Long Island’s Failing Air Quality Affects Children's Health

A big, fat F. That’s how the American Lung Association has rated Long Island’s air quality. We don’t tolerate F ratings on our children’s exams or our favorite restaurants’ health inspections, so why should we tolerate it for our air? The air that all residents, including infants and the elderly, must breathe every minute of every day.

Improving our air quality seems to be a daunting issue, but we can take one essential step, and that step may just be in your own backyard.

Many residents employ landscaping companies that use gas-powered leaf blowers. While this may be an effective method, the downsides of gas-powered leaf blowers are hazardous, especially for our children, but also for each of us, the environment, and for the landscapers that work with them every day.

The outdated two-stroke engines of gas-powered leaf blowers are inefficiently burning only 70% of the gasoline; 30% is released into the air and is known to cause lung and bladder cancer and an increased risk of breast cancer. In addition, the leaf blower exhaust combines with sunlight to produce ground level ozone, a cancer-causing agent and lung irritant. Ozone is particularly dangerous because it can last for days, suspended in the air around your home.

To make matters worse, gas-powered leaf blowers blow dust and debris into the air at speeds of over 200 mph. These tiny particles can contain pesticides, heavy metals, mold, and animal feces, and often linger in the air for hours or even days. They enter your home through windows and doors, go deep into the lungs, worsen allergies and asthma, and cause other lung diseases. Even brief exposures can be harmful.

“Children are the most susceptible since they breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults. When exposed to even small amounts of toxic chemicals at critical periods of development (windows of vulnerability), they can suffer from both acute and long term health effects.” (Source: http://www.grassrootsinfo.org/)

Clearly these machines have no place in our neighborhoods. Talk to your landscaper today about moving away from gas-powered leaf blowers. Better alternatives, such as mulching, raking, or using lithium powered blowers, are available, so don’t take No for an answer.