Potential Health Effects of Aircraft Noise
By Hales Swift
July 2010
Past noise research has related noise impact to the perception of annoyance and interference. More recent efforts have investigated further the potential health impacts of transportation noise. This literature review considers two potential pathways between aviation noise and health outcomes by presenting research that evaluates the role of sleep disruption and noise induced stress, and their relationship to possible cardiovascular outcomes. A brief review of the relationship between aircraft noise and annoyance, disturbance of communication, and disruption of learning are also presented in this report. The report includes a synopsis of past, current and potential future research studies.