Exhaust

These two and four-stroke engines are spewing heavy metals and carcinogens that linger at ground level. So as we walk, jog, play, or even sit inside our homes, these highly unfiltered and dirty compounds are landing all around us. 

A 2012 EPA report concluded the well-known adverse health effects of this equipment:

• Benzene, 1,3 butadeine, and formaldehyde are top-ranking cancerous compounds, linked to lymphomas and leukemia.
• Gas powered gardening equipment release 25% (or more) of the total formaldehyde and benzene in the United States.
• Ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) “cause or contribute to dementia, early death, heart attack, stroke, congestive heart failure, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer.” (Pg 12, EPA study).

On Mondays, one of the highest gardener-activity days, the air quality index dips across the Palisades. Here’s a real-time look at air quality and particulate matter (PM) from monitoring stations around the Palisades: https://bit.ly/38fiUMM

As with any pollutants, impacts are most severe for children, the elderly, those with compromised immune systems, and pets

Source: California Air Resources Board, 2017

In short, this outdated equipment is causing health and environmental impacts that are too high to ignore. Hundreds of communities across the USA have ditched the gas. Shouldn’t we?

Gas-powered gardening equipment is egregiously polluting our air, water, and even our soil. These two- and four-stroke engines emit high levels of hydrocarbons from burned and unburned fuel including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and reactive organic gases. They’re directly linked to deaths and cancer, yet we continue to welcome them into our backyards and community.

Global Warming

Nitrogen oxide is a harmful greenhouse gas that traps 300x more heat than carbon dioxide (Chrobak, 2021). By using fossil fuels to mow, blow, and trim our gardens, we are releasing more emissions than our gardens can absorb.

Smog

When in contact with sunlight, these compounds create smog: In California, gas gardening equipment is creating MORE smog than ALL of our passenger vehicles (EPA, 2021).

These go on to form low-level ozone, which causes the much-reviled brown smog that hovers over Los Angeles. And nitrogen oxides contribute to acid rain. Thanks to evaporation, leaf blowers even pollute while they’re not in use. (TerraNova; EPA, 2015)

Soil and water pollution

The refueling of this equipment also results in gas (and oil) spills that turn into ozone in the summer, and end up in our groundwater and the Santa Monica Bay all year long.

“I read…over 17 million gallons of gas are spilled each year refueling lawn and garden equipment – more petroleum than was spilled by the Exxon Valdez.” (EPA Senior Policy Analyst David Piantanida, 2008)

We all know that leaf blowers, especially the gas-powered variety, are obnoxiously loud, utterly stinky, and irritating to the eyes. Much more important than those nuisances, gas-powered leaf blowers and other gardening equipment are harmful to our health, both in the short and long term.

The fumes this equipment emits have been linked to human health harms such as an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, asthma, cancer, miscarriage, birth defects, and premature birth. Gas-powered lawn equipment contributes significantly to air pollution and climate change.

Blowers aerosolize and spread infectious organisms and toxins – think animal feces, fungal spores, viruses, and chemicals on the street from motor vehicles  – all of which cause disease and death in humans. Blowing the soil in your yard disrupts the soil microbiome and insect life.

So please, do yourself and your neighbors a favor and consider these alternatives:

1. Leave organic matter on the ground to give nutrients back to the soil, as is the natural cycle.

2. Consider using a rake or broom instead of a blower if removal of leaves and organic matter is desired or needed.

3. If you feel it is necessary to use a blower, use an electric one and only intermittently when absolutely necessary, not simply out of habit.

The more people who make the change from gas-powered lawn equipment to a rake, broom, or electric device, the more of us will be able to live healthier, happier lives.

Karina Maher, MD
Pacific Palisades resident