Search

In a study using data from the 1970-1980 decade, we find that people near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) suffer a 5% increase in mortality rates due to increases in a number of fatal diseases. We comment also on the effect of changes in noise level over the last decade. It is found that there is an 18% increase in cardiovascular deaths, for people over 75 at a 97% confidence level, in areas around the airport. Approximately 200,000 people are involved in the study, split into two groups, test and control, near LAX. The two areas were adjusted to be alike in race, age and economic level. The number of suicides in the age bracket 45-54 was increased by the jet noise by over 100% at a 99% confidence level. Total accidental deaths increased by over 60% in the age group above 75 at a 96% confidence level. If we add together all increases there are an average of 24 extra deaths due to aircraft, primarily jet, noise in the high noise area. If we included all people living within the extended high noise contour, there is reason to believe that there is an increase of over 60 deaths in the LAX area per year.

We study, in the vicinity of Los Angeles International Airport, the effect of jet noise on mental hospital admissions. The maximum noise area (where the maximum fly-over noise exceeds 90 dBA) shows a 29% increase in admissions over those of a corresponding control area, as like the target area as possible, except that in the control area jet noise is not a dominant factor. The results are similar to those of a previous study carried out near Heathrow Airport.

Two areas, containing a total of over 160,000 people, were examined for mortality rates; one area was directly under incoming flights, near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The other was removed from the LAX flight patterns so that jet noise was not dominant. The two areas were chosen so that they were as nearly alike as possible in age, racial distribution, income and in other relevant factors with the sole major difference of jet noise in one of them. It was found that there was a substantial increase in mortality rates in the area under the jets where there was large noise radiation. In particular, by a most conservative statistical treatment there was in the jet noise area: a 15% increase in deaths due to strokes (cerebro-vascular disease) which accounted for 39 deaths in the two-year period of the study--presumably attributable to the excessive jet noise. Further, in the noise-radiated area there was a 100% increase in deaths due to cirrhosis of the liver (primarily attributed to alcoholism)--amounting to 24 extra deaths in the two years, due to jet noise. One of the disturbing side results of this study was that in these relatively poor regions it appears that there should be about 50% more deaths than were reported and recorded by Los Angeles County. These losses were perhaps due to a concentration of bad, given addresses in the areas in question; this serious loss casts grave doubt on previous studies of eath rates for minority peoples (e.g. blacks), suggesting that the rates may be considerably higher than those previously reported.