Noise exposure is prevalent in daily life and can cause both auditory and non-auditory health effects. Noise-induced hearing loss remains a significant issue in occupational settings and is increasingly linked to social noise exposure, such as from personal music players. The molecular mechanisms involved in noise-induced hair-cell and nerve damage have been better understood, and preventive and therapeutic drugs may become available within 10 years. Evidence of the non-auditory effects of environmental noise exposure on public health is growing, including annoyance, sleep disturbance, cardiovascular disease, and impaired cognitive performance in children. This review emphasizes the importance of adequate noise prevention and mitigation strategies for public health, highlighting the need to regulate and reduce environmental noise exposure and enforce exposure limits to mitigate negative health consequences. Educational campaigns can promote noise-avoiding and noise-reducing behaviors, leading to improved health outcomes such as reduced annoyance, better learning environments for children, improved sleep, lower prevalence of cardiovascular disease, and better patient outcomes in hospitals.Noise exposure is prevalent in daily life and can cause both auditory and non-auditory health effects. Noise-induced hearing loss remains a significant issue in occupational settings and is increasingly linked to social noise exposure, such as from personal music players. The molecular mechanisms involved in noise-induced hair-cell and nerve damage have been better understood, and preventive and therapeutic drugs may become available within 10 years. Evidence of the non-auditory effects of environmental noise exposure on public health is growing, including annoyance, sleep disturbance, cardiovascular disease, and impaired cognitive performance in children. This review emphasizes the importance of adequate noise prevention and mitigation strategies for public health, highlighting the need to regulate and reduce environmental noise exposure and enforce exposure limits to mitigate negative health consequences. Educational campaigns can promote noise-avoiding and noise-reducing behaviors, leading to improved health outcomes such as reduced annoyance, better learning environments for children, improved sleep, lower prevalence of cardiovascular disease, and better patient outcomes in hospitals.