Quiet Clean Philly, an environmental city-wide organization advocating for “Improving the Quality of Life for all Philadelphians, believes it is. And it’s not just the noise; it’s the pollution, harm to workers, and neighborhood disruption.
Most gas power leaf blowers are “two-cycle,” meaning they burn gas and oil. While there are “four-cycle” models, they are heavier, more expensive, and, therefore, less used. The two-cycle engines have been called the dirtiest engines permitted by law.
The noise and disruption caused by the leaf blowers are the “tip of the iceberg.”
The noise created by gas-powered blowers is low-frequency, and according to a Harvard School of Public Health Study, it penetrates surrounding homes. While Philadelphia has a noise ordinance that requires leaf blowers to be in proper operating condition and use sound-reducing equipment, there is little enforcement of leaf blowers that don’t operate to code.
Even if a person were conscientious and used sound-reducing equipment, it would not stop the air pollution. A widely cited study by the American Automobile Association’s Automotive Research Center, commissioned by Edmunds InsideLine.com, found
that a typical two-stroke leaf blower emits hundreds of times more hydrocarbons than the Ford Raptor pickup truck used as a control. Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor at Edmunds.com, said, “The hydrocarbon emissions from a half-hour of yard work with the two-stroke leaf blower are about the same as a 3,900-mile drive from Texas to Alaska in a Raptor. As ridiculous as it may sound, it is more ‘green’ to ditch your yard equipment and find a way to blow leaves using a Raptor pickup truck.”
A study co-authored by Robert McConnell, an environmental engineer working for the US Environmental Protection Agency, found that gasoline-powered lawn and garden equipment (GLGE) is an important source of toxic and carcinogenic exhaust and fine particulate matter. The study recommended improving reporting and monitoring of localized GLGE emissions; medical and scientific organizations should increase public awareness of GLGE and GLME and identify GLGE as an important local source of dangerous air pollutants. It closed with, “Communities and environmental, public health, and other government agencies should create policies and programs to protect the public from GLGE air pollutants and promote non-polluting alternatives.”
The call to ban gas-powered blowers received support from the Consumer Union, the publishers of Consumer Reports. The argument often given for the use of polluting gas-powered blowers is they work better. According to Consumer Reports, that argument is no longer valid: “At first glance, it might look like a draw, with electrics outperforming gas in many tasks, but gas acing it in key areas, like sweeping and loosening. But when you look more closely, electric is the clear winner. That’s because while gas models as a group do well in a few important tests, on average, there are in each instance also at least a few electric leaf blowers that match or beat that performance.”
The noise and pollution hurt residents and the environment, but the extreme risks fall on the workers using the equipment. In Philadelphia, smoking inside buildings was banned to protect consumers and workers. Those same protections are not offered to landscape workers who breathe in the noxious air as they work.
The noise is less and less penetrating, so fewer people will be bothered. And, of course, the electric leaf blower does not emit air pollution.
Quiet Clean Philly understands there would be a cost for landscapers to convert to battery-powered blowers. It urges the city to establish a fund to help landscaping companies convert and provide a better working environment for their workers. On its web page is a petition that people may sign to urge Philadelphia to join the ever-growing number of Cities, towns, and even states outlawing the polluting leafblowers.
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