AIRCRAFT NOISE, HEARING ABILITY, AND ANNOYANCE

The relationship between aircraft noise, loss of hearing, and annoyanc e was explored in a study in two schools located near an international airport in Taiwan. Sixth-grade students (N = 242) were recruited from two schools and were classified into high-and low-noise-exposure grou ps, based on environmental noise measurements. Personal-equivalent 24- h noise exposure was measured to determine noise exposure at the indiv idual level, and it was compared with hearing threshold level and with aircraft noise measured at the environmental level. Individual hearin g threshold levels did not differ between environmental high- and low- noise-exposure groups, as evidenced by the lack of difference between the two groups for noise exposure measured at the individual level. Ho wever, the proportion of students who were annoyed by aircraft noise w as higher in the environmental high-noise-exposure group, although per sonal 24-h noise exposure was not a factor for annoyance. The results indicated that environmental noise measurement was not an appropriate criterion for assessment of auditory damage (or noise-induced hearing loss) in Taiwan. As well, aircraft-noise exposure in Taiwan did not ap pear to affect the hearing threshold but nonetheless annoyed schoolchi ldren near the airport.