Special Issue "Noise and Quality of Life"

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2010

Special Issue Editor

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Peter Lercher
Division of Social Medicine, Medical University Innsbruck, Sonnenburgstraße 16, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Website: http://www.i-med.ac.at/sozialmedizin/de/personal/peter_lercher.html
E-Mail:
Interests: environmental and social epidemiology; environmental health impact assessment; noise/vibration and air pollution; combined effects; quality of life

Published Papers

Special Issue Information

CURRENT STATUS
The assessment of the effects of noise on health can shortly be characterized:

  • Focus on simple, physical noise indicators (dBA,Leq,24hrs)
  • Focus on more severe health outcomes
  • Focus on the main effects only – thus ignoring the importance of other moderating and mediating factors.

In contrast, noise survey research showed the importance of contextual factors (e.g. housing, neighborhoods, area layout, other environmental pollution) contributing as much to the variance in annoyance as the noise indicator does. Health survey research also found associations between subjectively assessed "acoustic quality of the environment" and better "functional health".

PUBLIC HEALTH IMPORTANCE & NEW REQUIREMENTS
Most people live in residential sound environments where severe health effects are not yet observed - nevertheless people are dissatisfied because the sound environment interferes with their intentions in daily life.
Sustainable planning perspectives (environmental zoning, "sensitive areas", "supportive environments") require a deeper understanding of the relations between noise, sound and the environment which shape health and sustainable living.Therefore, research should be broadened:

  • to include exposure indicators which better characterize the sound environment
  • to include health impairments related to the perceived quality of life
  • to include supportive qualities of the sound environment within a specific community context.

Submission

All manuscripts should be submitted to ijerph@mdpi.org with a copy to the Guest Editor. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page.

The Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health (IJERPH, ISSN 1660-4601) was launched in 2004 and is an international peer-reviewed Open Access monthly journal published by MDPI. This journal is covered by the Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science), Current Contents/Agriculture, Biology, and Environmental Sciences, Chemical Abstracts, Medline (PubMed) and EMBASE. The IJERPH maintains a rapid editorial procedure and a rigorous peer-review system.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this Open Access journal is 1000 CHF per accepted paper.

Keywords

  • quality of life
  • sound environment
  • quiet areas
  • sustainability
  • environmental health impact assessment
  • soundscape assessment
  • noise indicators

Planned Papers

Type of Paper: Review
Title: The Need for Quiet—A Review Paper on the Relevance of Urban and Rural Quiet Areas for the Wellbeing of Urban Citizens
Author: Paul de Vos; E-Mail: paul.devos@dhv.com
Abstract: The majority of people living in an urban environment is exposed to noise levels that are potentially dangerous to their health. Some protection is provided by sound insulating façades, but their efficiency is at least questionable. More efficient relaxation can be found in urban areas, preferably close to the own address. In addition, quiet rural areas offer relaxation, which tends to be neglected, now that leisure activities have become rather noisy. Quiet areas need to be identified, intensified, assigned and protected. The paper presents a review of recent research and approaches to quiet areas and their relevance to quality of life.

Last update: 11 February 2010

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health EISSN 1660-4601 Published by MDPI Publishing, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert