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Our message to lawn care companies.
Greetings, dear lawn maintenance folks! We want to reach out with
some info and to begin working with you towards a cleaner, quieter
shared environment.
Currently:
More than 150 municipalities across the US now limit or prohibit the use of gas-
powered leaf blowers, moving away from noisy, hyper-polluting gas-powered
leaf blowers, toward modern, clean battery-powered models. (Business
Insider June 8 2023)
Locally, groups like Quiet Clean Philly and others in Ardmore/Narberth are
planning regulation proposals to limit or prohibit the use of GLBs (Gas Powered
Leaf Blowers)
California will ban the sale of new gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers
beginning next year, while existing ones may still be used. Washington, D.C., has
already done this.
Why? GLBs contribute to severe widespread noise pollution – they can produce
up to 100 decibels, which is as noisy as a plane taking off. Their low-frequency
noise travels large distances and goes through walls and windows.
This causes serious disruptions for folks working at home, children, the elderly,
those with health problems and pets: It’s noise you can’t escape, and it often
continues for hours at a time, every day.
GLBs harm the workers: they use them for hours at a time and can suffer serious
health problems: hearing loss, joint and muscle strains, respiratory disease and
more.
GLBs produce toxic air pollution: They emit high levels of hydrocarbons,
carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides. No one wants to breathe that!
Here’s hope and help: One group, Quiet Clean D.C., reports that battery-
powered blowers are cheaper to run and maintain than GLBs over time.
Also, as more manufacturers are introducing battery-powered blowers
prices are coming down.
The revolution in battery technology is one of the fastest-developing
fields of high-tech improvement. The demand for battery-powered
transportation systems, from cars to aircraft, and the ceaseless expansion
of battery-powered mobile equipment is rapidly driving down the cost
and weight. All this is driving up the power and durability of portable
batteries.
Lawn-equipment manufacturers are quickly responding with new
clean, dramatically quieter leaf blowers and other equipment.
And: We should think of leaving more leaves on the ground, around trees,
in flower beds, and definitely on wooded areas. This is beneficial for birds
and other wildlife where they’ll feast on spiders and caterpillars; and leaves
will compost into the soil, making it richer. We don’t need to pick up every
leaf. ��
Let’s work together to improve our shared environment and the health and
safety of neighbors and workers exposed to GLBs. We all have the right
to an outdoors with peace and quiet, free of unreasonable noise and
toxic pollution. Let’s work ahead of guidelines and regulations, and move
together towards a cleaner, quieter, healthier environment. We’d like to
hear from you! Please contact us at quietcleanphilly@gmail.com to start a conversation.
¡Saludos, estimados trabajadores de patios! Queremos traerles alguna
información para empezar a trabajar con ustedes hacia un medio ambiente
compartido más limpio, tranquilo y silencioso.
Al presente:
Más de 150 municipalidades en los Estados Unidos limitan o prohiben sopla-hojas
que usan gasolina, están alejándose del extremo ruido y la super contaminación
encaminándose a modelos modernos que operan con batería. (Business Insider, 8
deJunio 2023).
Grupos locales como Quiet Clean Philly y otros en Ardmore/Narberth están
planeando propuestas reguladoras para limitar o prohibir el uso de GLBs (Gas
Powered Leaf Blowers).
California prohibirá la venta de sopletes y podadoras de gasolina empezando el
año entrante (2024), permitiendo el uso sólo de los que están en circulación.
Washington, D.C. ya lo ha hecho.
¿Por qué? GLBs contribuyen a contaminación de ruido severa—pueden producir
hasta 100 decibeles, esto es lo mismo que un avión durante el despegue. Su
sonido de baja frecuencia viaja distancias muy largas y atraviesa paredes y
ventanas.
Esto causa disrupciones serias para aquellos que trabajan en casa, niños,
envejecientes, personas con problemas de salud y animales en el hogar: es ruido
del que uno no puede escapar y a menudo es continuo por horas, todos los días.
GLBs le hacen daño a los trabajadores: los usan por muchas horas provocándole
problemas serios de salud: pérdida de audición, lastimaduras musculares y de
coyunturas, enfermedades respiratorias y más.
GLBs liberan contaminación tóxica al aire: Emiten altos niveles de hidrocarbonos,
monóxido de carbono y óxidos de nitrógeno. ¡Nadie quiere respirar esos gases!
Hay esperanza y ayuda: El grupo, Quiet Clean D.C., reporta que a largo plazo los
sopladores de hojas de batería son más baratos de mantener que los GLBs.
También, que según más fabricantes añaden sopladores de batería, el precio está
bajando.
La revolución en tecnología de batería es uno de los campos de alta tecnología
que más rápido se está desarrollando. La demanda por sistemas de transporte de
batería, desde carros hasta aviones, y la expansión desenfrenada de equipo móvil
de batería está bajando el costo y el peso. Todo esto está aumentando la
potencia y durabilidad de los sopladores de hojas y otro equipo.
Los fabricantes de equipo para mantenimiento de patios están respondiendo con
nuevos sopladores de hojas y otra maquinaria dramáticamente más silenciosa y
limpia.
Además: Debemos pensar en dejar más hojas en el suelo, alrededor de árboles,
rodeando arbustos y camas de flores, y definitivamente en zonas arboladas o
boscosas. Esto es beneficioso para pájaros y otra vida silvestre que cuenta
encontrar arañas y orugas entre las hojas; y las hojas se descomponen formando
tierra más rica y fértil. No tenemos que eliminar cada hoja. �
Trabajemos juntos para mejorar el medio ambiente que compartimos y la salud y
seguridad de vecinos y trabajadores expuestos a GLBs. Todos tenemos derecho a
un exterior con paz y tranquilidad, libre de ruido irrazonable o contaminación
tóxica. Forjemos juntos adelante, antes de guías y regulaciones, hacia un medio
ambiente más limpio, más callado, más saludable. ¡Nos gustaría saber de ti!
