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| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Gas-powered leaf blowers, which simultaneously | ||||||
| 3 | harm our health and environment, continue to be popular today; | ||||||
| 4 | although gardeners and landscapers love the efficiency of | ||||||
| 5 | these devices, educating consumers about the use of these | ||||||
| 6 | blowers is important in order to enhance our health and lower | ||||||
| 7 | toxic air pollutants in our everyday environment; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, The most noticeable consequence of gas-powered | ||||||
| 9 | leaf blowers is the ear-piercing noise, which is not only | ||||||
| 10 | annoying for neighbors but also harmful for our health; | ||||||
| 11 | according to a 2017 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | ||||||
| 12 | report, leaf blowers create a common noise that can contribute | ||||||
| 13 | to permanent hearing loss; additionally, noise pollution can | ||||||
| 14 | cause stress, headaches, difficulty sleeping, productivity | ||||||
| 15 | loss, higher heart attack rates, and more; and
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| 16 | WHEREAS, Even worse than the irritating noise produced by | ||||||
| 17 | leaf blowers are the health effects created by particulate | ||||||
| 18 | matter and exhaust gas released into the air; as leaf blowers | ||||||
| 19 | generate wind speeds of around 180 miles per hour, they propel | ||||||
| 20 | into the air potentially hazardous substances, such as dirt, | ||||||
| 21 | mold, pollen, animal feces, and pesticides; exposure to these | ||||||
| 22 | dust clouds, which take hours to settle, damages the human | ||||||
| 23 | respiratory system and may cause irritation, allergies, and | ||||||
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| 1 | disease; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Gas-powered leaf blowers are detrimental to the | ||||||
| 3 | environment; most gas-powered leaf blowers use a two-stroke | ||||||
| 4 | engine, which burns fuel very inefficiently and releases all | ||||||
| 5 | of its tailgate emissions directly into the environment; the | ||||||
| 6 | emitted air pollutants include carbon monoxide, which | ||||||
| 7 | contributes to ground-level ozone, nitrous oxides, which | ||||||
| 8 | contribute to smog formation and can cause acid rain, and | ||||||
| 9 | hydrocarbons, which can be carcinogenic; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, The environmental impact of gas-powered leaf | ||||||
| 11 | blowers must not be underestimated; one study showed that | ||||||
| 12 | under normal usage conditions, a leaf blower two-stroke engine | ||||||
| 13 | emits nearly 300 times the hydrocarbons of a pickup truck, 93 | ||||||
| 14 | times the hydrocarbons of a sedan, and many times as much | ||||||
| 15 | carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides; if a pickup truck was | ||||||
| 16 | driven for 3,900 miles, the amount of hydrocarbons emitted | ||||||
| 17 | would be equivalent to using the two-stroke leaf blower for | ||||||
| 18 | only about half an hour of yard work; therefore, be it
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| 19 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | ||||||
| 20 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we encourage people to | ||||||
| 21 | research alternatives to using a gas-powered leaf blower to | ||||||
| 22 | reduce the negative impact these devices have on our health | ||||||
| 23 | and environment.
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