Does traffic noise explain the association of residential proximity to traffic with coronary artery calcification?

Introduction: Residential proximity to high traffic, a major source of noise and fine particle exposure, has been linked to atherosclerosis. We investigate, whether the association of traffic proximity and coronary atherosclerosis can be explained by chronic traffic noise exposure. Methods: We used baseline data (2000–2003) from the Heinz Nixdorf Recall-Study, a population-based cohort of 4814 participants living in three cities in Germany. We calculated the distances between participants' home address and federal and state highways. For long-term traffic noise exposure we used categorical noise map values (acco…