Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that transportation noise is associated with blood pressure and hypertension, but little is known about its relationship in the adults living in multi-storey residential buildings, where neighbour noise is frequently heard. This study aimed to investigate the effects of transportation noise exposure on blood pressure in 400 adult residents of multi-storey residential buildings and modifying effects of indoor noise annoyance and self-rated noise sensitivity on the associations between transportation noise and blood pressure. Noise levels were measured on the top of buildings for 24 h, and levels of each house unit were then predicted for different sources and periods using noise maps. Adjusted linear regression analyses were performed to estimate the associations of noise exposure levels (LDEN, LDay, and LNight) with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). The questionnaire also included questions related to annoyance caused by indoor noise, noise sensitivity, and sociodemographic variables. Adjusted regression models yielded significant effect estimates for a 5-dBA increase in overall transportation noise for 24 h (SBP β = 0.20; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.25-1.81; DBP β = 0.16; 95% CI: 0.12-0.93). The overall (road traffic and railway noise) and road traffic noises showed stronger associations with the SBP than with the DBP, while the railway noise had similar associations with the SBP and the DBP. Stronger associations were estimated for the participants who reported higher indoor noise annoyance ratings. Furthermore, the regression coefficients between the noise exposure and blood pressure slightly increased (β = 0.26 and 0.22 for overall and road traffic noise, respectively for SBP) in a subgroup that excluded participants exposed to high railway noise. The results lend some support to the hypothesis that long-term exposure to transportation noise is associated with a higher blood pressure in adults living in multi-storey residential buildings.

In the present study, the effect of footstep noise on emotions was investigated. This study used noise stimulus of human footsteps throughout the study. First, Korean emotion lexicons were collected from narratives of residents living in multi-family housing buildings. The lexicons were then classified into four emotion clusters, with three expressing negative emotions (anger, dislike, and pain) and the fourth depicting empathy. Since self-reported annoyance has long been investigated as one of the major non-auditory responses to noise, annoyance was measured along with affective responses in a laboratory experiment with varying noise levels. The findings revealed that the emotion and noise annoyance experienced by the participants were significantly affected by noise levels. All clusters expressing negative emotions showed strong correlations with noise annoyance, whereas that representing empathy showed the weakest correlation. Noise sensitivity and attitudes to the noise source were observed as possible moderators in emotional responses and annoyance ratings.

This study aims to determine which single-number quantities (SNQs) of heavyweight impact sounds are the most appropriate for explaining subjective response. Two hundred and eleven participants participated in the listening experiment in Korea (Experiment I) to assess 28 heavyweight impact sounds generated by a rubber ball and an adult jumping in heavyweight and lightweight buildings. A small-scale listening test (Experiment II) was then performed in the UK to validate Experiment I with 43 European participants. For all the sounds with different sound sources and building types, A-weighted maximum sound pressure level with time weighting fast (LiA,Fmax) was the best SNQ although other predictors also showed relatively high correlation coefficients with annoyance ratings. Experiment II confirmed the findings of Experiment I, implying that LiA,Fmax is the most effective SNQ across ethnicity.

Purpose: Given the increased levels of fine and ultrafine dust, as well as the spread of COVID-19, current opinion is that most people will wear a face mask such a KF94 mask for a long time. To test speech transmission through the face masks, various types of masks including dust masks available in the market at the time of the study were tested under laboratory conditions.Methods: Fourteen types of masks worn on a head and torso simulator (HATS) and test signals were played on a speaker installed in the mouse position of the HATS. Speech Transmission Index (STI) and the speech level in the octave band were measured at distances of 1 m and 2 m.Results: STI at a distance of 2 m was decreased to 3.4-5.7% and speech levels in the octave band at 4 kHz or higher were also decreased when wearing disposable masks and a cotton mask. KF80 and KF94 masks showed decreased STI similar to those of disposable masks; however, a decrease in the speech level was observed at the octave bands of above 2 kHz. Dust masks and single-cartridge half-face respirators showed approximately 11.2% and 33.7% to 39.3% decreases in STI levels, respectively.Conclusion: When wearing masks, STI and the speech level was decreased in the high-frequency bands. However, speech level differences at high frequencies may be related to the increased voice level of the speaker and the understanding of consonants with the masks for several hours in living and working environments.

When children run and jump or adults walk indoors, the impact sounds conveyed to neighbouring households have relatively high energy in low-frequency bands. The experience of and response to low-frequency floor impact sounds can differ depending on factors such as the duration of exposure, the listener’s noise sensitivity, and the level of background noise in housing complexes. In order to study responses to actual floor impact sounds, it is necessary to investigate how the response is affected by changes in the background noise and differences in the response when focusing on other tasks. In this study, the author presented subjects with a rubber ball impact sound recorded from different apartment buildings and housings and investigated the subjects’ responses to varying levels of background noise and when they were assigned tasks to change their level of attention on the presented sound. The subjects’ noise sensitivity and response to their neighbours were also compared. The results of the subjective experiment showed differences in the subjective responses depending on the level of background noise, and high intensity rubber ball impact sounds were associated with larger subjective responses. In addition, when subjects were performing a task like browsing the internet, they attended less to the rubber ball impact sound, showing a less sensitive response to the same intensity of impact sound. The responses of the group with high noise sensitivity showed an even steeper response curve with the same change in impact sound intensity. The group with less positive opinions of their neighbours showed larger changes in their subjective response, resulting in the expression of stronger opinions even to the same change in loudness of the impact sound. It was found that subjective responses were different when subjects were performing activities of daily living, such as reading or watching TV in the evening, and when they were focused on floor impact sounds in the middle of the night.