New study tracks increased noise around airport in Breslau
UW study to be submitted to Nav Canada
PEOPLE LIVING NEAR THE REGION
of Waterloo International Airport have to put up with the equivalent noise level of using a vacuum cleaner each time a plane flies over their homes, a new study reveals.
University of Waterloo students found that Breslau was among the worst affected areas and that its residents are subjected to a din of around 85 decibels when airliners fly over them.
They said up to 15,000 people were routinely affected by that noise level and up to half a million can hear the planes more quietly across the region.
With the airport continuing to grow – there were a total of 445,000 passengers after 69,000 were added last year – the number of disturbances is also expected to rise along with the health issues associated with noise pollution.
The University of Waterloo students who conducted the study are all third-year geography and aviation students.
Matthew Toy, Chase Cardoza, Nikith Challa and Isabelle Mazzocco are also all trained pilots.
They created noise maps using a special computer program called a geographic information system after obtaining public data from the federal and regional governments.
“We were able to identify Breslau and also some areas in Kitchener that are along the approach path that are the worst places to be in terms of noise,” Toy told The Observer.
“The vast majority of people who are affected by 85 decibels or more are people basically in Breslau or in the subdivision of Kitchener that’s right across from the airport.”
The study reveals that people on the ground will usually hear between 35 to 70 decibels, depending on whether they are directly under an airplane or further away.
“That’s the kind of noise that you can notice but it’s not super annoying,” Toy explained.
“But it can be noisier when you get close to the airport, especially if you live under the approach path where the runway is.
“So around Breslau and around Fountain Street and some areas of Kitchener, the noise could be over 75 or 85 decibels.
“That is where it kind of crosses the line from just being kind of not that important to more noticeable.”
The difference between 35 and 70 decibels can be compared to the sound of low-voice conversation at the lowest level and a or a busy street at the highest, according to a provincial scale.
The University of Waterloo study noted that the noise level was higher with larger aircraft, such as the Boeing 737, which are used by Flair Airlines or WestJet at the region’s airport.
The volume of 85 decibels is the same as a typical vacuum cleaner, according to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.
Between 80 and 90 decibels is the “level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss”, a Yale University chart explains.
Pastor Kunle Oluwojure, who is the president of the Lion’s Mane Ministry in Breslau, said the noise of the planes in the area can be “troubling.”
“I do get distracted by the sound of planes,” he
told The Observer in a phone interview.
“In fact, I can hear one landing right now.
“The bigger planes you can always hear, but they are less frequent, and I have noticed it’s louder the closer you get to the flight path,” he said. “We also hear smaller aircraft involved in pilot training at night and then there are a lot of planes flying all over the place.
“It gets noisy, but that’s what you expect if you live close to an airport. But it has a level of noise that can be troubling.”
Health Canada warns that noise can cause sleep deprivation and says insufficient rest can lead to chronic stress and poor mental health.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation warns that a lack of sleep can raise a person’s risk of heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases.
The University of Waterloo students noted that it may be possible to reduce the noise by changing the flight routes, but warned that this could also lead to more fuel being used.
They intend to submit their study to Nav Canada, the organization that is responsible for air traffic control and managing the country’s airspace.