Yards on Fire- Gas Powered Lawn Equipment & Health- with Dr. Krane and Dr. Axelrod

Like so many other families during the pandemic, we tried to seek refuge in our own yard. This was particularly important for us to be able to visit with my immunocompromised family members- however, use of gas powered lawn equipment in the neighborhood would often render this space unusable, with gas fumes wafting in and noise that was prohibitive. I also know that in an emissions inventory in my area, the pollution contribution from gas powered lawn equipment was often a leading pollutant, which had surprised me at the time.

It has been so interesting learning more about how generating energy with combustion comes with a significant toll on our health and well-being. We doctors have been sharing our concerns with the community about smoking tobacco for a long time, but we often don’t mention the other sources of combustion around us that have literally powered our lives for centuries. They seem a part of the natural fabric of life, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t harming our communities.

Gas powered leaf blowers were invented in the 1970s. Oddly enough, it was developing drought and increasing water costs that made people change from spraying leaves off their lawn with a hose to wide-spread leaf-blower use. Though even as early as the 70s, some towns were banning the leaf blowers for their noise as a public-nuisance. Despite being tiny, these engines have an outsized pollution effect, and significant amount of benzene and acetaldehyde not to mention carbon monoxide.

I focus a great deal on the emissions in general on this podcast, but have sincerely come to appreciate how distressing the high noise levels are as well. We know that increased noise exposure disturbs sleep, affects cognitive performance, mood disorders, and increases rates of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. It is therefore a concern on its own, and these tiny engines make a lot of noise. One study looked at gas powered lawn equipment and measured how far the sound carried. They found that noise levels remained above recommended safe levels for 800 feet, which certainly tracks with my experience.

For the podcast episode on this topic, I was joined by two pediatricians who have also found themselves somewhat unexpectedly concerned about the health impacts of gas-powered lawn equipment. I learned a great deal from this interview about how these machines differ from the engines in our car, the variety of ways that these 2 stroke engines and their emissions can impact health, how this might affect kids, and potential solutions at the community level. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!

Dr. Elliot Krane, MD attended Reed College in my home town of Portland, OR, and medical school at the University of Arizona. He trained in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by anesthesia training there and then a fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology and critical care at Boston Children’s Hospital. He joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1994 as the Chief of Pediatric Anesthesiology and is currently the chief of pain management. He is the recipient of multiple grants and awards in the fields of pain management and anesthesia.

Dr. David Axelrod, MD is a professor of medicine at Stanford University in the division of pediatric cardiology. After graduating from Ohio State University College of Medicine, he attended UCSF for his pediatrics residency and pursued fellowships in pediatric cardiology and pediatric critical care. He has won multiple teaching awards and has developed the Stanford Virtual Heart to teach about heart disease in children.

We discussed a host of concerns related to these engines, including how they work and why they generate more pollution, and also discussed potential health consequences from them.

A gas powered leaf blower was actually compared to a Ford F150 Raptor to evaluate its emissions and found that a two-stroke leaf blower generated over 23 time the carbon monoxide and 300 times more hydrocarbons than the Raptor. So for one half hour of yardwork with one of these devices is equivalent pollution to driving a Ford F150 from North Texas to Anchorage, Alaska. Google Maps tells me that is 64 hours of drive time. That is a lot of emissions.

Since becoming a homeowner for the first time a year after my son was born, I have really started to think about ensuring clean air in my home and not contributing to air pollution in general. We actually don’t hire anyone to care for our yard, though I’m sure our neighbors sometimes wished we did. Because my husband grew up working in his father’s landscaping business, this is in his wheelhouse. It does make me feel better when he is out using an electric leaf blower, however, or often just raking up leaves with a good old fashioned rake. Our kids often follow him around and help, and it’s nice to know that they are not inhaling exhaust or experiencing significant hearing damage from the loudness of the device.

I sincerely appreciated the perspectives and advocacy of Dr Axelrod and Dr Krane. Everything these days seems like it has taken on some kind of political lens and sometimes national solutions can seem overwhelming. But the more we learn about the importance of breathing healthy air, and the more we want that for everyone in our communities, the more neighbors can literally come together for cleaner air.

So what can you do?

1- If you are using gas powered lawn equipment, look into mechanical or electric alternatives, like an electric lawn mower or a good old fashioned rake. Learn more about the Ford F150 vs leafblower analysis here.

2- With climate change and increasing water scarcity as well as the need to avoid additional pollution, look into whether maintaining a grass lawn is really worth it in your area. There are often a host of alternatives that require less mowing and maintenance.

3- Consider getting together with neighbors to retire gas powered equipment and obtain your own or shared electric equipment. My personal goal is to work on reaching out to my own neighbors this fall to see if they would be interested.

4- Advocate in your own neighborhood, county, city or state to put programs in place to retire gas powered lawn equipment while ensuring those whose livelihoods depend on yard care are not penalized. For example, equipment swaps, purchasing and retiring old equipment, vouchers and grants for new equipment, etc are all options to consider.

5- Finally, consider a donation to the American Thoracic Society, who works tirelessly on research into the air we breathe, how it affects our health, and informing policy makers to make health-centered policy.