Abstract
This paper describes the effects to sufferers of exposure to low frequency noise in the UK. Low frequency noise is now a recognised problem in many countries in the world and although a relatively small number of people are affected, those who are tend to suffer severe distress. In most situations a single sufferer, or perhaps a couple living in the same property, is affected but occasionally a cluster of complaints arises in a particular area. Human reaction to sound is known to be dependent not just on the sound itself, but on a complex array of other factors including personal associations with the sound. In undertaking a project, funded by Defra, to develop a procedure to assess low frequency noise complaints, we complimented the physical recordings of low frequency sounds in homes with questionnaires and interviews with the sufferers themselves to determine whether sociological or other factors might influence the results. From this we obtained a significant amount of personal data about the individuals themselves. This gave a significant overview of the background to the LFN complaint that might have a bearing on the responses. In this paper we discuss the rationale for collecting details about individuals' residential and occupational histories, their general health, details of the noise they are exposed to, suspected sources of the noise, effects of the noise on themselves and their health, and any measures they have taken to cope with or avoid the noise. We demonstrate that many complainants have ongoing problems which they associate with low frequency noise, and which have a fairly serious impact on their lives. We show how these sociological factors have been incorporated into a ‘Procedure for the assessment of low frequency noise complaints' to be used by local authorities and argue that the answers to the questions developed help local authorities distinguish cases where they should act from those where they can do nothing to help.