Elise van Kempen

National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) | RIVM · Centre for Sustainability, Environment and Health (DMG)

en Harm van Wijnen zijn werkzaam bij het centrum Duurzaamheid, Milieu en Gezondheid (DMG) van het RIVM. Arnaud Kok is werkzaam bij het centrum Milieukwaliteit (MIL) van het RIVM. Jan van de Kassteele is werkzaam bij het centrum Statistiek Data Science en Modellering (SIM) van het RIVM. Aanleiding Nederland heeft een van de drukst bereden spoorwegne...

Chronic exposure to traffic noise impairs children's well-being. However, traffic noise exposure is only one aspect with impact on children's wellbeing. In order to better understand the importance of traffic noise in comparison to other influencing factors, the exposome concept can be useful. The EU project Equal-Life is addressing this issue by i...

As a result of policy aims to improve accessibility and achieve climate targets, an increase in rail traffic is foreseen for a while. It is therefore expected that in the future more problems will arise due to the vibrations and noise that trains produce. It is demonstrated that most problems are caused by freight trains, predominantly tracking dur...

Chronic exposure to traffic noise impairs children's well-being. However, traffic noise exposure is only one aspect with impact on children’s wellbeing. In order to better understand the importance of traffic noise in comparison to other influencing factors, the exposome concept can be useful. The EU project Equal-Life is addressing this issue by i...

In 2013, RIVM investigated how people, living in the vicinity of railways, experience vibrations due to trains. As a follow-up, and in response to questions from Parliament on the expansion of the Dutch rail network, the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water management commissioned a second study and a repeated measurement...

This paper provides an overview of non-auditory effects of noise published since the last ICBEN conference in 2017. The paper focuses on the impact of environmental and occupational noise on cardiovascular and metabolic effects, mental health, dementia, birth outcomes inclusive congenital anomalies. The paper takes as a point of departure current r...

Rail traffic is expected to increase in Sweden following policy recommendations for a more sustainable transportation model. Still, little is known about the cardiometabolic health effects of rail traffic vibration and noise for people living close to the railways. This analysis aims to investigate the effects of rail traffic vibration and noise on...

Whilst the effects of aircraft noise on children's cognition are well-accepted, their application in Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and methodologies to monetise the effects of noise on health have been limited. This paper presents the first meta-analysis of the effect of aircraft noise at school on children's reading comprehension and psychologica...

The Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) has asked RIVM to analyse the equivalence criteria for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, hereafter referred to as Schiphol Airport. The motivation for this is the intention of the Ministry of Infrastructure & Water Management to include these equivalence criteria in the regulations by modifying the A...

WHO published the Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region in 2018, based on seven systematic reviews, including studies published between 2000 and 2014. Since then new studies were published. At the request of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), a review on annoyance, sleep disturbance, cardiovascular a...

Background: Despite the large number of studies on beneficial effects of the natural outdoor environment (NOE) on health, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Objective: This study explored the relations between amount, quality, use and experience of the NOE; and physical activity, social contacts and mental well-being. Methods:...

Rail transport is a key stepping stone in the EU’s transport policy and is pinpointed for investment and growth over the coming decades. This expanding infrastructure implies increased exposure to environmental stressors, such as noise and ground-borne vibrations. Little is known about the health impacts of exposure to these vibrations. The aim of...

To update the current state of evidence and assess its quality, we conducted a systematic review on the effects of environmental noise exposure on the cardio-metabolic systems as input for the new WHO environmental noise guidelines for the European Region. We identified 600 references relating to studies on effects of noise from road, rail and air...

Background: Healthy urban environments require careful planning and a testing of environmental quality that goes beyond statutory requirements. Moreover, it requires the inclusion of resident views, perceptions and experiences that help deepen the understanding of local (public health) problems. To facilitate this, neighbourhoods should be mapped...

Natural environments (green and blue space) are associated with a range of health benefits, but their use is likely to be influenced by the presence of features, facilities and amenities and the condition/maintenance, or the natural environment quality. Most ‘quality’ assessment tools have focused on green spaces and their support for physical acti...

It has been suggested that certain residents, such as those with a low socioeconomic status, the elderly, and women, may benefit more from the presence of neighbourhood green space than others. We tested this hypothesis for age, gender, educational level, and employment status in four European cities. Data were collected in Barcelona (Spain, n = 10...

Background The World Health Organization recognises the importance of natural environments for human health. Evidence for natural environment-health associations comes largely from single countries or regions, with varied approaches to measuring natural environment exposure. We present a standardised approach to measuring neighbourhood natural envi...

