The Downside of Gas-powered Leaf Blowers; Less Polluting Alternatives

Our campaign to promote bird-friendly communities is taking flight. We are getting closer to the official launch of the Bird City certification program here in Oregon. Lane Audubon is the lead organization on this promising initiative. As we develop the program, we are always thinking about what we can all do to make our communities friendlier to birds, pollinators, other wildlife, and people too. The following fact gave us pause, “For a commercial leaf blower, one hour of operation emits smog-forming pollution comparable to driving a new light-duty passenger car about 1100 miles – about the distance from Los Angeles to Denver, over 15 hours of driving” (California Air Resources Board). Whoa. So, we did some research: What’s the problem with gas-powered leaf blowers?

Emissions

Leaf blowers have a two-stroke engine design, powerful but dirtier and less fuel-efficient than car engines. Exhaust from gas-powered leaf blowers contains hydrocarbons such as methane, nitrous oxides, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter. Many of these are carcinogens and/or respiratory irritants known to impact people’s health. Note that children are very susceptible to these hazards because they breathe more air per pound of body weight per day than adults, and overall, their developing organs make them more sensitive. Workers may suffer from increased risks of noise and unhealthy emissions because of their longer exposure to leaf blower activity. The emissions also contribute to climate change. One study showed that the annual use of gas-powered lawn equipment produced more carbon pollution than the entire city of Los Angeles for the year.

Noise

Prolonged exposure to noise louder than 70 decibels may damage your hearing. Gas-powered leaf blowers can register as high as 100-110 decibels at the source, which falls in the “Extremely loud” category according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends less than 15 minutes per day of exposure to 100 decibels. In addition to hearing loss, exposure to loud sounds can cause hypertension (high blood pressure), high cholesterol, and an increased risk of irregular heartbeats. Prolonged exposure to noise may increase stress levels and interfere with cognitive development in children. Noise affects the behavior of wildlife, including birds, and can lead to changes in feeding and nesting habits. Noise interferes with birds’ abilities to transmit mating calls and to listen for predators.

Disturbance

The forceful blast of a leaf blower stirs up particulate matter, dust, mold, pollen, and pathogen-containing animal feces that we (people and wildlife) breathe, exacerbating the health risks from emissions. The blasts may also directly injure and kill pollinators and other beneficial insects, depriving birds of an important supply of food to feed their nestlings. Leaf blowers blow away mulch and sometimes topsoil, while increasing soil erosion and contributing to soil compaction, none of which is good for plants.

What we can do

• Leave the leaves. Leaves provide habitat for overwintering pollinators and other insects. Remember that a hardy population of insects will attract birds to your yard, since many species rely on that food source for their young.
• Rakes work well. Rake leaves into piles and use them as mulch around your plants. Leaves are also nutrient rich.
• If you cannot tolerate brown leaves in your yard, consider leaf-mulching, wherein you mow over the leaves to break them into smaller pieces that break down more quickly.
• If you continue to use leaf blowers, switch to electric ones. They are quieter and emit less pollutants.
• Support yard care companies that don’t use gas-powered leaf blowers.