Inclusion of Noise in Environmental Assessment of Road Transportation

In life cycle assessment (LCA) of road transportation systems, limited attention is given to noise as an impact category. This paper presents a method in order to include the environmental effects of noise in the LCA of road transportation. Life cycle inventory is developed based on the IMAGINE road vehicle noise emission model. Life cycle impact assessment is based on cause-effect chain including fate, exposure, effect, and damage analysis. The health effects of road traffic noise are evaluated in terms of acute myocardial infarction, annoyance, and sleep disturbance. The corresponding health damages are quantified using disability adjusted life years (DALY). A case study evaluating the health effects of road transportation noise for the nine municipalities of Istanbul using the proposed method is also presented. It was shown that transportation noise has significant adverse health effects and therefore should be accounted for in the LCA of road transportation along with other environmental interventions.