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/:4 p: j Cohen and his former colleaf;ues at the University of U.r•ep;o_u ;showed that children whose schools were along the fliuhl path of Los Angeles International Airport had higher blood prc::;surr t Iuui similar children attending quiet schools. The noise-affecLed children also had more difficulty solving puzzles and nAh problems and were quicker to give up in frustration. k1i,r.•theni,m , as time passed, no improvement was seen in the noise -related effects on the children's abilities. High levels of noise in the home, from television ,!et. V radios and other sources, were shown to disrupt the devel.opmc:;,, of ;sensory and motor skills of children during the first. two yearn of life. Babies living in noisy homes were slower to imitate adult actions and persisted in infantile habits longer than babies in quieter homes. Noise also delayed verbal development and exploratory behavior. The researcher, Dr. Theodore D. Wachs, a psychologist at Purdue University, hel.i.c;vc.r that noise stress prompts babies to retreat into their own space. A University of Wisconsin study showed that noise produc,F:d in the home by arguing, shouting, vent fans, garbage electric mixers, knife sharpeners and running faucets a state of heightened body arousal and general nervous ten.njor;. Dr. Jack C. Westman, a Wisconsin psychiatrist, believes that home noise contributes to noise -related health damage and to cc►:il L:: between family members. A series of Eurpoean studies indicated that worker.; expo:;c7(: to noise were more likely to develop abnormal heart rhythm:, balance disturbances, circulatory ailments and ulcers. Illip fatigue and irritability, and they reported more social conf*Ikl.. on the job and at home. Studies in Britain and the United States suggested tILxL people living in noisy areas, such as in airport flight pa Ll, :jui'.fered more emotional disturbances and required medical ,treatment more often than those living in quieter areds. But according to Cohen and others, all these studie.,—i er from methodological problems, primarily the failure to t.Oce into account other factors, such as age, a0doeoosomic and various on-the-job stresses, that could have infl; c� the effects attributed to noise. Sound is measured in decibles, a scale that logarithmically. Zero decibels is the lowest level of :.pound -that a young, healthy huiivin ear can detect. A level of 140 dttiheln (a shotgun blast or jet Eakeoff)can be exh.•emly painful. A_rise of 10 decibels is perceived by the human ear -in ,i doublir, . of loudness. -of' most frequently uned decibel scale, called dBA, measurc perceived loudness by givinC more weight to hit,,h-frecquer,cy sounds, which seem louden to people than the wine intensity Thus, the 100 dB sound of power lawn mower or snownrobile twice as loud as the 90 dB :sound of 4_t.rain.roaring:_into a subway station. Dr. Maurice H. Miller, professor of aud.iolokV at New York University and cheif Atudiological consultant at Lenox Hill Hospital and the New York City Department of Health, pointe outrthat noise well below the level of discomfort or grain