There are roughly 30 million hearing-impaired people in the United States, including a third of those over sixty-five. A third of the total blame excessive noise for the problem, according to the American Tinnitus Association. The number of Americans with tinnitus, according to the ATA, tops 50 million, of which 10 to 12 million suffer so badly they must seek medical help.

George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, loc. 357