I constantly hear an 'air conditioner' in my left ear, so I wonder if riding in a car not air conditioned while I was in high school and college has done this to me?

Thank you for bringing up the topic of one of the major contemporary sources of environmental pollution. As a person with a history of ear infections, mastoid surgery and auditory nerve damage, I am outraged by my city's lack of action in banning leaf blowers. My summers and falls are ruined every year because of them. I also work as a school crossing guard at a location which has been undergoing extensive road work, so the combination of vehicular and construction noise has a significant impact on auditory functioning, including tennitis.

As you mention, ear plugs to little to block out that noise. My apartment overlooks a tennis court and condominium building, whose management employs a whole team of leaf blower and heavy roller operators (for the tennis court) at least every second or third day. What makes me enraged is that these operators are equiped with apparatus to protect their hearing, where as the victims of this noise (and exhaust) pollution are exposed to the damage. I have complained to the city without success.

Meanwhile, I have been sustaining increased low levels of hearing loss over the years, especially at the level of speech. Ironically, I have a heightened sensitivity to high frequency sounds, which is the area in which I have sustained the most hearing loss. So fine tuning a hearing aid to balance the two is quite a challenge. Noise pollution is as serious as global warming.
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