Objectives: This study examines the relationship between neighbourhood green space, the neighbourhood social environment (social cohesion, neighbourhood attachment, social contacts), and mental health in four European cities. Methods: The PHENOTYPE study was carried out in 2013 in Barcelona (Spain), Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom), Doetinchem (T...

Stimulating active transport by encouraging replacement of short-distance car trips by active transport modes such as cycling or walking has become a popular policy strategy. It has been suggested that neighbourhoods, designed to facilitate healthy behaviour, can influence a person׳s behavioural choices such as transport choice. In the present stud...

Background: This study examines the association between active transport and perceived general health, perceived psychological wellbeing and a healthy body weight in the Netherlands. Methods: Data were collected by an online questionnaire (N = 3663) in the Netherlands. Data collection was conducted over a period of one calendar year starting Jul...

Physical activity and sedentary behaviour are independently associated with health outcomes, where physical activity (PA) is associated with health benefits and sedentary behaviour is associated with health risks. One possible strategy to counteract sedentary behaviour is to stimulate active transport use. As monitoring studies in the Netherlands h...

There is increasing interest in the association between landscapes, green and blue space, open countryside and human well-being, quality of life, and health. Most studies in this field do not account for the positive or negative moderating effects of the acoustic environment. This is partly due to the lack of relevant data, although basic models do...

Due to rapid urbanization, the spatial variation between wanted and unwanted sounds will decrease or even disappear. Consequently, the characteristics of (urban) areas where people can temporarily withdraw themselves from urban stressors such as noise may change or become increasingly scarce. Hardly any research has been carried out into the positi...

Growing evidence suggests that close contact with nature brings benefits to human health and well-being, but the proposed mechanisms are still not well understood and the associations with health remain uncertain. The Positive Health Effects of the Natural Outdoor environment in Typical Populations in different regions in Europe (PHENOTYPE) project...

Elevation of a child's blood pressure may cause possible health risks in later life. There is evidence for adverse effects of exposure to air pollution and noise on blood pressure in adults. Little is known about these associations in children. We investigated the associations of air pollution and noise exposure with blood pressure in 12-year-olds....

This explorative study examines personal and neighbourhood characteristics associated with short-distance trips made by car, bicycle or walking in order to identify target groups for future interventions. Data were derived from 'Mobility Research Netherlands (2004-2009; MON)', a dataset including information regarding trips made by household member...

Evidence on the effects of environmental noise on mental health in adults and children over the past 5 year`s leans towards the conclusion that there is no immediate relationship between noise and formal psychological disorders. Recent results shed more light on the relationship between noise and mental health, and especially on the role of mediati...

Environmental effects of traffic like noise are typically external and typically unpriced. This makes monetisation of these effects difficult. Much work has been spent the last few years on developing methods for monetising these (external) environmental effects. However, the application of these methods does fall short. This paper describes a cost...

Background: Dutch policy makers needed a knowledge base for prioritising control of different indoor air pollutants. Several burden of disease (BoD) estimates were available, but it was not known if they could be applied to The Netherlands. Objectives: To quantify the BoD related to indoor air in The Netherlands, and to compare the outcomes with...

The authors examined whether air pollution at school (nitrogen dioxide) is associated with poorer child cognition and health and whether adjustment for air pollution explains or moderates previously observed associations between aircraft and road traffic noise at school and children's cognition in the 2001-2003 Road Traffic and Aircraft Noise Expos...

Current sound management usually applies average weighted measures to characterize the sound quality of urban areas. However, there is growing awareness that sound levels alone are insufficient to characterize the sound quality of an area. Moreover, the basis of a good sound quality in urban areas is not only formed by its acoustical aspects, but a...

Most studies into perceived soundscapes have addressed subjective soundqualities at a (very) low scale level, such as parks, recreational area's and squares. Studies into the effects of transport related noise seldom incorporate perceived soundscapes and are typically focussed on negative effects, such as annoyance, sleepdisturbance and environment...

Reviews have suggested that road noise exposure is associated with high blood pressure (hypertension). No reliable exposure-response relationship is as yet available. A meta-analysis was carried out in order to derive a quantitative exposure-response relationship between the exposure to road traffic noise and the prevalence of hypertension, and to...

The impact of environmental noise on public health, in The Netherlands, is limited: Less than 1% of the myocardial infarction cases per year are attributable to long-term exposure to road traffic noise. Furthermore, although the Dutch noise policy is not directed to prevent cardiovascular disease due to noise exposure, health does play a role in Du...

Recently, it has been suggested that the annoyance of residents at a given aircraft noise exposure level increases over the years. The objective of the present study was to verify the hypothesized trend and to identify its possible causes. To this end, the large database used to establish earlier exposure-response relationships on aircraft noise wa...

