research consistently shows that the general public considers noise as one of the top determinants of a healthy home.
But noise can still be seen as ‘just a nuisance’ by some and decision makers often have to balance the adverse impacts of noise with the economic and social benefits of the infrastructure producing it.
The team addressed these challenges by generating the first estimate of the burden of disease of transport noise in England expressed in terms of a health metric, known as Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). This combines estimates of years lived with poor health with lives lost due to premature death. They estimated close to a hundred thousand DALYs lost due to road-traffic, around 13,000 from railway, and around 17,000 from aircraft noise in 2018.
They worked with several organisations to disseminate their findings, including the UK Health Security Agency and the Rail Safety and Standards Board. The research has been referenced by The Office for Road and Rail, in a House of Lords Science and Technology Committee Inquiry and other House of Lords debates.
The Noise Abatement Society, established in 1959, is the only registered UK charity dealing solely with noise pollution. These prestigious Awards, named after founder John Connell, acknowledge the importance of the quality of sound in our lives, and champion vital advances in noise reduction for the public benefit. They recognise local authorities, manufacturers and individuals who have been outstanding in their efforts both in reducing the impact of noise nuisance, and in pioneering practical and innovative solutions to noise pollution to enhance the environment.
Gloria Elliott OBE, NAS CEO said: "It is heartening to see noise mitigation at the heart of infrastructure planning across the UK to increase well-being – congratulations to UK Health Security Agency and colleagues for this important work."