AIRCRAFT AND ROAD TRAFFIC NOISE AND CHILDRENʼS COGNITION AND HEALTH

Abstract

Introduction Many studies have found associations between exposure to aircraft noise and children’s cognition in terms of reading comprehension, long-term memory and motivation (Cohen et al, 1980; Evans et al, 1995; Haines et al, 2001a,b; Haines et al, 2002; Hygge et al, 2002). Associations have also been found between aircraft noise exposure and psychophysiological indices of arousal such as levels of catecholamines and elevated blood pressure. With a few exceptions (Green et. al, 1982; Haines et. al, 2002), most studies have compared high and low noise exposed groups and have not examined dose-response relationships. Moreover, most studies in children have focussed on aircraft noise rather than traffic noise and have not examined the effects of the combination of aircraft and road traffic noise.