Outdoor Power Equipment Exhaust — Carbon Monoxide and Benzene from Gasoline-Powered Lawnmowers and Leaf Blowers — outdoor safety profile
Moderate riskGasoline-powered outdoor power equipment (OPE) — lawnmowers, leaf blowers, string trimmers, chainsaws, and hedge trimmers — produces disproportionate emissions of carbon monoxide, benzene, toluene, xylene, and fine particulate matter relative to operating hours.
What is this product?
Gasoline-powered outdoor power equipment (OPE) — lawnmowers, leaf blowers, string trimmers, chainsaws, and hedge trimmers — produces disproportionate emissions of carbon monoxide, benzene, toluene, xylene, and fine particulate matter relative to operating hours. Two-stroke engines, which power most handheld OPE, are particularly dirty: up to 30% of the fuel-oil mixture passes through the engine unburned, releasing raw hydrocarbons including benzene (a known human carcinogen, IARC Group 1) directly into the exhaust stream. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) determined in 2020 that operating a commercial leaf blower for one hour produces equivalent smog-forming emissions to driving a Toyota Camry 1,100 miles. Residential lawnmower operators are exposed to CO levels of 20-80 ppm in their breathing zone during mowing — approaching OSHA's 50 ppm PEL within 30-60 minutes. Benzene exposure during OPE operation is 3-5x above urban background levels. California banned the sale of new gasoline-powered OPE effective January 2024 (AB 1346), the first statewide ban. The operator's close proximity to the engine (within arm's reach for handheld equipment) combined with the absence of catalytic converters on most small engines maximizes personal exposure to combustion toxicants.
What's in it
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Combustion Byproduct
Fuel Component Emission
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