New metrics for outdoor and indoor noise exposure related to mental health

Title	New metrics for outdoor and indoor noise exposure related to mental health Add zenodo link
Source	D3.6; New Noise metrics for mental health Dick Botteldooren et al. 2024, Arnaud Can, Dick Botteldooren, Timothy Van Renterghem, Peter Lercher, Rik Bogers (2025) Towards Valid, Transparent and Applicable Noise Indicators for Assessing Early-Life Mental Health Impacts, in preparation Dick Botteldooren, Lucas Fourneau, Colin Vergaerde, Valentin Le Bescond, Luc Dekoninck, Arnaud Can, Timothy Van Renterghem (2025) A Surrogate Model for Estimating a Wide Range of Traffic Noise Indicators. in preparation.
Level of evidence	Suggestive evidence, literature reviews
Where	Belgium (pre-school study), Austria (Alpine), Sweden (sleep study), The Netherlands (ABCD)
Who	Belgium (measurements at 40 bedroom windows), Austria (sleep and mental health of 1251 children), Sweden (measurements inside and outside 108 bedrooms), The Netherlands (mental health and attention of 8266 children)
What	Potentially relevant indicators for the sound environment were selected based on the scarce literature of noise impacts that goes beyond Lden. The indicators were calculated for the 40+108 measurements over two week periods and analyzed via clustering. For road traffic noise, a model was created that accounts for noise fluctuations by simulating the contribution of individual cars (in a 200 m radius) and combining it with a classical approach for larger distances. CNOSSOS propagation is used for the direct sound and the QSIDE turbulence scattering model is used to obtain levels in shielded areas. Such a modelling effort requires huge computational power, hence a hybrid surrogate model based on open source data was created that can be used anywhere in Europe to get an estimate of the exposures relevant for mental health and wellbeing.
Findings	-       More specifically tailored indicators for road traffic noise, designed with pathways and a priori hypotheses regarding noise effects are better at predicting certain mental health outcomes, including SDQ, KINDL, cognitive development, and attention -       More specific indicators tailored to children's daily activities should be used to measure noise exposure levels in future research. -       Noise indicators are affected by the social characteristics and biodiversity of the neighbourhood.
Recommendations	-       Continue the use of the event-based[HC1]  sleep disturbance index and median outdoor noise level during the evening as calculated indicators for road traffic noise -        Use measured sound outdoor and indoor to assess the exposome more holistically including social environment and bio-diversity.
WHERE	Local impact assessment, as all indicators vary between urban and rural settings
Target audience	Researchers

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