Noise: combating a ubiquitous and hazardous pollutant

Abstract

With a growing body of data suggesting a link between noise and adverse mental and physical health and with noise pollution becoming even more pervasive, especially from the rapid increase in air travel and highway traffic, individuals worldwide are forging alliances to combat this hazardous pollutant. Especially active are the anti-aircraft noise groups. In the United States, the federal government has limited its responsibilities with respect to noise control after an initial interest in the 1970s when legislation was passed promising to protect the American people against the harmful effects of noise. These past years anti-noise activists in the United States have been working arduously to urge the federal government to once again take an active role in abating and controlling noise. They have also been enlisting more citizens to their cause as they educate them to the hazards of noise.