GES noise map — condition 2016

Health Effects Screening score (GES) of environmental noise in Flanders. The indicator is based on the strategic noise maps Lden for the reference year 2016 for major roads, important railways and for Brussels airport, supplemented by the strategic noise maps Lden for agglomeration Antwerp (reference year 2016), Ghent (reference year 2016) and Bruges (reference year 2011) as approved by the Flemish Government in 2018 in implementation of the European Environmental Noise Directive. The existing indicators were converted into nuisance equivalent Lden values and then to arrive at a cumulative noise load card. The map can be used to detect potential environmental noise problem areas. However, the map is not area-covering, as the noise load was calculated only for major traffic infrastructures and the three agglomerations, thus lacking data for, for example, local roads or industrial sources outside the agglomerations. As a result, there is no data available for many environments, and the noise load is underestimated in some locations. The cumulative nuisance equivalent Lden values were then divided using the Dutch methodology for Health Effect Screening (GES) into classes that provide an insight into potential health effects as a first indication of local environmental noise in the serrated areas. The GES classes were defined in this way: GES 073 dB(A) = “very inadequate”. Scores from GES 6 can be linked to the occurrence of cardiovascular disease based on evidence from epidemiological research. However, even with lower noise levels, negative effects on health can occur.