Brussels — More than half a million children across Europe are suffering from impaired reading abilities due to chronic exposure to transport noise, according to a stark warning issued by the European Environment Agency (EEA) today. The EEA’s briefing, ‘The effect of environmental noise on children’s reading ability and behaviour in Europe,’ reveals that over 20 per cent of Europeans are subjected to harmful levels of noise from road, rail and air transport. This exposure is not only detrimental to public health but also significantly impacts the cognitive development and behaviour of children.