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Sleep and Other Activity Interference <br /> Common sense , as well as research , confirms that noise interferes <br /> with sleep and other activities . For airport operators , the results of <br /> one study [4 ] are particularly interesting . The study was done by <br /> British scientists who collected data from neighbors in the community <br /> around Heathrow Airport . These men and women were asked about the <br /> effects of airport noise on everyday activities , and , the scientists <br /> reported , <br /> . For an outdoor Ldn of 75 dB (or NEF 40) - when aircraft noise <br /> impact begins to become severe - at least 50% said they were <br /> disturbed during some activity, and as many as 80% said their TV <br /> listening was disturbed; <br /> . For an outdoor Ldn of 65 dB ( or NEF 30) - when aircraft noise <br /> impact begins to be moderate - more than 50% said they were <br /> occasionally awakened by the noise , and 140% had been kept from <br /> going to sleep ; <br /> • For an outdoor Ldn of 55 dB ( or NEF 20) - when aircraft noise <br /> impact is low - 50% still expressed annoyance at the <br /> interference with TV sound , and 145% said that the noise <br /> disturbed conversation ; <br /> . For all activities in which speech was significant , <br /> approximately 70% reported disturbance . 11 <br /> Although these data were obtained around an airport where night flights <br /> and some noisy aircraft are restricted , they agree , in general , with <br /> surveys at other airports . <br /> Annoyance and Community Reaction <br /> Interference with the kinds of activities we have just dliscussed is <br /> determined by the physical characteristics of the sound-frequency <br /> content , duration, abruptness , and ( especially in the case of aircraft) <br /> intermittency. Most interference results in annoyance , but the degree <br /> of annoyance - how much the interference annoys the listeneir - changes <br /> S <br /> 27 <br />