Leaf Blowers and Health

Imagine this. You are vacuuming without a container or bag for the dust, so the dust is blowing back in your face. After vacuuming, the dust takes some time, but finally settles on the rug where your children are playing. Leaf blowers work like that. Someone blows the leaves, debris, and all the detritus that is on our streets into the air, then walks into the dust cloud. People going shopping or taking kids to the park walk through it. At the end of the day your children may be playing outside after the gardener has created this dust storm at your house.

But, you say, leaf blowers are not like uncontained vacuums. You're right. They're worse. Chances are your living room does not contain asbestos, heavy metals, animal feces, herbicides or volatile organic compounds, but our streets, sidewalks and yards do. The dust from your living room, like the dust from the blowers, may cause you, your children and your pets to have respiratory disease, allergies or asthma, but the dust particles from leaf blowers can also cause stroke, heart disease, cancer, increased risk of dementia. They take a long time to settle, much longer than one would think. Even when you can't see them, they are still in the air, tiny tiny particles that can adhere to the lung tissue, much in the same way that asbestos particles did before people knew of the danger. This can cause severe illness, especially in young children who are closer to the ground, and who play outside, illness which may not show up till years later.(1) 

In addition, the decibel level of leaf blowers is extremely high,(2) causing hearing loss, inability to concentrate, and great misery. Consider. We live in million dollar homes, but cannot relax and enjoy them in peace and quiet. The Forest Hills Gardens Corporation and our neighbors' gardeners are busy causing noise pollution at all times of the day and all days of the week. Many people now work from home. It is almost impossible for them to focus on their jobs with the barrage of noise. Noise pollution causes many problems beside hearing loss such as sleep disturbances, immune system suppression, learning disabilities, and cardiovacular and mental health problems.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reccomends that anyone who uses equipment above 85 decibels wear ear protection and the employer must warn employees of the risks associated with the job. One leaf blower is 90-100 decibels.(3)(4) Many of the lawn workers seen in our neighborhood wear no ear protectors, and even fewer wear National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health certified masks(3) to protect their lungs. They need their jobs, so they're not likely to complain. Although it is clear that the workers bear the brunt of this assault on their health, everyone whose lawn is blown, everyone playing in a park, everyone out for a walk where leaf blowers are being used is susceptible.

Here are some guidelines for use of leaf blowers given by a manufacturer. Why does the manufacturer need to say this? How many of these do you see actually being followed?

Dust

Not for moving dusty materials

Don't point in direction of people or pets

Use at least 50 feet away from people

Noise

No full throttle in residential areas

Don't use more than 1 blower at a time"(5)

These guidelines signify that there are potential great health problems when using leaf blowers. We can't prevent all illness, but we can prevent the illnesses that arise through the use of leaf blowers. Let's ask our gardeners and the Forest Hills Gardens Corporation to use rakes and brooms, not leaf blowers. 

—Forest Hills Gardens Resident

1.https://www.wliw.org/programs/long-island-business-report/landscaping-and-your-health-rft0bo/

2.https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/109428.html

3. https://www.osha.gov/dte/grant_materials/fy06/46c6-ht21/english_b_5_ppe.ppt

4.https://www.creativesafetysupply.com/articles/oshahearingprotection-requirements/ 

5.Sources: Manufacturer (ECHO, OPEI/Stihl) training materials