Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter #468........................................................................February 17,  2007 Past newsletters can be accessed at: http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm  The PASSUR airport flight tracking system at many major U.S. airports  http://www.passur.com/sites.htm (you must have Java installed to view it). If you want to get the newsletter sent to you every week, sign up to AviationWatch. Bill Mulcahy rockaway@prodigy.net

Quote of the Week: "Our studies show that night-time aircraft noise can affect your blood pressure instantly and increase the risk of hypertension. This was surprising. Such an immediate effect from noise events has never been shown." Dr. Lars Jarup, who co-wrote the four year study from Imperial College London.  For every 10 decibel hike, the chances of having hypertension goes up by 14 percent!!!

New Study Says Airplane Noise Kills!!!

As Bill Sees It (Editorial): Finally, A Real Cause-Effect Analysis Of The Blood Pressure Impacts Of Nighttime Aircraft Noise!!!  While American politicians look at scientific analysis that might obstruct the mad rush to expand aviation and airports all over the map as an obstruction to "progress," and do everything they can to stop it, once again it is the Europeans doing the analysis of the health effects of aviation noise. This time it seems like some really concrete cause-effect analysis of noise health impacts the paid-off politicians and their politicized, corrupt "National Academy of Sciences" will have a tough time ignoring and/or distorting; but you can be sure they will try. Time magazine and the Washington Post actually ran stories mentioning how the study proves IMMEDIATE rises in blood pressure from aircraft noise, even while people are sleeping!!! This is significant as the American news media has long been the partners-in-crime with the aviation cabal by helping keep the lid on news stories about the health impacts of aviation noise and air pollution. This is a major blow to the heavily night-operating air cargo industry. I'm sure they have their public relations people and lobbyists working on it right now. When Will The Lawsuits Begin? I myself developed high blood pressure and diverticulitis (a stress related disease) shortly after the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (approved by the FAA) selected my community in Rockaway Beach, New York as the "preferred late night overflight" noise dumping ground for JFK Airport, using false analysis. I think this is a basis for a lawsuit. Can anyone recommend a good lawyer to me? Last Connecticut Towns Join The Airspace Redesign Coalition!!! With the British noise study being released, there should be new ammunition against the FAA airspace redesign scheme. I hope some of the towns and coalitions fighting it use the fact that NO health impacts were included in the FAA severely skewed (to favor the airline industry and hide real impacts) analysis. Maybe the tide is changing and these politician, FAA and transportation industry bastards will finally be exposed for the environmental criminals they are. How many more people will die before this will be done?

Four Year Study Shows Aircraft Noise Linked To High Blood Pressure!!! London, England (AHN) - The vehement protest of residents near London's Heathrow Airport to a planned expansion of U.K.'s main gateway that the noise pollution affects them negatively may have a strong argument in their favor. The report of a 4-year study released Tuesday warned that airport noise could be deadly to residents. Aircraft noise goes beyond disturbed sleeps and damaged eardrums. It may also cause hypertension, strokes, kidney diseases and dementia. According to national projections, of 6 million Britons who are suffering from high blood pressure, 100,000 would eventually suffer from strokes and heart attacks and half may not survive. Dr. Lars Jarup, who co-wrote the study from Imperial College London, said, "Our studies show that night-time aircraft noise can affect your blood pressure instantly and increase the risk of hypertension. This was surprising. Such an immediate effect from noise events has never been shown." The findings of the Hypertension and Exposure to Noise near Airports study will see print in the European Heart Journal. It examined 140 people who reside near the Heathrow, Athens, Malpensa and Arlanda airports for at least 5 years. Their blood pressures were individually checked every 15 minutes, while noise levels and types were logged down in their sleeping quarters. The Hyena study said in the evenings noise levels in residences near airports may reach 30 decibels. For every 10 decibel hike, the chances of having hypertension goes up by 14 percent, Jarup said. Earlier studies said 20 percent of Europe residents, or 80 million people,are constantly bombarded by unhealthy and sometimes fatal airport noise levels. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010021864 Editor's Note: Guess why a relationship between noise and blood pressure has "never been shown?"  You will find the lobbying efforts of the airline and railroad industry that goes way back to 1980 when they got congress to remove funding for the EPA's Office of Noise Abatement and Control (ONAC). This is proof positive (or perhaps I should say negative) of how American's health has been sold out by our representatives and their corporate and union financiers. 

