It is that season when those of you who have falling leaves are breaking out the leaf blowers. City councils know that the season also brings complaints from residents who don't like all of the noise and pollution that blowers create.
Some cities, including Aspen,
Colo., Vancouver, British Columbia, and Palo Alto, Calif.,
currently have full or partial bans on gas-powered leaf blowers, and scores
of others are considering such moves.
More than 20 cities throughout California have imposed some kind of ban.
The CBC said Toronto considered a ban but backed away.
The Boston Globe last week editorialized in favor of a seasonal ban on blowers because of the noise and pollution they cause.
Here is some background.
In Orange County, Calif., a grand jury even took up the issue and
said in its report [PDF]:The widespread daily usage of two-cycle gasoline engine leaf blowers in the cities and unincorporated areas presents a health hazard to all citizens of Orange County. The hazards are four-fold:
- Toxic exhaust fumes and emissions are created by gas-powered leaf blowers. Exhaust pollution per leaf blower per hour is the equivalent of the amount of smog from 17 cars driven one hour and is localized in the area of blower usage.
- The high-velocity air jets used in blowing leaves whip up dust and pollutants. The particulate matter (PM) swept into the air by blowing leaves is composed of dust, fecal matter, pesticides, fungi, chemicals, fertilizers, spores, and street dirt which consists of lead and organic and elemental carbon. About five pounds of PM per leaf blower per hour are swept into the air and take hours to settle.
- The quantity of pollution products that are injected into county air. The total amount of pollutants injected into the environment by blower usage in the county is significant. The ARB calculates that leaf blowers inject 2.11 tons of combustion pollutants per day into Orange County air. Leaf blowers in the County sweep twenty tons per day of small size particulate matter into the air.
- Blower engines generate high noise levels. Gasoline-powered leaf blower noise is a danger to the health of the blower operator and an annoyance to the non-consenting citizens in the area of usage. In light of the evidence, the Grand Jury determined the health hazards citizens are exposed to by the use of leaf blowers outweigh the questionable economic benefit blowers may bring to the cities and the County. The Grand Jury recommends that the cities, school districts, community college districts, and the County cease using gas powered blowers in their maintenance and cleanup operations.
The grand jury also addressed the noise issue:
The average blower generates noise that measures 65 to 75 dBA or more at 50 feet, and even louder at close range. Leaf blowers are often used fewer than 50 feet from non-consenting people. Neighboring homes may be occupied by home workers, retirees, day sleepers, children and the ill or disabled. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends general outdoor noise levels of 55 dBA or less, and 45 dBA or less for sleeping. Thus, a 65-decibel leaf blower would be 100 times too loud3 for healthful sleep. Blower noise can, and probably does, impair the user's hearing. A blower generates upward of 95 decibels of noise at the operator's ear (see Table 1 above). Office of Safety and Health Administration requires hearing protection for noise over 85 dBA. Hearing protectors as worn in the field provide only a fraction of the attenuation needed for hearing protection. There is an increased risk of hearing damage and deafness from repeated exposure to noise above 75 dBA. Deafness caused by noise is irreversible.
The Nashua (N.H.) Telegraph also editorialized in favor of restrictions on leaf blowers, saying:
Falling leaves, once the inspiration of poets and songwriters, now mark
the death of peace and quiet. As soon as they drop, homeowners and
landscapers attack them maniacally with leaf blowers. The din from the
screeching machines bores into the brain. The crisp fall air fills with
exhaust fumes and dust.
More
than 200 cities and towns have declared gas-powered leaf blowers a
nuisance and public health hazard and banned them. Other communities
have restricted the hours they may be used and banned blowing dust and
litter onto the property of others or onto public property. Some have
prohibited use of the machines where population density is high.
In
the Live Free or Die state, a ban would bring wails of protest. And, if
courtesy and common sense were common, a ban would be unnecessary.
Unfortunately, at least in the most densely settled parts of Concord,
it's worth considering. Enact one, and the growing number of people who
work from home or work nights would be eternally grateful.
Noise
isn't the only problem with leaf blowers, which tend to be run longer
and more often than string trimmers, lawn mowers and other gas-powered
tools. New Hampshire, on many days, has unhealthy air.
According
to the Asthma Regional Council of New England, the Granite State has
the highest rate of adult asthma in the nation. New Hampshire places
third in childhood asthma rates behind Maine and Massachusetts.
Leaf
blowers are a small part of the problem, but they contribute to it in
dangerous ways. Like other two-cycle gasoline engines, they generate a
remarkable amount of pollution for their size -- the equivalent in one
hour of driving a car 100 miles, the Los Angeles chapter of the
American Lung Association says.
Is a leaf blower really faster than a broom or rake?
One environmental group in California took the question to the field to find out.
Blower blowback went public more than 10 years ago when Peter Graves,
Meredith Baxter and other stars
pushed for blower prohibition. At the time, lawn maintenance workers even staged a hunger strike to protest the ban.
In Woodland, Calif., air quality folks are behind a "blower exchange," which would allow
people to trade in older models for blowers that produce far less
pollution. The new models are being sold for about half their retail
price.
The Scramble to Harvest a Record Corn Crop
Ethanol production is slowing just in time for corn harvest season. Over the weekend, farmers in the nation's Corn Belt were picking the biggest corn crop ever. Farmers don't know where they will store all of the corn they have grown this summer. Bins are full and overflowing.
Leaded Lipstick
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics says tests on 33 brand-name
red lipsticks found that 61 percent had detectable lead levels of
0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm).
See the release and brand names by
clicking here.
The group says:
One-third of the tested lipsticks exceeded
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 0.1 ppm limit for lead in candy -- a standard established to protect children from directly ingesting
lead. Lipstick products, like candy, are directly ingested into the
body. Nevertheless, the FDA has not set a limit for lead in lipstick,
which fits with the disturbing absence of FDA regulatory oversight and
enforcement capacity for the $50 billion personal care products
industry.
The good news is that the tests show it is
possible to make lipstick without lead: 39 percent of lipsticks tested
had no detectable levels of lead, and cost doesn't seem to be a factor.
Some less expensive brands such as Revlon ($7.49) had no detectable
levels of lead, while the more expensive Dior Addict brand ($24.50) had
higher levels than some other brands.
Among the top brands testing positive for lead were:
-L'Oreal Colour Riche "True Red" -- 0.65 ppm
-L'Oreal Colour Riche "Classic Wine" -- 0.58 ppm
-Cover Girl Incredifull Lipcolor "Maximum Red" -- 0.56 ppm
-Dior Addict "Positive Red" -- 0.21 ppm
The Necktie is Back
The New York Times fashion page reports:
Even with tie sales among older age groups uniformly down, sales to
men 18 to 34 were up more than 13 percent, to $343 million from $303
million, between March 2006 and March 2007, according to NPD Group,
which tracks clothing sales and trends.
"There's no question that
there has been a dramatic increase among younger guys, who are age 18
to 34, expressing themselves by dressing up," said Marshal Cohen, the
chief retail analyst at NPD. "He's not hesitating, given the option, to
grab a tie, and a fancy tie at that."
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I live in College Park, Maryland, where leafblowers rule. There...
