Abstract: Traffic noise pollution problem is increasingly emerging with the rapid development of urban traffic. Researchers have paid close attention to the health effects of traffic noise. This review has summarized the recent research progress in the health effects of traffic noise both at home and abroad. Traffic noise can have various adverse health effects, and most of them are extra-auditory effects. The main aspects include that traffic noise can affect the cardiovascular system, which is verified by the evidence that exposure to traffic noise significantly increases the risk for cardiovascular diseases, such as high blood pressure, myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, and so on. In addition, traffic noise can induce adverse effects on nervous system, leading to the increasing levels of anxiety, noise annoyance, and occurrence of insomnia. Furthermore, traffic noise is significantly associated with adverse pregnant outcomes, and can affect the endocrine system and digestive system. As traffic noise and traffic related air pollutants co-exist in the traffic environment, whether there are joint effects between these two factors have become areas of research focus nowadays. Although there is sufficient evidence that traffic noise has adverse health effects, inadequacies still existe. Analysis of the shortages of current studies and the prospects of the future studies are pointed out in this review.

Key words: Noise, transportation, Health impact, Air pollutants