WHO Environmental noise guidelines for the European Region - What is new? 1. Policy context and methodology used for guideline development

WHO Regional Office for Europe is currently coordinating the systematic review of all pertinent literature in order to provide recommendations for the protection of public health as part of the upcoming WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region (the Guidelines). The entire process is transparent and evidence-based and is conducted according to established WHO procedures for guideline development. Whereas the scientific evidence on health effects of environmental noise is growing, the recognition of noise as an environmental health issue is insufficient. There is uneven attention given to environmental noise among Member States, with varying degree of policy development, exposure monitoring and use of health risk assessment practices for informing public health policy. The development of these Guidelines is motivated by the Commitment to Act of European Ministers of Environment and Health included in the Parma Declaration from 2010, which urged WHO to develop suitable guidelines on noise. Further, some of the guideline recommendations are expected to be directly embedded in the revised Annex III of the EU Environmental Noise Directive on "assessment methods for harmful effects", which has recently been initiated