HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-1003 Document Submitted at Mtg
LEAF BLOWERS
By Sam Younghans
Leaf-blowers (dust-blowers) more than just a noise nuisance - they can be a real threat
to your health. Most obviously, gas-fueled leaf blowers spew out air pollution - one hour
of use creates as much air pollution as a car driven for 100 miles. The leaf-blower is
usually in one area. In addition, consider these disturbing air pollutants that leaf blowers
are blowing around besides leaves.The particulate matter (PM) swept into the air is
composed of dust, fecal matter, (yep, critter poo), pesticides, fungi, chemicals,
fertilizers, spores, and street dirt, which can contain lead and gasoline - among
other things. There have even been cases of viral diseases being spread by the
use of leaf blowers.
Do you use a leaf blower? Maybe it's time to buy a good rake instead (contrary to
popular belief, it's just as fast. Raking is also good exercise. 0.000001 g of allergens is
all it takes! Dead human skin cells. Dust mites and their feces. Pollen, pet dander, mold
and bacteria. Lurking inside house and street dust is a magnitude of these unpleasant,
microscopic particles. They're called allergens, and just 0.000001g can be enough to
trigger the coughing, sneezing and itching of an allergic reaction.
How dust causes allergic reactions. Some allergens are just 0.5 microns in size.
That's 0.000197 inches. Or 200 times smaller than a human hair. This means they can
easily enter the body through inhalation. When this happens, some people's immune
systems overreact to the presence of the particles, producing antibodies to repel them.
Subsequent physical reactions include itching eyes, a running nose, sneezing and
coughing to combat the allergens. To read more about the dangers of leaf-bloweres, go
to: http://or mrv.dyson.coni/dust-and-allergis.as x
The government states that they are protecting our health by making a natural
herb illegal and punishable by imprisonment. Meanwhile, our health is direly threatened
every day by things that the Government conveniently overlooks. Leaf-blowers are a
bigger daily threat than Marijuana! Your lungs are filtering fine, unhealthy, particles that
are in the air because of these dust-blowers. (Hantavirus, deadly desease, is carried in
rodent feces, urine and saliva, which dries out and mixes with dust that can be inhaled
by humans, especially in small, confined spaces with poor ventilation.)
The greedy manufactures of these instruments of death are keeping themselves
in business by saying they are protecting the jobs of the gardeners. Those companies
are spending big dollars to influence these workers, by saying those against leaf-
blowers are racist, because most of the workers are Spanish speaking. They don't
mention any of the health hazards nor do they warn the workers. "Approximately 45
babies a year die from SIDS [Sudden Infant Death Syndrome] in Los Angeles due to
airborne particulate matter and many of those deaths are attributed to dust from gas-
powered leaf-blowers." Is this what you want for Oregon?
ham:/parsec-//parsechas all the information about leaf-
blowers and bills to protect manufacturers from bans.