To the editor,
With all the conflict in the world, it seems ridiculous to be writing about leaf blowers. But I have lived in Newton for over two decades, and every year the power equipment used by landscapers seems to get louder and the noise more constant.
I’m grateful for the summertime ban on gas-powered leaf blowers from Memorial to Labor Day. Unfortunately, not all landscaping companies observe it. If Newton enacted a total ban on gas-powered leaf blowers—as Lexington is about to do (https://lexingtonma.gov/1694/Landscape-Maintenance-Equipment-Bylaw-FA)—more landscaping companies would use electric equipment.
Electric leaf blowers are not only quieter than gas-powered ones, but much cleaner.
According to a report by the California Air Resources Board, “Today, a commercial operator using one backpack leaf blower for one hour generates the same smog-forming emissions as a car driving 1,100 miles.” (https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/carb-approves-updated-regulations-requiring-most-new-small-road-engines-be-zero-emission-2024)
As for air quality, the Respiratory Health Association notes: “The engines on gas-powered leaf blowers create air pollution that can cause significant impact to the lungs.” Even “short-term exposure to particle pollution and ozone-forming chemicals” generated by these machines “has been proven to cause or contribute to health concerns” like asthma, heart attacks and cardiovascular disease. (https://resphealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Gas-Powered-Leaf-Blowers-Leave-Lungs-Vulnerable.pdf)
Children and the elderly are disproportionately affected by pollutants from gas leaf-blowers. Also, the workers who operate them.
Suzanne Berne
Newton Center
Letter to the Editor: Leaf blower noise has become a problem
