University of Maryland researchers estimate that loud noise from aircraft at the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport may cause health issues among residents adding a medical cost burden of $800 million over 30 years. Other research studies have suggested that excessive aircraft noise near neighborhoods can cause residents to have anxiety, cardiovascular issues, deprive residents of sleep and even lead to low birth weight in children. University of Maryland’s School of Pharmacy Assistant Professor Zafar Zafari recently released astudy exploring potential health issues for those living near the Baltimore airport due to excessive exposure to loud noises.
“The monetary estimates for these costs include direct medical costs of these conditions, like pharmacy, outpatient visits, doctor visits, emergency room visits and hospitalizations,” said Zafari. “Then we also included indirect costs, which includes loss of productivity because of these morbidities.”
Indirect costs might include taking time off work to go to the doctor, he said.
Glen Burnie resident Lara Donovan said she’s noticed how the aircraft noise affects her.
“In a nutshell, let’s see: sleep deprivation, stupidity, my weight is fluctuating all over the place,” Donovan said. “Your sleep patterns are off, your eating patterns are off, there’s no schedule.”
The sky over her house looks like argyle socks with the amount of condensation trails from airplanes left behind, she said.
Donovan lives 2.7 miles door-to-door from the Baltimore airport, but it’s not just people who are close to the airport who are experiencing issues.
Neighborhoods upwards of 10 miles away might hear aircraft because it’s along the flight path of a plane traveling along a superhighway in the sky.
In 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration rolled out its NextGen Air Transportation System at BWI which some residents complained increased aircraft noise. That’s because the system switched from using satellites rather than radar to guide aircraft which meant more planes could be in the airspace closer together.
There’s an advisory committee known as the DC Metroplex BWI Community Roundtable tasked by the Maryland Aviation Administration to tackle noise reduction.
Baltimore region aircraft noise can reach up to 69 decibels, that’s equivalent to holding up a hair dryer or vacuum to the ear.
Some communities may see thousands of planes flying at lower altitude over their homes not even close to the airport.
“These are communities that are, you know, eight, 10, 15 miles from the airport that are getting repeated noise events over their homes,” said Debbie MacDonald, roundtable chair. “Someone here says it's a superhighway in the sky.”
Earlier this year, Maryland solidified $4 million in federal funds to mitigate noise from NexGen flight paths. The roundtable has recommendations for how to use that money.
The board wants the state to reassess the economic impact of the airport with the health of its residents.
“There needs to be a public health intervention,” said Jesse Chancellor, a member of the board. “You have to balance the tremendous economic benefit the airport provides to the region. The jobs, the access, everything we all value here against the public health.”
But it’s unclear when that may happen. Technical experts and consultants for the Baltimore airport are still reviewing the University of Maryland study results.
“We remain committed to help address community concerns related to aircraft noise as a result of the arrival and departure changes created by the FAA in the NextGen process,” said Jonathan Dean, BWI spokesperson in a statement. “BWI Marshall Airport strives to be a good neighbor. We have a comprehensive noise program to help support our local communities.”
