Saliva cortisol--a new approach in noise research to study stress effects.

Several studies have indicated an association between noise exposure and cardiovascular disease. A noise-induced release of stress hormones has been considered to be a biological pathway of importance in this respect. The described method is of special interest since concentration of cortisol in saliva reflects the concentration of free cortisol in serum and repeated saliva samples can easily be collected. Our objective is to overview the use of saliva cortisol to measure stress in relation to noise as a tool for research on noise-related cardiovascular risk. Previous studies of saliva cortisol in relation to noise exposure are reviewed. In summary, repeated assessments of saliva cortisol seems to be a feasible method to apply in field studies in noise research.