Two-Stroke Engines in Landscape Maintenance: A Growing Public Health Problem

The home town of acoustic pioneers, Richard Bolt and Robert Newman (founders of Bolt, Beranek, and Newman), was recently the site of a pilot study to characterize an under-recognized source of pollution and noise: the two-stroke gasoline engine-powered leaf blower (GLB) used in landscape maintenance. The GLB is considered to be particularly noxious, affecting citizens with protracted loud noise and toxic, carcinogenic emissions and ground-based pollutants. Many municipalities have enacted ordinances to restrict their use. This paper describes features of the GLB that have made it the target of citizen protests, presents the results of a recent pilot study conducted to characterize the emitted sound, and recommends steps to address the public health problem presented by the growing use of GLBs.