Health aspects of extra-aural noise research.

The WHO definition of "health" is critically discussed in its broad context. Decision making in noise policy has to be made in the evaluation range between social and physical well-being. The term "adverse" is a crucial one in the process of risk characterization. In toxicological terms it refers to the single event itself; in psychosocial terms it refers to the relative number of people affected. The evidence of the association between community noise and cardiovascular outcomes is evaluated. The results of epidemiological studies in this field can be used for decision making when assessing maximum acceptable noise levels in the community. Since dose response relationships were mostly studied with respect to road traffic noise, inferences have to be made with respect to aircraft noise. Issues of statistical inferring are discussed.