Connecticut: State Senators Line Up To Fight FAA's Airspace Redesign!!! STAMFORD - In an effort led by state senators from Stamford and Norwalk, the General Assembly's Transportation Committee voted yesterday to draft a resolution that would make official the state's opposition to the Federal Aviation Administration's airspace redesign plan. The FAA adopted the plan to reroute some flight paths from LaGuardia and Westchester County airports over lower Fairfield County in September. In November, the state and a coalition of 14 municipalities sued the FAA over the plan. "I thought it was important that the state of Connecticut take as many measures as possible and use the strongest of language to say how we all feel about the wrongheaded decision of the FAA," said state Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, the committee vice chairman. Duff said he will draft the resolution over the weekend. It would be nonbinding but would serve as an official censure, he said. Opponents have said that the redesign will damage the region's quality of life and that the FAA did not sufficiently explore alternatives, including the possibility of rerouting paths over less-populated areas. http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-faa5feb16,0,3149100.story Ridgefield, Connecticut: "One Of The Last" Towns Joins The Coalition Opposing The Airspace Redesign: After some heated argument, voters at a town meeting last week approved spending $70,000 for Ridgefield to join the Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning. Ridgefield is “one of the last” of a dozen local towns to join the alliance in an effort to change the Federal Aviation Authority’s proposed airspace redesign, First Selectman Rudy Marconi said. The plan is to fight the proposal to rerouting New York airport traffic over Connecticut, by simultaneously pursuing legal, lobbying and “grass roots” opposition, he said. The aviation authority has approved a redesign that some people have compared to “putting an I-95 directly above us,” he said. At a public hearing right before the vote last Wednesday, Feb. 6, Mr. Marconi urged Ridgefielders to approve the money to join the Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning. “Overall we’re very, very concerned that proper homework has not been done. This will impact our quality of life forever,” he said. But Board of Finance members David Ulmer and Bob Cascella both spoke against joining the fight against the airspace redesign. “Frankly, we in Connecticut have been getting a free ride for quite some time,” Mr. Ulmer said. “The FAA started this process about five years ago. It’s been well-studied. The New York area airports are among the worst in the country in terms of delays. The FAA is under severe political pressure to do something about it.” Mr. Ulmer said it was true that the Board of Finance had voted to approve the money to join the alliance, but “that’s really a procedural question,” he said. Of the $70,000 the town would spend, “$14,000 is on lobbying efforts, and I’m not sure what lobbying will do if there’s no legislative body involved,” he said. “The noise impact might be a five decibel jump, but it’s not a huge level to begin with,” he added. Mr. Cascella said he opposed joining the FAA fight, too. He said he did not think having a special town meeting to decide the issue “is right.” “The Board of Selectmen should bring it through the budget process,” he said. But audience member John Katz seemed to speak for the majority of voters there when he voiced his support for joining the alliance. “Each of us needs to look at this as an insurance premium,” he said. Approximately 40 people turned out for the voice vote, and the ayes far outweighed the nays. http://www.acorn-online.com/news/publish/ridgefield/28805.shtml 

