I’ve spoken to a lot of people about gas leaf blowers, and nearly everyone has been outspoken against them. It’s not just the disruption of our daily lives and use of our properties by their horrible noise —there are also serious health concerns associated with their use.
Research from the Children’s Environmental Health Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai warns that gas leaf blowers pose significant health risks to residents, landscaping workers, and especially children. Their concerns center on two issues: air pollution and extreme noise.
Gas leaf blowers use small, inefficient two-stroke engines, with over 30 percent of their fuel released unburned into the air. They spew a toxic mix of pollutants including carbon monoxide, benzene, formaldehyde, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), all linked to health effects such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and premature death.
Running a gas leaf blower for one hour produces emissions comparable to driving a car for roughly 1,100 miles. These machines also contribute to ground-level ozone, which worsens asthma and other respiratory diseases. In addition to engine emissions, the powerful air streams created by leaf blowers—often approaching 200 miles per hour—blast dust, pollen, mold, pesticides, and heavy metals into the air.
Gas leaf blowers produce sound levels exceeding 100 decibels, similar to a jackhammer or jet engine, and can cause permanent hearing loss. Their noise extends far beyond property lines — leaf blowers produce low-frequency sound that travels long distances and penetrates buildings, so their disturbance affects entire neighborhoods. This makes them especially disruptive on larger properties where crews of two to five workers run machines simultaneously and for longer periods of time. Noise like this has been linked to hearing loss, cardiovascular disease, stress, impaired learning, anxiety, and dementia.
Children are particularly vulnerable to all of these harms. Their lungs and nervous systems are still developing, and they inhale more air per pound of body weight than adults, increasing their exposure to pollutants and fine particles stirred up by blowers.
Critics often argue that there are many other sources of noise—cars, trucks, and traffic. But traffic noise is intermittent, while leaf blowers often run continuously as crews move from one property to another throughout the day.
The evidence is clear: gas-powered leaf blowers create disproportionate pollution, excessive noise, and avoidable health risks to all of us.
The proposal before the Town Council to restrict summer use of leaf blowers is a simple solution to a problem that has grown out of control. Opponents are using scare tactics to claim that costs will skyrocket, electric equipment is inferior, and lawns will fall victim to blight. These claims are false, as has been shown in the many communities that have already restricted leaf blowers.
Every day, a battalion of landscaping crews descends on our town—an industry that largely operates without regulation. Thirty-three nearby towns have already implemented limits on gas-powered leaf blowers, and we can learn from their experience.
I urge the Town Council to pass the proposed summer restriction on leaf blowers. Please email the Town Council at TCDistribution@newcanaanct.gov to express your support.
Lars Andersson
