In our community, the gardening service is coming on almost a daily basis and they regularly use leaf blowers to blow from the streets up toward our homes.
Leaf blowers distribute air and other hazardous particles into the atmosphere at high velocity (up to 185MPH) and could be potentially spreading COVID-19 amongst other things dangerous to our health.
• Everything they blow toward our homes goes into the garages, garage vents, service doors from the garages to the inside of our homes, and windows, (especially single pane windows) and our backyards.
JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF WHAT IS BEING BLOWN INTO OUR HOMES ON A REGULAR BASIS
• mold and bacteria (which can harm you and plants, with leaf blowers potentially spreading them from one infected plant to many others); see pictures above
• animal urine and feces, such as from cats, dogs, deer, birds, raccoons, rats, and mice, some of which can transmit infections, such as hantavirus, which is potentially fatal; the CDC recommends wearing a N95-rated respirator
• pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals
• brake-lining dust, which may contain asbestos, which also occurs naturally in some soil
• particulate matter from engine exhaust and dirt
• erionite and other fibrous zeolites
California officials say the contamination from running a top-selling leaf blower just one hour matches the emissions from driving a 2016 Toyota Camry for 1,100 miles, the distance from Los Angeles to Denver. The pollutants in the leaf blower-versus-car comparisons are oxides of nitrogen and reactive organic gases.
According to a 2017 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, leaf blowers create a common noise that can contribute to permanent hearing loss. Additionally, noise pollution can cause stress, headaches, difficulty sleeping, productivity loss, higher heart attack rates, and more.
REFERENCES
http://www.leaf-magnet.com/references.php
https://www.salon.com/2017/10/08/noisy-but-that-is-not-all_partner/
https://www.almanacnews.com/news/2015/08/31/air-district-report-leaf-blowers-present-health-risks
https://www.sierraclub.org/loma-prieta/blog/2017/08/lifestyle-eco-actions-gas-powered-leaf-blowers