It’s time to phase-out gas leaf blowers
Washington DC, the State of California and 168 other municipalities have banned gas leaf blowers … is Philly next?
Elected officials in support of phase-out:
State Representative Darisha Parker (District 198)
State Representative Chris Rabb (District 200)
Organizations supporting phase-out:
Gas-powered leaf blowers facts
Many landscape maintenance service providers continue to use two-stroke gas-powered leaf blowers that the rest of the world is increasingly leaving behind. These leaf blowers generate toxic air pollution in our neighborhoods, schools, and public spaces, and noise that far exceeds health and safety standards. These practices come with high costs for our health and environment.
Two-stroke engines, unlike cleaner car engines, burn an oil-gas mixture that generates high levels of ozone-forming chemicals. These engines also disperse fine particulate matter (“PM2.5”). These chemicals and PM2.5s are inhaled by equipment operators and passers-by. An authoritative, independent laboratory study compared emissions from a 2012 Fiat 500 against those of, among other things, an Echo two-cycle gas-powered leaf blower. The Echo generated more than 93 times the output of non-methane hydrocarbons and more than 33 times the output of carbon monoxide as the Fiat. [1]
Gas-powered blowers are more expensive to run
Running on gas all day long is not just noisy and dirty, its expensive! According to research just published, commercial landscapers can recoup their investment in just 10 months once they make the switch.
Harmful health impacts
Ozone and PM2.5s are well known causes of, or contributors to, early death, cardiovascular disease, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, premature births, and other serious health conditions. Even short-term exposure can be harmful. [2-8] Workers, children, seniors, and people with chronic illness are at greatest risk.
Damaging noise
According to reports from federal agencies, noise from leaf blowers ranges from 102−115 decibels (“dBs”) at the ear of the operator. These same federal agencies have declared noise levels above 85 dBs to be harmful. [9-10] Because dBs are measured on a logarithmic scale, a difference on the order of 17 or more dBs represents a huge change in the amount of noise and in the potential damage to a person’s hearing. [11] Health effects from noise alone can include heart disease. A recent study estimates that more than 100 million Americans are at risk for noise-related health problems, with over 145 million at potential risk of hypertension due to noise, and even more at an increased risk of heart attack. [12-13] In addition, chronic high noise levels decrease biodiversity. [14]
Air-borne contaminants
The high-velocity air jets from gas-powered leaf blowers (150-280 mph, comparable to the strongest hurricanes) disturb topsoil and disperse spores, fungi, pollen, chemical residues from insecticide, rodenticide, herbicide, and fungicide treatments, microbes, other potential allergens, and particles of animal feces into the ambient air, putting workers and passers-by at risk.
Sustainable alternatives
Cleaner and quieter electric and battery-powered leaf blowers are increasingly available and are being used already by some local landscaping companies and homeowners, with effective results and at competitive pricing.
Quiet Clean Philly supports legislation to phase out the use of gas-powered leaf blowers to provide an adequate number of years for their owners, users, and retailers to amortize their inventory of such equipment and to transition to a 21st -century technology.
References:
1. http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/features/emissions-test-car-vs-truck-vs-leaf-blower.html and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDxQIHoTmxs
2. American Heart Association. Particulate Matter Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease: An Update to the Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association. http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/121/21/2331.full?sid=d0895577-ee5f-4bda-92e4-cc606aca7741
3. American Lung Association. http://www.stateoftheair.org/2015/assets/ALA_State_of_the_Air_2015.pdf
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Integrated Science Assessment for Particulate Matter- Final Report, EPA/600/R-08/139F, December 2009. Access at: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/isa/recordisplay.cfm?deid=216546 and here: http://www.sinia.cl/1292/articles-51242_Integrated_Science.pdf
5. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2012 study. Provisional Assessment of Recent Studies on Health Effects of Particulate Matter Exposure, EPA/600/R-12/056F, December 2012.
6. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Integrated Science Assessment for Ozone and Related Photochemical Oxidants, 2013. EPA/600/R-10/076F
7. Hamra, G.B., N. Guha, A. Cohen, F. Laden, O. Raaschou-Nielsen, J.M. Samet, P. Vineis, et al. 2014. “Outdoor Particulate Matter Exposure and Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis.” Environmental Health Perspectives 122 (9): 906-911. doi:10.1289/ehp/1408092. https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/12987239/4154221.pdf?sequence=1
8. Trasante L., Malecha P., and Attina T., Particulate Matter Exposure and Preterm Birth: Estimates of U.S. Attributable Burden and Economic Costs, Environmental Health Perspectives, March 29, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510810
9. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. How Do We Protect Our Ears? Accessed July 15, 2015. https://www.osha.gov/dte/grant_materials/fy10/sh-21001-10/Trainee_Worksheets-Ears.pdf
10. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Noise and Its Effects on Children. Information for Parents, Teachers, and Childcare Providers. Office of Air and Radiation, Washington, D.C. EPA-410-F-09-003, November 2009.
11. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Occupational Noise Exposure. Accessed July 15, 2015. https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/noisehearingconservation/
12. Passchier-Vermeer W., Passchier W.F. Noise exposure and public health. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2000; 108(Suppl 1):123–131.
13. Hammer M.S., Swinburn T.K., Neitzel R.L. Environmental noise pollution in the United States: developing an effective public health response. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2014;122:115–119. http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1307272
14. Francis C.D., Ortega C.P., Cruz A. (2011) Noise Pollution Filters Bird Communities Based on Vocal Frequency. PLoS ONE 6(11): e27052.
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