About Gasbusters

Leaf Blowers Harm Health and Air Quality

Noise

Dangerous Noise Levels from Two-Stroke Leaf Blowers

Leaf Blowers and Noise Exposure

• 2 -stroke gas-powered backpack leaf blowers typically produce 95 -110 dB, far above the safety limit.

• These strong low frequencies levels can cause permanent hearing damage in minutes, without proper hearing protection.

• Operators and bystanders are both at risk of harmful exposure as the sound can penetrate walls and windows.

• Electric leaf blowers generate significantly less noise, reducing health risks.

Hearing Health Safety Guidance:

Hearing shouldn’t be taken for granted. 1 in 5 young people have hearing loss by the age of 19. Noise induced loss, caused by damage to the inner ear, is the third most common chronic health condition in North America and is strongly linked to cognitive decline. Mild hearing loss in children affects classroom performance. 37% of children with only minimal hearing loss fail at least one grade. Because the decibel scale is logarithmic, every 3 dB increase doubles the sound level and slashes the safe exposure time by half, rapidly increasing the risk of damage. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends keeping noise exposure below 85 dBA. to prevent hearing loss.

Impacts of Loud Noise

Prolonged or repeated exposure to high noise levels can lead to more than just hearing loss. Research links chronic noise exposure to:

• Stress, fatigue, and anxiety

• Sleep disturbances and depression

• Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)

• Cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes

According to the CDC, noise-induced hearing loss is 100% preventable. Protecting your hearing is simple and affordable: if a sound seems too loud, it probably is—and poses a real risk to your health.

Pollution  

Among the harmful agents in polluted air are tiny floating specks known as Particulates, mainly from fossil fuels. Lodging deep in the lungs, they may contribute to serious health issues. Air polluted by exhaust fumes may contain a cocktail of of chemicals that affect the lungs, heart and brain and may even trigger certain forms of cancer.

Pollutants can harm health in different ways depending on the type, amount, and duration of exposure, as well as a person’s age, health status, and genetic susceptibility.

A recent study confirms links between air pollution and cardiovascular and respiratory death rates.

The dangers generally fall into a few main categories:

1- Respiratory System Effects

Air pollutants like Particulate Matter (PM₂.₅, PM₁₀), ozone (O₃), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) can:

• Irritate airways, causing coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath.

• Trigger or worsen asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

• Increase the risk of lung infections.

• Long-term exposure can lead to reduced lung function and lung cancer.

 2- Cardiovascular System Effects

Air pollution doesn’t just stay in the lungs — fine particles can enter the bloodstream.

  ·  Increased blood pressure and heart rate·       

. Greater risk of heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure. 

· Acceleration of atherosclerosis (narrowing of arteries).

The History of the Leaf Blower 

The two-stroke engine at the heart of today’s gas-powered leaf blowers is not modern technology. It dates back nearly 150 years.

In 1878, Scottish engineer Sir Dugald Clerk invented the first successful two-stroke engine. Decades later, this engine design was adapted for agricultural use—not for landscaping, but for spraying pesticides and fungicides. Early gas-powered “mist blowers” and dusters were developed to disperse chemicals across crops, prioritizing power and portability over efficiency or emissions.

By the 1950s and 1960s, users discovered that the same machines could be repurposed to blow leaves and clear debris. This accidental innovation laid the groundwork for the modern leaf blower. The landscaping industry quickly adopted and popularized the tool, and manufacturers modified it into the familiar backpack leaf blower used today.

Two-stroke engines became the industry standard because they are cheap to manufacture, lightweight on the shoulders, and deliver high power-to-weight ratios. But those advantages come with a serious and often overlooked flaw.

A Century-Old Design with Serious Consequences

Two-stroke (two-cycle) engines lack a dedicated lubrication system. Instead, oil is mixed directly with gasoline and burned during operation. These engines burn fuel incompletely. This inefficient century-old engine design causes 30% or more of the fuel-oil mixture to be expelled unburned as raw exhaust into the air we breathe.

The result is the release of toxic gases, fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and smog-forming pollutants.

The Hidden Cost to Public Health

Despite these well-documented risks, low-cost, backpack blowers continue to dominate commercial landscaping. Their affordability comes at a steep price to public health.

What began as a tool for spraying chemicals on crops has become a widespread source of urban air pollution—one that modern, zero-emission alternatives can now replace.

These machines emit dangerously high levels of carcinogenic pollutants, far exceeding emissions from modern vehicles. In fact, benzene concentrations in leaf-blower exhaust can be nearly 100 times higher than those from cars.

Decades of scientific research show that exposure to emissions from gas-powered leaf blowers is harmful to human health. In a city like Toronto, the combined emissions from hundreds of 2-stroke blowers operating daily release pollutant gases and microscopic particles that degrade neighbourhood air quality and increase health risks for landscaping workers, nearby residents, children, seniors, and people with respiratory or cardiovascular conditions..

Addressing noise and pollution from gas- powered leaf blowers helps us better understand and respect nature as it truly is.