Noise in rodent vivaria: Preliminary criteria and comparison to data

The validity of medical research depends on being able to control as many external factors as possible and observing the effect of a single treatment. Until now, noise has been significantly understudied as an environmental variable in laboratory animal experiments. Specifically in research involving rodents, noise can be under appreciated by researchers because the rodent hearing range extends to frequencies significantly above that of humans. Discussed in this paper are the current criteria that are available, their shortcomings, and the adverse effects that are observed in rodents due to high noise levels. Preliminary criteria will be provided and the method by which it was developed will be discussed. Measured data inside occupied and unoccupied vivaria will be presented and levels will be compared with the suggested criteria.