Adults exposed to high levels of residential transportation noise from road traffic, trains and aircraft face a higher risk of serious heart-related events and are more likely to develop cardiovascular risk factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2026. The meeting, scheduled for Nov. 6-9 in Chicago, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements in cardiovascular science.
The key finding, researchers said, is that the relationship between noise exposure and cardiovascular disease events was similar among people with and without unhealthy sleep. “Healthy sleep is not protective against adverse heart impacts of noise exposure,” said lead study author Joseph Nguyen, M.D., an internal medicine resident physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and a member of the Cardiovascular Imaging Research Center in Boston. “We expected that disordered sleep would influence the relationship between noise exposure and heart disease. It was surprising to find that sleep health appeared to play no role.”
Researchers analyzed medical records and lifestyle survey data for more than 100,000 adults, along with U.S. government transportation noise data, to examine whether transportation noise-related heart risks differed between people with normal and abnormal sleep. They focused on average noise levels above 45-50 decibels, similar to moderate rainfall or typing on a keyboard. Exposure above 50 decibels was associated with an 8% to 10% increase in the development of major heart disease risk factors, and greater odds of a major adverse heart event, even after accounting for age, sex and sleep quality.
“When analyzing risk factors individually, the strongest relationship was seen with high cholesterol, followed by high blood pressure and then diabetes,” Nguyen said. The link persisted even after considering other factors that affect heart disease risk, including cardiovascular risk factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, as well as socioenvironmental factors like air pollution and income, and mental health factors such as depression and anxiety.
The study included data from 2010-2020 for 108,051 adults with a median age of 57; 58% were women. Just over one-third, 34.7%, had abnormal sleep, defined as sleep apnea, insomnia, sleepwalking, night terrors, excessive daytime sleepiness, narcolepsy, or sleeping less than seven or more than nine hours per night. About one-third of participants (33%) were exposed to transportation noise louder than 50 decibels, and 54.5% to noise louder than 45 decibels. Nguyen noted that the noise levels in the dataset are 24-hour averages, not peak levels, which may be much higher. “Subway stations have an average noise level of about 75 decibels at rest and can be more than 100 decibels when trains are arriving or leaving,” he said.
Nguyen advised people with high noise exposure to consider strategies such as installing thicker drywall, windows and doors; placing bedrooms in the quietest areas of the house; planting dense trees and vegetation to absorb noise; and using earplugs during sleep. The findings add to growing evidence that environmental factors may contribute to the burden of cardiovascular disease, said co-author Keith Churchwell, M.D., FAHA, past American Heart Association volunteer President and co-author of the association’s joint scientific statement, Environmental Stressors and Cardiovascular Health: Acting Locally for Global Impact in a Changing World. Churchwell, who was not involved in the study, called for stronger policies to reduce adverse environmental exposures and build durable infrastructure that emphasizes wellness.
The study has limitations: it reviewed already collected data, so it cannot prove cause and effect, and effects may vary by type of transportation noise. The findings are considered preliminary until published as a full manuscript in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The research is scheduled for presentation at Scientific Sessions 2026, and additional resources, including a Spanish news release and the abstract poster MDP2871, are available online. The association’s overall financial information is available here.
