The Observer: Don't blow it. The case against gas-powered leaf blowers

Last fall, I watched (and listened to) a team of landscapers use gasoline-powered leaf blowers to clear a neighbor’s lawn. It was loud and, frankly, annoying.

I couldn’t help but wonder how much these workers must hate using these odious power tools. How damaging to their hearing is the sound their blowers produce — even if they wear earplugs? And what about the fumes and dust they must be breathing in? I felt sorry for them, forced to work with these droning machines all day long.

There are alternatives, of course. Electric (corded and cordless) blowers are cleaner, quieter and safer. Yes, replacing all the company’s small engine tools and keeping them charged through the day would be costly, but I wondered if there might be a niche here for a pioneering “green” landscaper to promote their service as all-electric or pollution-free.

Of course, there is also the option of leaving your leaves where they are so they will break down and enrich the soil in your yard. Last year, we signed onto a “No Mow May” and found it a lot easier. We plan to do it again this year.

When I was a kid, I did yard work with a rake and a push sweeper. No noise, no dust, no pollution; strictly kid-powered. Today, we want “easier” alternatives, and we’re willing to accept the downsides as a favorable cost/benefit calculation.

In fact, however, as Karen Jubanyik, an emergency medicine physician at Yale University pointed out in a recent Washington Post “climate solutions” column: “When you think about what the benefit of a gas-powered leaf blower does, the cost-benefit ratio just doesn’t make sense.”

As a result, at least 100 local communities across the country have taken steps to regulate (and even ban) their use.

As of this January, California’s plan to restrict sales of such devices has begun to come into effect. Such moves will always be controversial, generating fierce opposition from landscape companies in particular. If you look at the studies that have been done on the hazards of gasoline-powered small-engine equipment, however, you will understand why so many municipalities and states are moving to phase them out.

Some people might say: what’s all the fuss about? The research done on this subject is clear. Not only are gas-powered blowers noisy and dirty, but they also are harmful to people and animals, and they can damage both the local environment and the earth’s climate. This is due in part to the fact that as much as one-third of the fuel mix used in these tools is not combusted.

This leads to the discharge of substantial amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen dioxide into the atmosphere, which contribute to ozone formation. Ozone is well understood to have extreme adverse effects on human health, particularly to individuals with compromised immune systems.

Worse even than exposure to exhaust gases is exposure to particulate matter that is made airborne as a result of leaf blowers. Being downwind of a gasoline–powered leaf blower can cause long-term damage to your health.

Most of the particulates spewed by 2-stroke devices are so small as to be invisible. In fact, the smallest particles are tiny enough to pass through the lungs directly into the bloodstream.

One study I found concluded that a gasoline-powered leaf blower emits more pollutants in half an hour than a Ford F-150 puts out in 3,900 miles of driving. The waste products of the combustion process can easily find their way inside people’s homes and are especially harmful to children.

Grassroots (no pun intended) campaigns against two-stroke engines are spreading — including to some Maine cities and towns (e.g., South Portland). In York, people are starting to talk about the serious effects of the widespread use of 2-stroke engines. The subject of a possible ordinance regulating these devices is in the offing for preliminary discussion before the town’s Climate Action Committee.

That group has a lot on its plate so it is not certain that they will be taking it up, but they likely will consider it. Anyone interested in seeing a presentation before the CAC should tune into their meetings. The CAC meets on the first Wednesday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m. in the York Public Library.

Ron McAllister is a sociologist and writer who lives in York.