On Wednesday, November 3rd, the City Council will hear public comments regarding a new law, “Landscapers and Leaf Blower Regulations.” The meeting begins at 7 pm.

Proposed regulations include:
1. All landscapers to be annually permitted.
2. Only electric blowers are allowed starting 2023.
3. Leaf blower, employer, or property owner may be fined.

The legislation is important to our community because gas-powered leaf blowers negatively impact our health, quality of life and environment. They are excessively loud, spew toxic emissions and particulate matter, and expose landscape crew and residents to the risk of hearing loss and illness.

Please support this legislation by sending an email to the mayor and city council and attending the meeting on November 3rd.
https://zoom.us/j/95414909757?pwd=d01TUUNPclovV2NLRjFsd2VzK1NOZz09

Mayor Cohn jcohn@ryeny.gov
Sara Goddard sgoddard@ryeny.gov
Ben Stacks bstacks@ryeny.gov
Rich Mecca rmecca@ryeny.gov
Julie Souza jsouza@ryeny.gov
Carolina Johnson cjohnson@ryeny.gov

Below please find a detailed list of the health and environmental hazards associated with gas-powered leaf blowers, along with a list of resources.

To view the agenda item and proposed law, visit
https://www.ryeny.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/13914

HEALTH & ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS

Health Hazards of Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers [GPLB]

Damaging Noise

The level at which permanent hearing damage occurs from extended exposure is 85 decibels. A study of seven popular models of GPLBs showed the blowers run at up to 83 decibels at 50 feet. This is close to 85 decibels, the level for damage. In the study, the equipment runs at 100 decibels at the source, which is far into the damaging range. Crews run the blowers for hours a day at this range. Some men wear protective equipment; some do not. Protective equipment does not always completely block the noise.
GPLBs have a low-frequency component which creates a different quality of sound. Low frequency sound travels over greater distances, transmits more easily through windows and doors, and is more audible inside a home. Over time, this kind of loud and penetrating noise damages hearing. One GPLB could affect 90 to 100 homes in a densely populated area.
A Harvard Medical School Special Report noted, “The noise that causes sensory-neural hearing loss is usually not one deafening bang but decades’ worth of exposure to the high-decibel accessories of daily life.” Leaf blowers were the first example the study mentioned.
Loud and penetrating noise also cause adverse health effects. These include heart disease, hypertension, and immune system suppression. Environmental noise has become “the new second-hand smoke.”
Major health organizations have spoken out against the noise produced by GPLBs, including The World Health Organization, The Environmental Protection Agency, The Centers for Disease Control, The National Institutes of Health, The National Academy of Engineering/Science, and our own State Medical Society of New York.

Toxic Emissions

Up to 12% of all U.S. emissions are from lawn care equipment
Gas-powered leaf blower two-stroke engines, unlike increasingly cleaner car engines, burn an oil-gas mixture inefficiently. In the process, they produce large amounts of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides (which are toxic) and hydrocarbons (which are toxic and carcinogenic).
Direct emissions include benzene, 1,3 butadiene, acetaldehyde, toluene, and formaldehyde. These are among the top-ranking carcinogens.
They also produce ozone-forming chemicals which contribute to smog.

Harmful Particulates

GPLBs produce fine particulates as part of their emissions.
Both GPLBs and electric leaf blowers send airborne particulates from the ground they are clearing. These particulates can include topsoil, mold spores, pollen, and animal feces, as well as dangerous contaminants such as pesticides, herbicides, and lead. Once airborne, they may float and take hours to settle. Even if crews shut off their blowers when people pass on foot, on bikes, on boards, while pushing babies in strollers, most likely the particulates are still in the air.

Environmental Justice

Landscape crews operate the equipment regularly and in very close proximity.
Catherine Plume, Board Member of the Sierra Club, speaking at a hearing in Washington DC, said, “For the Sierra Club, the use of gas-powered leaf blowers is as much an environmental justice issue as it is an environmental issue. Landscaping is an entry-level job in this area, and many of the workers struggle with English. Even assuming they understand the dangers that they're exposing themselves to by performing their jobs using gas leaf blowers, most lack the employment security to be able to ask their employers to provide safer equipment.”
According to the EPA, emissions of smog-producing substances from mowers and blowers and other small off-road engines last year were 81% as high as the amount from standard sedans. That puts everyone nearby – from employees and their supervisors to bystanders – in harm’s way, almost as surely as if they were standing beside a highway, with no way to escape.
A white paper by Quiet Communities states: “People especially affected by GLB noise include people working from home, children schooling at home, night workers (including first responders and health care workers), those affected with autism and sensory processing disorders, and veterans and others with post-traumatic stress disorder,”
Valerie Seilings Jacobs, Columbia University professor, also is concerned for the workers wearing gas engines on their backs. She said, “These guys are being exposed to toxic chemicals eight hours a day, six days a week. Our lawns are pristine but at what price?”

Environmental Damage

Gas-powered leaf blowers emit greenhouse gases, which contribute to climate change.
A 2011 study by Edmunds found that a two-stroke gasoline-powered leaf blower spewed out more pollution than a 6,200-pound Ford F-150 SVT Raptor pickup truck. Jason Kavanagh, the engineering editor at Edmunds at the time, noted that “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.”
Frequent spills occur when users refill GPLBs with oil and gas that pollute the soil and groundwater.