Environmental Noise Directive - EU
The EU environmental noise exposure metrics Leq24h, LDay, LEvening, LNight, Ldn, and Lden for road, rail and air traffic noise sources.
The EU Environment Noise Directive defines:
- Ld - as the day noise indicator.
- Le - as the evening noise indicator.
- Ln - as the night noise indicator.
The indicators are A-weighted long-term average sound levels determined over the year.
A person's cumulative exposure to sound Lden over a 24-hour period can be calculated as
Lden = 10 log[ (1 / 24) (td 10Ld/10 + te 10(Le + 5)/10 + tn 10(Ln + 10)/10)] (1)
where
Lden = cumulative exposure (dBA)
Ld = day exposure (dBA)
Le = evening exposure (dBA)
Ln = night exposure (dBA)
td = day hours
te = evening hours
tn = night hours
In general
- day time is 07:00 - 19:00 (12 hours)
- evening time 19:00 - 23:00 (4 hours)
- night time 23:00 - 07:00 (8 hours)
Permissible cumulative exposure Lden values:
| Area | Permissible Noise Pollution (dBA) | |
|---|---|---|
| Day | Night | |
| Purely industrial | 70 | 70 |
| Predominant commercial and industrial | 65 | 50 |
| Mixed areas | 60 | 45 |
| Predominant residential | 55 | 40 |
| Purely residential | 50 | 35 |
| Hospitals etc. | 45 | 35 |
Environmental Noise Directive Exposure Calculator
