Recommendation 3

More laboratory and field studies are needed to supplement epidemiological evidence and to establish the mechanisms by which noise might affect health. The current metrics used to characterise noise pollution are mostly long-term average intensity (decibel) metrics, which do not capture peak volume, pitch and intermittency. The latter influence annoyance and may correlate more closely with health outcomes but are not widely measured. Quantifying the health effects of interventions to reduce exposure is important for cost-benefit analyses.