How do leaf blowers work?

Leaf blowers have fan blades that draw in a large amount of air from vents in the back of the machine, then shoot it down a narrow tube at speeds that can exceed 200 miles per hour. The expelled air lifts leaves, grass, dust, and debris off the ground and pushes it all forward.

Most gas models use basic two-stroke engines that burn a mixture of oil and gasoline, generating high levels of carcinogenic and ozone-forming pollutants. About 30% of the oil and gas mixture does not burn and is emitted directly as aerosol exhaust.

Battery-powered and corded leaf blowers have electric motors that do not produce the toxic emissions that gas-powered models generate.

Why does Montclair regulate leaf blowers?

Montclair has regulated the use of gas leaf blowers since 1994. The township's municipal code reflects a determination that “the use of gas-powered leaf blowers impairs the health and social welfare, as well as the peace and quality of life of persons residing and working in Montclair."

Further, the township has found that "the practice of blowing leaves and other debris for property maintenance has unintended environmental and health consequences. The blowing of leaves, dust and debris, causes fine particulate emissions and disruption to pollinator habitats. Exposure to fine particulate matter may impact workers using this equipment, those living with respiratory conditions, children, as well as others, and the Township encourages community education regarding alternatives to such use, where possible. It shall be the policy of the Township to balance leaf blowing with mulching fallen leaves into grassy areas and moving leaves into flower beds to be used as organic mulch material."

The purpose of the law is to eliminate the adverse impact of gas leaf blowers by prohibiting their use in the township.

When is gas leaf blower use allowed in Montclair?

Under current law, gas leaf blowers may never be used, except when specially authorized by the township’s Emergency Management Coordinator.

These limits do not apply to battery-powered or corded electric leaf blowers.

How can I report illegal gas leaf blower use?

Call Montclair’s Code Enforcement office at 973-509-5703 to report violations and request immediate enforcement.

If you are unhappy with the Township's enforcement of the law, we encourage you to contact the Township Council and/or the Township Manager's office to express your concerns.

How much noise do gas leaf blowers generate?

Typical commercial gas-powered models generate sound that can reach up to 110 decibels at the point of origin, which can cause permanent hearing loss in less than 5 minutes. Unlike most lawn and garden equipment, the sound that gas leaf blowers create is especially powerful in low-frequency elements; this allows the sound to carry for long distances and through building walls. Visit our Research page to learn more.

Why doesn’t closing my windows seem to help?

Gas leaf blowers produce sound that is unusually strong in low-frequency elements. In addition to traveling much farther than high-frequency sound, low-frequency sound penetrates walls, windows, and other physical barriers relatively easily.

How does noise affect the ability to think, work, and learn?

Ambient sound levels as low as 45 decibels have been shown to affect the brain in ways that disrupt concentration, cognition, productivity, and learning. A single gas leaf blower produces so much sound energy that it can travel more than the length of two football fields before it dissipates to this level.

Children are especially vulnerable to high levels of environmental noise, with well-documented effects on speech processing, language acquisition, reading comprehension, among other developmental markers. Visit our Research page to learn more.

How does noise affect health?

Noise can affect human health in many ways, and hearing loss is only one of them. Multiple studies have linked chronic exposure to noise above 55 decibels to a variety of non-auditory health problems, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, reproductive issues, and mental health disorders. This is why ambient noise is increasingly called “the new secondhand smoke.” Visit our Research page to learn more.

How do the emissions from gas leaf blowers human health?

Most gas leaf blowers, both for commercial and homeowner use, run on cheap, highly inefficient “two-stroke” engines — the same type used in many chainsaws and string trimmers. Two-stroke engines, which are being phased out in countries all over the world because of how dirty they are, produce high levels of ozone-forming and cancer-causing emissions, including fine particulate matter, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene and formaldehyde, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide.

The California Air Resources Board has concluded that operating the best-selling commercial leaf blower for one hour emits as much smog-forming pollution as driving 1,100 miles in a 2017 Toyota Camry.

Thousands of studies have linked exposure to these chemicals and particulates to an alarming range of health effects, including respiratory disorders, heart attack and cardiac arrest, stroke, cancer, and premature death. Emerging research also suggests links to infant mortality, birth defects, and the severity of asthma in children. A recent study from Harvard public health researchers linked these and other air pollutants to higher risk of death from COVID-19. Visit our Research page to learn more.

Do leaf blowers harm pets?

Yes, they can. Particulate matter in the air is well known to cause challenges for dogs, cats, and other animals. Leaf blowers kick up large clouds of fine dust, mold, pollen, dried animal feces, and other particulates, and these can linger in the air for hours. Pets may exhibit symptoms such as coughing and wheezing, eye discharge, nasal discomfort, and itchy skin.

