[Health disorders caused by noise]

This review describes first the physical and technical basis of sound measurement and noise evaluation. Then the effects of noise on hearing are demonstrated by our experimental data on TTS and data on noise induced hearing loss. Extraaural noise effects on the cardiovascular system, blood-pressure and on sleep are reported. Moreover some long-lasting effects on health with respect to neuro-humoral regulations, gastrointestinal disturbances and psychosomatic symptoms are described. With respect to annoyance the questions of habituation, subjective attitudes and controllability of noise are important. In this area of multifactorial disturbing influences objectivation and quantification seem especially difficult.