The question of prediction of sleep disturbance and annoyance due to transportation noise has been addressed. Two sets of previously published data have been reanalyzed. This project was initiated as part of a long-term U.S. Air Force research program on the effects of aircraft noise on humans. It is concluded that day-night average sound level is still the most adequate noise descriptor for use in environmental impact analyses to assess the annoyance and overall impact of noise from general transportation, including civilian and military aircraft operations. A new logistic curve adopted in 1992 for general use by U.S. federal agencies, is recommended for use in environmental impact statements as the nominal relationship between day-night average sound level and the percent age of a general residential population predicted to be highly annoyed by the noise. A power curve, using A-weighted sound exposure level, is recommended for predicting nighttime sleep disturbance from general transportation noise.

The mandate of the International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise (ICBEN) is to promote a high level of scientific research concerning all aspects of noise-induced effects on human beings and animals. In this review, ICBEN team chairs and co-chairs summarize relevant findings, publications, developments, and policies related to the biological effects of noise, with a focus on the period 2011-2014 and for the following topics: Noise-induced hearing loss; nonauditory effects of noise; effects of noise on performance and behavior; effects of noise on sleep; community response to noise; and interactions with other agents and contextual factors. Occupational settings and transport have been identified as the most prominent sources of noise that affect health. These reviews demonstrate that noise is a prevalent and often underestimated threat for both auditory and nonauditory health and that strategies for the prevention of noise and its associated negative health consequences are needed to promote public health.

The change from propeller aircraft to jet engines in the 1950s provided much of the impetus for development of national (federal) noise policies regarding noise from aircraft and other environmental noise sources in the U.S. Through the 1970s and early 1980s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other national organizations participated in the development of a series of federal noise regulations and guidelines. This paper provides an overview of the noise policies that have been developed since about 1970, and, in the case of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the EPA, provides a brief review of the successes and failures of their policies. We briefly describe the major noise policy documents produced in the U.S., including both emission regulations and immission guidelines. The successes and failures of the historical U.S. noise policy provide guidance in developing concepts for a new national unified noise policy.

Research on nighttime sleep disturbance due to community noise sources, particularly from exposure to aircraft noise, has been conducted for over a half decade. However, there are still no national environmental noise policies (i.e., laws and regulations) promulgated which prescribe a specific criterion for an exposure limit which is regulatory in nature. In the U.S., the new American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Noise Standard, ANSI S12.9-2008/Part 6, Quantities and Procedures for Description and Measurement of Environmental Sound - Part 6: Methods for Estimation of Awakenings Associated with Outdoor Noise Events Heard in Homes, does provide the currently recommended exposure-response relationship used in the U.S. In Europe, there has also been significant laboratory and field research on sleep disturbance, although the U.S. and European research publications often use different research methodologies, different noise metrics and different meta-analysis techniques. The current article will provide a brief overview of sleep disturbance research internationally to document the similarities and differences between the various research approaches and research results.

There currently exists no generally accepted criterion for an acceptable level of nighttime sleep disturbance from aircraft noise. Indeed, there is little agreement concerning the appropriate scientific definition of sleep disturbance, the appropriate noise exposure metric for this environmental effect, or the circumstances under which such predictions need to be included in environmental impact analyses. However, with the large body of scientific evidence on sleep disturbance due to environmental noise that has accumulated over the past 20 yr, it is now possible to promote an interim sleep disturbance curve for use in the federal environmental impact analysis process. This presentation focuses on the results of recent research and the implications for environmental policy decisions. Both laboratory and field research, including research in the United States and Europe, are addressed. Development of the sleep disturbance curve incorporated into the 1992 report of the Federal Interagency Committee on Noise (FICON) is also reviewed.