Thailand: Residents (Again) Threaten To Launch Balloons And Fire Rockets At Noisy Planes Next Saturday!!! BANGKOK, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Angry residents around the Suvarnabhumi International Airport, the main air hub of Bangkok, on Saturday threatened to disrupt the flights around the airport by firing homemade rockets and releasing balloons. Somchart Manathamsombat, a leader of the residents, said at a press conference that the people affected by noise pollution at the airport would give the government until Feb. 23 to solve their problems or they would launch homemade rockets and balloons to disrupt the flights. Somchart and some 100 representatives of the residents demanded the new government to ask the Airports of Thailand Plc. (AoT) to speed up paying affected people compensations, local news network The Nation reported. They claimed that the AoT has signed a formal agreement to buy homes from owners who have been suffering aircraft noise of above 70 decibels. Until now, no parties have received the compensation, they said. While acknowledging that the country's image would be negatively affected if their threatened action is actually taken, the residents said they had no choice but to proceed with the plan because the AoT was not sincere about solving their problem.  http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=2847 

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                                                    Important Aviation News Stories This Week

Airplane Noise Boosts Blood Pressure Even During Sleep

TUESDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthDay News) -- People who live near major airports may be disturbed by the din of aircraft flying overhead all day, but a new study finds it can also boost their blood pressure even while they're sleeping

In fact, the louder the noise, the higher blood pressure will go, the study found. That finding holds whether the noise comes from airplanes, passing traffic or other sources, according to the report in the February issue of theEuropean Heart Journal.

"We know that noise from air traffic can be a source of irritation, but our research shows that it can also be damaging for people's health, which is particularly significant in light of plans to expand international airports," co-author Dr. Lars Jarup, from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Imperial College London, said in a prepared statement.

"Nighttime aircraft noise can affect your blood pressure instantly and increase the risk of hypertension. It is clear to me that measures need to be taken to reduce noise levels from aircraft, in particular during nighttime, in order to protect the health of people living near airports," Jarup said.

In the study, the British team studied 140 people who lived near London's Heathrow Airport, as well as airports in Athens, Milan and Stockholm.

While the volunteers slept, the researchers remotely measured their blood pressure every 15 minutes. They also analyzed the noise level in the participant's bedrooms.

Jarup's group found a noticeable increase in blood pressure when noise levels grew louder than 35 decibels. That amount of increased noise can occur as an airplane flies overhead, from traffic noise, or even from someone snoring nearby. The increase in blood pressure was apparent even when the participant stayed asleep, the researchers found.

The noise from aircraft increased blood systolic pressure (the top number in a reading) an average of 6.2 mmHg, and diastolic pressure an average of 7.4 mmHg, the researchers found. This increase in blood pressure was also seen from other noise, such as road traffic, according to the report.

The boost in blood pressure was directly related to the loudness of the noise, Jarup's group found. In fact, every 5 decibel increase in airplane noise caused an increase in systolic blood pressure of 0.66 mmHg. The key factor in increasing blood pressure was the level of the noise, not its source, the researchers noted.

One expert believes more studies are needed to see if avoiding noise can benefit cardiovascular health.

"Elevations in systolic and diastolic blood pressure are important modifiable risk factors for heart attack and stroke," said Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a professor of cardiology, at the University of California, Los Angeles.

This study is consistent with earlier studies, which showed that environmental noise can significantly increase systolic and diastolic blood pressure during sleep, Fonarow added.

"Further studies are necessary to determine if avoiding excess noise during sleep will result in better blood pressure control and cardiovascular risk reduction in individuals with hypertension," Fonarow said.

"The study adds to the literature that noxious and stressful exposures have adverse cardiovascular consequences," said Dr. Harlan M. Krumholz, a professor of medicine at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn.

How this finding translates into policy is not quite clear, but it appears that the adverse effect of noise can be demonstrated by blood pressure changes, Krumholz said. "What is interesting here is that it occurred during sleep," he added.

"Whether all people are affected similarly and whether this response correlates with a higher risk of heart disease is not clear, but it seems sensible to assume that a noisy environment is not good for health," Krumholz said.

More information

For more on high blood pressure, visit the American Heart Association.

SOURCES: Harlan M. Krumholz, M.D., professor, medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn; Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D., professor, cardiology, University of California, Los Angeles; February 2008European Heart Journal