Are leaf blowers noisy
Are leaf blowers noisy? Leaf blowers are an incredibly convenient tool for clearing out all the leaves that fall on your property. Are there any drawbacks when using this kind of equipment? For example, are leaf blowers obnoxiously loud? They absolutely are! Notorious noisemakers As anyone who has ever used one can tell you, a leaf blower is not just loud. They are insanely loud. You can easily, and clearly hear a leaf blower from several blocks away because of how loud they are. The higher pitch tone that they produce allows the sound to carry through nearby windows with little dampening. Exactly how loud are leaf blowers? Sound is often measured in decibels (dB). If you are at least 50 feet away, you will hear the leaf blower at roughly 64 to 78 dB. For the operator, who is right next to the noise, a leaf blower clocks in at anywhere from 95 to 115 dB. That is almost as loud as a live concert! Extended exposure to sound at that amount of dB is going to cause permanent hearing loss for the operator. That’s crazy! Why is a leaf blower so loud anyway? The reason a leaf blower is so loud is because of how it is designed. In general, there are two sources for the noise that a leaf blower makes. The first one is the air that is blowing through the leaf blower. That air is moving with such a high velocity that it is making a lot of noise as it passes through. The other reason for the noise is due to how the gas-powered engine in the leaf blower works. As the fuel combustion occurs, it causes the engine to vibrate which adds in the higher pitch part of the annoying loud noise that a leaf blower produces.
Are leaf blowers bad for your health
Are leaf blowers bad for your health If you happen to have one or more large trees on your property, you can expect to have a lot of leaves to clean up. It goes without saying that in a situation like this, it is incredibly convenient to have a leaf blower. Where it can take hours to rake up a bunch of leaves, a leaf blower can do the same amount of work in a shorter amount of time. But is there a cost for such efficiency? Are there any health risks with using a leaf blower? Convenience has its price Unfortunately, yes there are some various health risks that you need to keep in mind when you are working with a leaf blower. When you use a gas-powered leaf blower, the exhaust it produces can cause a lot of problems for the operator and other people nearby. This exhaust is especially harmful to those who have asthma. In the short term, you can get headaches and some dizziness from the extended use of a leaf blower. With long-term exposure, however, using a gas-powered leaf blower can increase your risk for cancer, lung disease, and even dementia. It’s in the air A leaf blower, as the name implies, uses airflow to blow leaves off your property. However, this isn’t the only thing that gets blown away. It is common for pesticides, dust, pollen, and fertilizers to be kicked up into the air when you use a leaf blower. As a result, those particles hang in the air and can easily be inhaled by the operator and other people nearby. Prolonged exposure to these particles can also cause diseases, including cancer, in the long run for anyone that breaths in that polluted air. What? Speak up! Of course, one of the more immediate issues with using a gas-powered leaf blower is that they are very loud. Permanent hearing loss can occur for the operator within two hours. Not only that, but this can affect nearby people as well.
Are Leaf Blowers Bad for Insects
Are Leaf Blowers Bad for Insects? Leaf blowers are a fast and efficient way of tidying up your garden, however they do have some repercussions to the small creatures living within your lawn. Insects such as spiders, bees, and flies all play a vital part in the environmental balance. However, they are suffering a rapid decrease in numbers, especially in built-up areas. How do leaf blowers kill insects? Insects are in danger of being sucked in, or blown away from the impact of the leaf blower. This will cause damage to their limbs or wings, and could lead to the insect dying. Leaf blowers can also cause harm to soil biology, and create noise pollution. Decline percentages In Germany, an undergone study suggested that flying insects had declined by more than 75% in the year of 2017. Whilst leaf blowers are not the main cause of this decline, it is certainly a factor, and something we should be aware of. Climate change, pesticides, and agriculture are top causes. Bees help us by pollinating plants, whilst flies and beetles help to naturally decompose dead wildlife. Data shows that each year, the bee population is dwindling more and more. Between 2018 and 2019, the bee population decreased by 40.7%. Other species of insects have suffered a similar decline figure, reducing in 40% around the world. Conclusion – How can we help? Whilst there is no call to ban leaf blowers, ministries are advising to minimise their usage, utilized only as a last resort. Small insects have a large role to play, and their population numbers have significantly declined. Insects provide benefits to many other species, including humans. To help protect them, less invasive ways of gardening should be attempted before getting out your leaf blower. Alternatively, search for leaf blowers that leaves minimal damage.