K2.10 Noisy environment

Proportion of persons reporting a very noisy and moderately noisy environment

Environmental noise is a disturbing sound that can have several negative effects on human health. Among the existing sources of noise in the environment, the biggest problem for residents is the noise of road, rail and air traffic, as well as the noise of industrial plants. Noise affects people's health and well-being in different ways. The effects depend on the level of noise and other characteristics of the sound, on our well-being and the activities we are engaged in at the time when the noise disturbs us, and on the importance of the information that the sound conveys to us. The effects also depend on our attitude towards the source of the noise. For particularly vulnerable groups of people such as the elderly, children, the blind, people with hearing impairment, more sensitive people or people with mental disorders, the impacts are usually greater.

Among the most common negative effects of noise in the living environment are: sleep disturbances, agitation, reduction of efficiency at work or study, disturbances in conversation, psychophysiological effects and influence on social behavior. Long-term exposure has significant effects on the functioning of the cardiovascular system. Noise from the environment that we perceive in living spaces at night is the most disturbing.

In accordance with the law, everyone has the right to a healthy living environment, the right to peace and rest, both at night and during the day. The local community can contribute in various ways to the reduction of noise in its environment and thus also to the improvement of the quality of life of its inhabitants.

The "Noisy environment" indicator shows the proportion of people aged 25-74 who rate the environment in which they live as very noisy and moderately noisy.

Percent (%).

The "Noisy environment" indicator shows the ratio between the number of persons who answered very noisy and moderately noisy in the Health-Related Behavioral Style Survey to the question "How noisy do you think the environment you live in?", and the number of all persons who answered the questionnaire, multiplied by 100.

Noisy environment

$=\frac{The number of people who rate their environment as very and moderately noisy}{The number of all persons who responded to the survey questionnaire}x100$

The indicator for the municipality is calculated on the basis of a model that takes into account the prevalence of the noisy environment (including answers very noisy and moderately noisy) at the level of the administrative unit and demographic data of the municipality.

Health-Related Behavioral Style (CINDI) Survey, National Institute of Public Health.

Data is collected periodically. The research was conducted in 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016.

1. Guidelines of the World Health Organization on environmental noise, WHO 2018 http://nijz.si/sl/smernice-svetovne-zdravstvene-organizazije-o-okoljskem-hrupu
2. NIJZ http://www.nijz.si/sl/podrocja-dela/moje-okolje/hrup

• The survey includes people aged 25-74.
• The survey does not cover the population residing in the institution at the time of the survey.
• The answers are based on a subjective assessment of the noise level of the living environment.