Substantial policy changes to control obesity, limit chronic disease, and reduce air pollution emissions, including greenhouse gasses, have been recommended. Transportation and planning policies that promote active travel by walking and cycling can contribute to these goals, potentially yielding further co-benefits. Little is known, however, about...

On the basis of this study it cannot be ruled out that the appraisal of the noise affects the association between air and road traffic noise exposure and children's health and cognition. However, the conclusion is limited due to the relatively small group of annoyed children, which may have influenced our group comparisons. Furthermore, the observe...

Previous studies have found that chronic exposure to aircraft noise has a negative effect on children's performance on tests of episodic memory. The present study extended the design of earlier studies in three ways: firstly, by examining the effects of two noise sources, aircraft and road traffic, secondly, by examining exposure-effect relationshi...

Field studies investigating the effects of environmental noise exposure on the cognitive functioning of primary schoolchildren. Table summarizing the main characteristics of studies that investigated the effects of environmental noise exposure on the cognitive performance of primary schoolchildren.

The fully adjusted multilevel models for noise exposure at school and at home and the switching attention test (errors). Table presenting the multilevel models used for road- and aircraft noise exposure at school and at home and the errors made during the three conditions of the switching attention test.

Due to shortcomings in the design, no source-specific exposure-effect relations are as yet available describing the effects of noise on children's cognitive performance. This paper reports on a study investigating the effects of aircraft and road traffic noise exposure on the cognitive performance of primary schoolchildren in both the home and the...

There have been few studies examining noise and psychological disorders in children and the results are equivocal. The objective of this study was to examine exposure–effect relationships between aircraft and road traffic noise exposure and children's mental health. We conducted a cross-national, cross-sectional study assessing 2844 pupils, aged 9–...

Few quantitative health impact assessments (HIAs) of transport policies have been published so far and there is a lack of a common methodology for such assessments. To evaluate the usability of existing HIA methodology to quantify health effects of transport policies at the local level. Health impact of two simulated but realistic transport interve...

Since annoyance reactions of children to environmental noise have rarely been investigated, no source specific exposure-response relations are available. The aim of this paper is to investigate children's reactions to aircraft and road traffic noise and to derive exposure-response relations. To this end, children's annoyance reactions to aircraft a...

On the basis of findings from recent surveys, discussion has been raised as to whether the annoyance of residents at a given aircraft noise exposure level has increased over the years. To verify the hypothesized trend and to identify its possible causes, the large database used to establish earlier exposure-response relationships was updated with o...

Health impact assessment is increasingly used in the development of environmental and public health policies and regulations. It commonly involves the identification of environmental hazards, and the quantification of the expected Burden of Disease (BoD). This (environmental) disease burden can be expressed in a variety of ways. WHO and others incr...

Conclusions that can be drawn from earlier studies on noise and children's blood pressure are limited due to inconsistent results, methodological problems, and the focus on school noise exposure. To investigate the effects of aircraft and road traffic noise exposure on children's blood pressure and heart rate. Participants were 1283 children (age 9...

Transport noise is an increasingly prominent feature of the urban environment, making noise pollution an important environmental public health issue. This paper reports on the 2001-2003 RANCH project, the first cross-national epidemiologic study known to examine exposure-effect relations between aircraft and road traffic noise exposure and reading...

The RANCH (Road traffic and aircraft noise exposure and children's cognition and health) study has examined the effect of road traffic and aircraft noise exposure on the cognitive performance of 2844 children aged 9-10 from schools around three major airports in the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. A linear exposure-effect relationship be...

In literature it has been suggested that noise exposure is associated with blood pressure changes and self-reported health in children. However, no exposure-response relationships are available yet. This might be due to the complexity with regard to noise and health, limitations in exposure characterisation and effect measurement, and the impossibi...

Environmental effects of traffic like noise are typically external and typically unpriced. This makes monetisation of these effects difficult. Much work has been spent the last few years on developing methods for monetising these (external) environmental effects. However, the application of these methods does fall short. This paper describes a cost...

It has been suggested that noise exposure is associated with blood pressure changes and ischemic heart disease risk, but epidemiologic evidence is still limited. Furthermore, most reviews investigating these relations were not carried out in a systematic way, which makes them more prone to bias. We conducted a meta-analysis of 43 epidemiologic stud...

Infection with thermophilic Campylobacter spp. usually leads to an episode of acute gastroenteritis. Occasionally, more severe diseases may be induced, notably Guillain Barré syndrome and reactive arthritis. For some, the disease may be fatal. We have integrated available data in one public health measure, the Disability Adjusted Life Year (DALY)....