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Modeled traffic noise at the residence and colorectal cancer incidence: a cohort study

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Abstract

Purpose

Traffic noise has become an increasing public health concern, associated with pervasive negative health effects, most likely through pathways of sleep disruption and stress. Both sleep disruption and stress have been associated with colorectal cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between residential traffic noise and colorectal cancer incidence.

Methods

Traffic noise was calculated for all residential addresses from 1987 to 2012 for 51,283 Danes in the Diet, Cancer and Health Cohort. We used Cox proportional hazard models to investigate the association between residential traffic noise 5 and 10 years before diagnosis, and overall colorectal cancer incidence, as well as subtypes (rectal, proximal, and distal colon). Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated as crude and adjusted for potential confounders.

Results

During follow-up, 1,134 colorectal cancers developed (737 colon, 397 rectal). We found no association between residential road traffic noise and rectal cancer. We observed an association with distal colon cancer: HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.00–1.40, but not for proximal colon cancer: 0.99 (0.83–1.18), per 10 dB, 10 years preceding diagnosis. There was no association between railway noise and colorectal cancer, or any subtype.

Conclusion

The present study suggested that long-term exposure to residential road traffic noise might increase the risk for colon cancer, especially distal colon cancer.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by The European Research Council, EU 7th Research Framework Programme [Grant Number 281760].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Diet, Genes and Environment, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Strandboulevarden 49, 2100, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark

    Nina Roswall, Ole Raaschou-Nielsen, Jytte Halkjær & Mette Sørensen

  2. Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, Postboks 358, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Matthias Ketzel

  3. Department of Public Health, Section for Epidemiology, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 2, Aarhus C, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark

    Kim Overvad

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  1. Nina Roswall
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Correspondence to Nina Roswall.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Roswall, N., Raaschou-Nielsen, O., Ketzel, M. et al. Modeled traffic noise at the residence and colorectal cancer incidence: a cohort study. Cancer Causes Control 28, 745–753 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-017-0904-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-017-0904-0

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