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PEOPLE living under Heathrow flight paths have a higher risk of being hospitalised due to heart conditions.
A new study shows exposure to aircraft noise in the late evening and during the night may be associated with increased risk of cardiovascular issues and even death.
However, a spokesperson for Heathrow said Reading and Wokingham were outside the published noise contour area, therefore association between aircraft noise and any health impacts “would be significantly reduced”.
Research led by Imperial College London, claims a small increase in risk for 10 decibels increment in noise during the previous evening particularly from 10pm and 11pm and the early morning for all cardiovascular disease admission.
Similarly, it found evidence of an increase in risk associated with noise during the previous night for admissions due to stroke. This comes during a particularly poor period for Heathrow’s late evening schedules, with night after night of extremely late-running flights.
Men over the age of 65 are particularly at risk.
The study captured roughly 6.3 million people and 155,000 postcodes with one postcode encompassing an average of 22 households occupied by 53 residents.
It claimed: “Environmental noise is associated with an increased risk of sleep disturbance and general annoyance, and there are good mechanistic pathways by which this may damage the vascular system including vascular oxidative stress and activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which may lead to the acute onset of a cardiovascular event.”
Increased risk associated with different levels of variability in aircraft noise may further suggest high predictability in health impact of noise exposure over time.
Paul McGuinness, chair of the No 3rd Runway Coalition, said: “Plenty of research in the past has reached similar conclusions, and the deleterious health impacts inflicted by Heathrow is always greater than at comparable airports because it lies bang slap in the middle of our country’s most densely populated residential region, with each plane overflying many more people.
“Mitigations that one would think necessary are not in place. The angle of climb of Heathrow departures is much lower than at comparable airports, so unnecessarily increasing the number of those adversely affected.”
The Heathrow spokesperson said the airport worked with Imperial College to support the research study on impacts of aircraft noise and “continues to engage with the research team”.
They added: “We recognise the impacts, both positive and negative, Heathrow has on the local community. Reducing noise disturbance for local communities is key to our Heathrow 2.0 sustainability strategy which sets out how we are making Heathrow a great place to live and work.
“We are currently consulting on our 2024-2028 Noise Action Plan, seeking views from our local community on proposals to reduce the impact of noise. We encourage all local residents to provide feedback to the proposals, more information can be found here.
“Other key measures we have taken to mitigate noise and its impacts include the updated noise insultation scheme, offering financial support to cover noise insulation costs for local residents and the Fly Quiet and Green league table, incentivising airlines to use the quietest, most efficient aircraft at Heathrow.”
