Aircraft noise exposure and body mass index among female participants in two Nurses' Health Study prospective cohorts living around 90 airports in the United States

Matthew Bozigar; Francine Laden; Jaime E Hart; Susan Redline; Tianyi Huang; Eric A Whitsel; Elizabeth J Nelson; Stephanie T Grady; Jonathan I Levy; Junenette L Peters

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2024.108660

Aircraft noise exposure and body mass index among female participants in two Nurses' Health Study prospective cohorts living around 90 airports in the United States

Environ Int. 2024 Apr 15:187:108660. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108660. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Nutrition and Public Health, College of Health, Oregon State University, 160 SW 26th Street, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA. Electronic address: matthew.bozigar@oregonstate.edu.
² Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
³ Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 221 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
⁵ Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
⁶ Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
⁷ College of Arts and Sciences, Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
⁸ Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St., Boston, MA 02118, USA.

PMID: 38677085
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108660

Abstract

Objective: Aircraft noise exposure is linked to cardiovascular disease risk. One understudied candidate pathway is obesity. This study investigates the association between aircraft noise and obesity among female participants in two prospective Nurses' Health Study (NHS and NHSII) cohorts.

Methods: Aircraft day-night average sound levels (DNL) were estimated at participant residential addresses from modeled 1 dB (dB) noise contours above 44 dB for 90 United States (U.S.) airports in 5-year intervals 1995-2010. Biennial surveys (1994-2017) provided information on body mass index (BMI; dichotomized, categorical) and other individual characteristics. Change in BMI from age 18 (BMI18; tertiles) was also calculated. Aircraft noise exposures were dichotomized (45, 55 dB), categorized (<45, 45-54, ≥55 dB) or continuous for exposure ≥45 dB. Multivariable multinomial logistic regression using generalized estimating equations were adjusted for individual characteristics and neighborhood socioeconomic status, greenness, population density, and environmental noise. Effect modification was assessed by U.S. Census region, climate boundary, airline hub type, hearing loss, and smoking status.

Results: At baseline, the 74,848 female participants averaged 50.1 years old, with 83.0%, 14.8%, and 2.2% exposed to <45, 45-54, and ≥55 dB of aircraft noise, respectively. In fully adjusted models, exposure ≥55 dB was associated with 11% higher odds (95% confidence interval [95%CI]: -1%, 24%) of BMIs ≥30.0, and 15% higher odds (95%CI: 3%, 29%) of membership in the highest tertile of BMI18 (ΔBMI 6.7 to 71.6). Less-pronounced associations were observed for the 2nd tertile of BMI18 (ΔBMI 2.9 to 6.6) and BMI 25.0-29.9 as well as exposures ≥45 versus <45 dB. There was evidence of DNL-BMI trends (p_trends ≤ 0.02). Stronger associations were observed among participants living in the West, arid climate areas, and among former smokers.

Discussion: In two nationwide cohorts of female nurses, higher aircraft noise exposure was associated with higher BMI, adding evidence to an aircraft noise-obesity-disease pathway.

Keywords: Aircraft noise; Body mass index; Body weight; Cohort study; Obesity; Transportation noise.