In the last week in July 2008, the International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise (ICBEN) will hold its week-long International Congress. The event, held every five years, usually brings 500 to 600 participants from around the world and will be held in the United States for the first time since 1968.
ICBEN provides an assembly point for noise researchers, government agencies, and concerned businesses and industries. Each group can learn about and respond to the needs of other groups. ICBEN publishes Proceedings of its Congresses. These documents propose concepts that have provided bases for governmental regulations in a number of countries. They provide research information that is ready for industrial application, and guide future research and legislation.
ASHA Fellow Jerry V. Tobias is president of the 9th Congress. He will meet with ICBEN officers and the working-group chairs at the end of July 2007. The group of about 20 professionals will begin a planning session to determine what new technologies and concepts will merit emphasis, select an editor for the next year's Proceedings , and decide on a professional who is broadly competent and well-read enough to provide the overall summary of the Congress.
The Beginning
The first Congress, in 1968, was funded primarily by ASHA. The second one, in Dubrovnic, Yugoslavia, was funded primarily by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of State. The resulting Proceedings of the Congress served as the scientific basis for EPA's successful noise-control programs. The primary sponsor for the third Congress, in Freiburg, Germany, was a government-organized consortium of German industrial-insurance firms. This year's event is funded by ASHA and ICBEN.
Like those first Congresses, succeeding meetings (in Torino, Italy; Stockholm, Sweden; Nice, France; Sydney, Australia; and Rotterdam, The Netherlands) have all featured participation by and discussions among scientists, clinicians, engineers, industrial
leaders, and national and international government agencies. Specialists cover such diverse areas as
hearing, physics, speech perception, psychology,
biophysics, biochemistry, sociology, physiology, medicine, architecture, education, and public and industrial health.
The 2008 event will be held at Foxwoods Resort in Eastern Connecticut. To receive registration
information and announcements, e-mail
icben2008@att.net.