Further, the loud noises that gas leaf blowers produce can trigger physiological and behavioral stress responses in animals, especially in cats. Over time, these responses increase the risk of health problems such as urinary tract disease, gastrointestinal disease, and others.

What’s in the dust that leaf blowers kick up?

Leaf blowers blast the ground at Category-5 hurricane speeds of up to 200 miles per hour, propelling into the air dirt, mold, pollen, dry animal feces, and pesticides. These clouds can take hours to settle, triggering allergies and causing other respiratory symptoms, as well as posing longer-term health risks.

What makes leaf blowers different from other equipment?

Gas leaf blowers differ from other lawn and garden equipment in two key ways.

First, the sound produced by gas leaf blowers has an especially strong low-frequency component — something akin to recorded music with the bass turned way up. Low-frequency sound travels farther and passes more easily through building walls and windows than high-frequency sound. It also causes unique adverse health effects.

Second, most gas leaf blowers use cheap, inefficient two-stroke engines that burn a mixture of gasoline and oil and are highly polluting. Some other types of lawn and garden equipment (e.g., string trimmers, hedge trimmers, chainsaws) also commonly use two-stroke engines, but lawn mowers primarily use cleaner, quieter four-stroke engines.

Visit our Research page to learn more.

What else can I do with my grass clippings and leaves?

Horticultural experts recommend that grass clippings should be left in place to replenish nitrogen in your soil. If you do not use herbicides, you can also capture them in a bag attachment and use them as mulch in your containers or add them to your compost bin.

Fallen leaves are so useful in the yard that it’s a shame to let them blow away, let alone be loaded on a truck and carted off. You can mulch them right in place using your mower, replenishing nutrients in the soil and helping prevent weed growth. You can also use them as a natural mulch around your trees, shrubs, and perennial plants, whether in fall or saved in a dry place for spring.

Learn more about the horticultural benefits and uses of fallen leaves on our Quiet Alternatives page.

Aren’t battery-electric leaf blowers almost as loud as gas?

No. Rigorous field testing of leading commercial models of both types found that gas leaf blowers produced up to 20 times the sound intensity of comparable battery-electric models at a range of distances. This translates to a difference in perceived loudness of about 4 times.

Aren't battery-electric leaf blowers pretty weak?

This used to be true, but times have changed. The last 10 years have seen a revolution in battery technology, and today virtually all the leading manufacturers of home and commercial lawn and garden equipment offer battery-electric models that match or come extremely close to matching the performance of their gas-powered counterparts. Moreover, the battery tools promise much lower operating costs. Learn more on our Quiet Alternatives page.

Won’t reducing gas leaf blower use put landscapers out of business or cause job losses?

We are not advocating for solutions that would require landscape crews to spend more time on each job.

First, many of the tasks that leaf blowers help accomplish (e.g., removing grass clippings and stray leaves) can actually be harmful for lawns and gardens, and one option is simply to stop doing them, especially in spring and summer. Many landscapers have already moved in this direction. Find out more on our Quiet Alternatives page.

Second, for other tasks such as clearing hard surfaces and gathering large amounts of leaves in fall, we recognize the importance of speed and efficiency. We advocate using a combination of commercial-grade battery-electric and manual tools, depending on the size of the job.

Third, it is true that transitioning to battery-electric tools requires some upfront investment, but by virtually eliminating operating costs for gasoline, oil, filters, and the like, these machines can quickly pay for themselves and benefit the bottom line going forward.

Finally, it is of course the workers who operate these machines for hours each day who face the greatest short- and long-term health risks from the clouds of pollutants and fine particulates, the spray of unburned gasoline and oil, and the ear-splitting noise. They are very often immigrants who work for low wages with no health insurance and little job security as the cumulative effects of chronic exposure mount. Shifting to quieter, healthier, greener alternatives would substantially improve labor conditions even while reducing operating costs.

Do any local landscapers offer quieter, greener alternatives?

Yes. Check out the list maintained by our friends at Sustainable Montclair.

Do other places ban gas leaf blowers year-round?

Yes, and the number is increasing. Our neighboring town of Maplewood, for example, also bans the use of gas leaf blowers year-round. So do New York State muncipalities like White Plains, Larchmont, and Irvington, along with the city of Washington, DC. More jurisdictions are moving in this direction every month. As of 2024, it will be illegal to purchase a new gas leaf blower across the entire state of California.

Don’t we have bigger issues to worry about?

Gas leaf blowers pose a significant but solvable problem affecting many people in our community. Advocating for change that would improve the lives of local residents is always a valid project.