Children Near Airports Don't Read as Well Because They Tune Out Speech, Cornell Study Shows
Researchers Gary Evans and Lorraine Maxwell at Cornell's Department of Design and Environmental Analysis in the College of Human Ecology compared 116 first and second grade students in a noise impact study. One student group was located in a school exposed to a busy nearby New York City airport. Noise from the low-flying jets occurred every 6 - 7 minutes, with noise intensities up to and exceeding 90 decibels. The other group was in a different school that was in a much quieter location away from the noise source.
The students received screening auditory testing and were then also tested for abilities to read, distinguish words with background noise, distinguish sounds with background noise and distinguish word sounds (phonemes) under quiet conditions.  Those students exposed to repeated jet noise

interruptions performed poorly compared to the group that did not have the noise impacts.
"We've known for a long time that chronic noise is having a devastating effect on the academic performance of children in noisy homes and schools," said Evans, an international expert on environmental stress, such as noise, crowding and air pollution. "This study shows that children don't tune out sound per se, rather they have difficulty acquiring speech recognition skills."
"These effects have all been well documented," says Evans. "Unfortunately, we're experiencing exponential increases in worldwide, ambient noise levels that are a byproduct of economic development..."
The researchers said there is a need to reestablish an office of noise abatement within the Environmental Protection Agency. The Reagan administration eliminated this type of watchdog agency.
They also listed other health concerns related to chronic noise, including hearing damage, chronic

cardiovascular activation, elevated annoyance and irritation, motivation problems such as learned helplessness, and impaired cognitive development and reading achievement.

UC Study Shows Aircraft Noise Affects Kids' Health, Cognition
A study conducted at the University of California, Irvine, concluded that children repeatedly exposed to jet noise showed detrimental effects on perception, physiology, motivation and cognitive development.
Students from 3 quiet-neighborhood schools and 4 schools under the flight corridor of LA International Airport were compared.
The children in the LAX flight path were exposed to peak noise levels that reached 95 decibels, on the A scale, with an average of one jet flight every 2.5 minutes.
The researchers found the children exposed to repeated jet noise showed elevated blood pressure, decreased attentiveness,