Status of the I-INCE technical initiative on noise labels for products

The I-INCE initiative on Noise Labels for Consumer and Industrial Products is a study of the labeling, and other forms of product information, that deals with noise emissions that are furnished to the purchaser of products. This I-INCE initiative will survey current methods for labeling and otherwise characterizing the noise emissions of such products. (The measurement methods used to test the products will also be included in the survey.) Such labeling methodologies are intended to provide effective means for specifying the noise properties of consumer and industrial products. It is expected that this information will benefit both the users of these products and others exposed to the noise emissions of the products, such as neighbors and bystanders. The methodologies will be compared, and an assessment will be made of their relative effectiveness. An important outcome of this study will be recommendations on how, and in what form, noise labeling can be implemented. The Study Group first met in Nice, France in August 2000. Actions to date and future plans are presented. Opportunities for ASA inputs are described including the status of draft American National Standard on Noise Labeling, currently under ballot by American Standards Committee S12.