Insomnia, heart disease… The harmful impacts of noise pollution on health are well-established. In a report published in 2019, the Bruitparif association even estimates that they cause each resident of the Île-de-France region to lose an average of up to 10.7 months of healthy life.
A new study coordinated by Inserm and Sorbonne University, published on March 21, 2025, in the Journal Of Exposure Science And Environmental Epidemiology, contributes to a better understanding of the extent of these noise nuisances.
By observing how the noise exposure of Greater Paris residents varies depending on their commutes and activities, the researchers found that transportation plays a major role in the exposure of daily noise pollution, which regularly exceeds the levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
These results are based on a cohort of 259 Greater Paris residents recruited between 2018 and 2020. For four days, the participants were equipped with sound level meters and GPS devices to measure the intensity of the noise they were exposed to at home, during transportation, at work, and during their leisure time.
In detail, the study participants experienced just under a quarter (22.9%) of their daily noise dose at home. The rest was distributed among work (15.7%), leisure (14.7%), walking (13.1%), car travel (10.7%), commercial and service activities (9.5%), and finally underground transport such as the metro (9.5%).
Taking into account the time spent on each of these activities, the researchers realised that commutes, across all modes of transport, play a significant role in noise exposure. In total, the study participants experienced more than a third (37.2%) of their daily noise dose during transport time, while they spent an average of 2 hours and 14 minutes commuting, which is less than 10% of their time.
The study participants were most exposed to noise pollution in motorised modes of transport (car, bus, metro, RER, tram). They experienced 21.4% of their daily noise dose in just over an hour (61 minutes) on average.
"The study shows that the more intense noise pollution in underground rail transport, and more broadly in motorized transport, contributes significantly to the daily noise exposure of Greater Paris residents", emphasizes Basile Chaix, the last author of the study and research director at Inserm.
On average, across all activities and modes of transport studied, the study participants were exposed for nearly two-thirds of the monitored days (64%) to a sound level exceeding 55 decibels (dB(A)) – the threshold from which adverse health consequences can appear, according to the WHO. These effects notably include sleep disturbances, increased cardiovascular risks, concentration difficulties, and learning delays.
"While the latest strategic noise map from Bruitparif showed that 80% of Île-de-France residents live in homes exposed to noise pollution levels that significantly exceed WHO recommendations, our results suggest that these thresholds are also often exceeded during daily activities and commutes outside the home. Consequently, official noise maps, which indicate the noise measured on building facades, cannot be used alone to predict the impacts of noise on the health of the population", continues Basile Chaix.
Socially disadvantaged populations are on the front lines of noise pollution, according to a 2019 report from the European Environment Agency. This new study confirms the existence of this inequality in the Greater Paris metropolitan area: the researchers observed that the overall daily noise dose experienced regularly decreases as household income increases.
To mitigate the risks, the researchers suggest continuing efforts to transform cities and adapt the behaviour of people living in them.
"These results highlight the importance of public policies aimed at quiet the urban environment, such as reducing motorized transport, developing the city for pedestrians, and ensuring that services necessary for daily life are easily accessible on foot, as well as implementing 'quiet zones' with low noise exposure in the heart of cities", concludes Basile Chaix."