OBJECTIVES This study explores reactions to low-level chemical challenge, aiming at the development of test procedures for assessing individual sensitivity to smells and chemicals. METHODS Subjects with symptoms and neuropsychological test results compatible with toxic encephalopathy type 2A (TE-2A) and 2B (TE-2B) and unexposed referents (N=12 in each group) were challenged in an exposure cha...

The aim of this study is to compare vibration exposure to noise exposure from railway traffic in terms of equal annoyance, i.e., to determine when a certain noise level is equally annoying as a corresponding vibration velocity. Based on questionnaire data from the Train Vibration and Noise Effects (TVANE) research project from residential areas exposed to railway noise and vibration, the dose r...

General measures of reaction to noise, which assess the respondent's perceived affectedness or dissatisfaction, appear to be more valid and internally consistent than more narrow measures, such as specific assessment of noise annoyance. However, the test-retest reliability of general and specific measures has yet to be compared. As a part of the large-scale Sydney Airport Health Study, 97 respo...

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between road traffic noise exposure, annoyance caused by different noise sources and validated health indicators in a cohort of 1375 adults from the region of Basel, Switzerland. Road traffic noise exposure for each study participant was determined using modelling, and annoyance from various noise sources was inquired by means of a four-...

The social context of noise exposure is a codeterminant of noise annoyance. The present study shows that fairness of the exposure procedure (sound management) can be used as an instrument to reduce noise annoyance. In a laboratory experiment (N = 117) participants are exposed to aircraft sound of different sound pressure level (SPL: 50 vs 70 dB A)--which is experienced as noise--while they work...

Transportation noise is known to have negative impact on both public health and life quality. This study evaluated the relationship between transportation noise and annoyance levels, and also the difference of annoyance levels in two metropolitan cities based on epidemiologic surveys. Two thousand adult subjects living in Seoul and Ulsan were enrolled by stratified random sampling on the basis ...