The long-term effects of aircraft noise exposure on children's cognition: findings from the UK RANCH follow-up study

摘要

Exposure to transport noise is an increasing and prominent feature of the urban environment. The RANCH project (Road Traffic Noise and Aircraft Noise Exposure and Children's Cognition and Health), the largest study of noise and children's cognition undertaken to date, examined the effects of aircraft noise and road traffic noise exposure at primary school on the cognitive performance of 2,844 9-10 year old children attending 89 schools around Heathrow (London), Schiphol (Amsterdam), and Barajas (Madrid) airports. The study found linear exposure-effect relationships between aircraft noise exposure at school and children's reading comprehension and recognition memory (Clark et al. 2006; Stansfeld et al. 2005).