Noise exposure of workers and passengers on regional trains in Calabria

Introduction: In occupational environment noise is one of the major noxious factors. Due to intensive industrialization and urbanization followed by traffic increase, noise has become a ubiquitous stressful factor, both in living and occupational environments. There are two major target areas for noise re- search: (a) noise affects the person who is annoying, (b) noise affects the person who works by impairing his performance. The aim of our study was to measure noise levels on train, during workers commute, in order to eval- uate a possible relationship between noise dose and worker health response. Materials and Methods: To perform our measurements we used person- al noise dosimeters to measure time integrated noise levels. The dosimeters were worn by operators positioning the microphone close to their ear. The measurements were conducted aboard trains, during commuting to and from worker jobs, on the line Cosenza–Villa S. Giovanni (duration: 2,30 hours). At the end of each measurement the stored data were down- loaded and analyzed using the dedicated software. Noise annoyance was estimated using self-reported annoyance scale. Results: All measurements performed had equivalent levels appreciably above 80 dBA, where threshold limits, in Italian Legislation, is 80 dBA for workers and 70 dBA for public. These values could be induced not only an- noyance but also acute effects. Noise annoyance shown strong correlation with noise levels. Dose–response relationship was found between the per- centage of highly annoyed workers and Leq. Conclusions: Noise exposure evaluated on Regional trains of the Cosenza– Villa S. Giovanni line put in evidence that the limits recommended by Italian legislation, both for workers and public, were exceeded. In addition, exposure–effect relationships for train noise and noise annoyance have been estimated. This relationship could be used as a national reference.