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relative risk of 1.3 (95% CI = 0.8-2.2) per 5 dB(A). A prospective study carried out around Stockholm’s major airport investigated the association between aircraft noise and high blood pressure. Subjects exposed to FBN above 50 dB(A) had a significant relative risk of 1.2 for the development of hypertension over the 10-year follow-up period, compared with less exposed (Eriksson et al., 2007). The increase in risk per 10 dB(A) was 1.2 (95% CI = 1.0-1.2). The effect was particularly found in older people, which may reflect longer years of residence. In a new multi-centered study carried out around six European airports, a significant increase in the risk of hypertension of 1.14 (95% CI = 1.01-1.29) for a 10 dB(A) difference of aircraft noise during the night (Lnight) was found (Jarup et al., 2008). Hypertension was determined by a combination of three criteria: measured resting blood pressure (systolic/diastolic blood pressure >140/90 mmHg), self-reported doctor-diagnosed hypertension, and anti-hypertensive medication (ATC coding). No linear association was found with respect to the exposure during the day, possibly due to exposure misclassification (time spent away from home). Thus, a smaller relative risk was found for the 24-hour noise indicator Lden of 1.1 (95% CI = 0.9-1.3) per 20 dB(A). The same study reported a significant (54%) increase in the odds of being hypertensive for men who are exposed to the highest level (>65 dB(A)) of road traffic noise (Jarup et al., 2008). In a Swedish municipality partly affected by noise from a highway (20,000 vehicles/24 hours) and a railway (200 trains/24 hours), men who lived there for more than 10 years and were exposed to the highest level of noise (56-70 dB(A)) had a relative risk of hypertension almost three times that of the unexposed population (OR=2.9, 95%CI: 1.4-6.2) (Barregard, Bonde, & Ohrstrom, 2009). Ischemic Heart Disease Babisch, et al. (Babisch et al., 2005) examined incidents of myocardial infarction (MI) between 1998 and 2001, recruiting patients with confirmed MIs at 32 Berlin hospitals. A sophisticated noise assessment was conducted, utilizing noise maps for roads with volumes over 6,000 vehicles per day, with lower volume roads characterized as “quiet.” This assumption was 4 validated. Subjects’ addresses were further checked and their exposures reassigned if they lived near a main road that was noisier than their own road. In adjusted multivariate analyses there was a slight increase in risks for males only. This was strengthened when analysis was restricted to those who had lived in residence for >10 years (RRadj=1.3 >65 dB(A); 1.8 >70 dB(A)). There was no effect in females. Noise annoyance was linked to MI in males (for traffic noise at night, RR=1.1) and females (for aircraft noise at night, RR=1.3) and noise sensitivity was an increased risk in males (RR=1.14). The authors suggested that these gender differences might be due to difference in sex hormones, contraceptive use, different time/activity patterns, or sample size. A recent large population-based cohort study of 57,053 people living in the Copenhagen and Aarhus areas of Denmark examined the relation between exposure to road traffic noise and risk for stroke. 1881 cases of first-ever strokes were identified in national hospital register between 1993- 1997 and 2006 (Sorensen et al., 2011). Exposure to road traffic noise and air pollution during the same period was estimated for all cohort members from residential address history. Using the Cox regression model with stratification for gender and calendar year and adjustment for air pollution and other potential confounders, the authors found an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 1.14 for stroke (95%CI: 1.03-1.25) per 10 dB higher level of road traffic noise. There was a statistically significant interaction with age (P < 0.001), with a strong association between road traffic noise and stroke among cases over 64.5 years (IRR: 1.27; 95% CI: 1.13-1.43) and no association for those under 64.5 years (IRR: 1.02; 95% CI: 0.91-1.14). A recent meta-analysis (Babisch, 2008) of two descriptive (cross-sectional) and five analytical (case-control and cohort) studies calculated a pooled dose-effect curve for the association between road traffic noise levels and the risk of myocardial infarction. No increase in risk was found below 60 dB(A) for the average A-weighted sound pressure levels during the day. An increase in risk was found with increasing noise levels above 60 dB(A), thus showing a dose-response relationship. Another review article (Kaltenbach et al., 2008) of 10 primary epidemiological studies from 2000 and 2007 reported similar dose-response relationship for aircraft noise, too. In residential areas, outdoor aircraft noise-induced equivalent noise levels of 60 dB(A) in the daytime and 45 dB(A) at night are associated with an increased incidence of hypertension. It has been estimated that approximately 2- 3% of ischemic heart diseases in the general population can be attributed to the traffic noise (Babisch, 2002). Mental Health Disorders Community-based studies suggest that high levels of environmental noise are associated with subsyndromal states (psychiatric symptoms, anxiety) more than with specific syndromes (depression) (Stansfeld, Haines, Berry, & Burr, 2009). A cross-sectional study among the residents living in the vicinity of Elmas Airport in Sardinia, Italy showed an increased risk for long-lasting syndromal 

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