Are Europeans Losing Sleep over City Noise? - AEG-Electrolux Laundry Campaign finds London is Loudest

A recently concluded advertising campaign conducted by AEG-Electrolux for its Silent Laundry products shows that there are surprisingly high average noise levels in London, Berlin, Madrid, Brussels and Milan.

The campaign, which centred around Noise Awareness day on April 16th, featured giant posters in all five cities with real-time displays of ambient noise.

After measuring decibel levels for a month, London was found to have an average loudness of 82dB, followed by Berlin (76dB), Milan (67dB), Brussels (61dB) and Madrid (56dB). The highest sound level measured was also in London: 94.96 dB.

Damage to hearing begins at just 85 dB, well below the 130 dB sound of an airplane taking off.

Since noise levels do not significantly drop at night, noise is something that many Europeans lose sleep over. According to the World Health Organisation, 30 dB is the loudest the environment should be for undisturbed sleep.

In addition, long-term exposure to excessive environmental noise causes difficulty concentrating and excessive fatigue.

The loudest days measured were Friday, May 2nd and Friday, May 9th in London, with daily averages of 86.9 dB. With an average noise level of 81.1 dB on May 7th, Berlin had the second-loudest single day, followed by Milan (72.9dB on April 24th), Brussels (63.3dB on April 24th) and Madrid (60.3dB on May 10 th ).

Web: http://www.electrolux.com