Assessing community noise annoyance: A review of two decades of the international technical specification ISO/TS 15666:2003.

The robust assessment of noise annoyance is of key importance given that it is the most prevalent community response in populations exposed to environmental noise. In 1993, the International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise Community Response to Noise team began formalizing a standardized methodology for assessing noise annoyance which resulted in reporting guidelines and recommendations later published as a Technical Specification (TS) in 2003 by the International Standards Organization (ISO) [(2003). ISO/TS 15666]. This TS, intended to inform the international community on the quantification of the exposure-response relationship between noise exposure and annoyance, has been in circulation for nearly two decades and was updated in 2021 by ISO [(2021). ISO/TS 15666] by an international working group (ISO TC43/SC1/WG62). This paper reviews use of the 2003 TS, identifies common adaptations in use, and summarizes the revisions. Methodological issues arising from the use of the 5-point verbal and the 11-point numeric scale questions and the scoring of "highly annoyed" are discussed. The revisions are designed to encourage further standardization in noise annoyance research. The paper highlights research needs that, if addressed, would strengthen the methodology underlying the assessment of noise annoyance including multidimensional assessments of annoyance.

Detoxification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Arabidopsis thaliana involves a putative flavonol synthase.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental contaminants with cytotoxic, teratogenic and carcinogenic properties. Bioremediation studies with bacteria have led to the identification of dioxygenases (DOXs) in the first step to degrade these recalcitrant compounds. In this study, we characterized the role of the Arabidopsis thaliana AT5G05600, a putative DOX of the flavonol synthase family, in the transformation of PAHs. Phenotypic analysis of loss-of-function mutant lines showed that these plant lines were less sensitive to the toxic effects of phenanthrene, suggesting possible roles of this gene in PAH degradation in vivo. Interestingly, these mutant lines showed less accumulation of H2O2 after PAH exposure. Transgenic lines over-expressing At5g05600 showed a hypersensitive response and more oxidative stress after phenanthrene treatments. Moreover, fluorescence spectra results of biochemical assays with the recombinant His-tagged protein AT5G05600 detected chemical modifications of phenanthrene. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that AT5G05600 is involved in the catabolism of PAHs and the accumulation of toxic intermediates during PAH biotransformation in plants. This research represents the first step in the design of transgenic plants with the potential to degrade PAHs, leading to the development of vigorous plant varieties that can reduce the levels of these pollutants in the environment.