Studying the Effects of Aircraft Noise Around Abu Dhabi International Airport, UAE on the Surrounding Residential and Work Places

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of aircraft noise pollution on community and workers' health near Abu Dhabi International Airport. This study was conducted in residential neighborhoods and employment areas living and working within a 25-km radius of the airport with high exposure to aircraft noise and in matched control areas far from the airport (outside the 25-km radius) and are unaffected by aircraft noise. Data was collected by conducting a revealed-preference face-to-face interview surveys among the residents and the workers nea rand far from Abu Dhabi International Airport during the months of September and December 2014. A total of 5,070 residents in both areas (2,579 near the airport and 2,492 far from the airport) and 1,995 workers in both areas (995 near the airport and 1,000 far from the airport) were interviewed and completed the questionnaire. Binomial Logit Regression Model was used to determine the impact of aircraft noise on community and workers' health. After controlling for confounders, the health of the residents adjacent to the airport who have been chronically exposed to high aircraft noise level are found to be worse than the control group. The results show that residents from the noise exposure area have a high level of noise stress, hypertension, headache, general disturbance, loss of sleep/insomnia, and hearing problems than the matched control area. On the other hand, aircraft noise pollution near Abu Dhabi Airport has no negative impact on workers adjacent to the airport. The impact of aircraft noise on community health should not restrain the growth of air travel industry in the city as this growth is essential and beneficial to the whole nation's economy. The reduction of aircraft noise level in the exposed area could be achieved by imposing policies, codes of practices, and action noise plans to assess and evaluate land use management as an effective tool for mitigating aircraft noise. Future research should assess community health based on self-reported physician diagnosed blood pressure; and hearing, stress, headache diagnostic examination.