Canadian Chemist to CBC: 'Why Do We Put Up With This?'

This past weekend, the CBC’s well-known interviewer Michael Enright interviewed a Canadian chemist about why he is campaigning to get rid of, or reduce use of, gas-powered leafblowers.

The whole segment, with the title “Why do we put up with the ear-splitting obnoxiousness of leaf blowers?” is here. Sample:

Retired chemical engineer Monty McDonald… has been campaigning for a leaf blower ban for years because they cause both noise and air pollution.

McDonald worked with potential carcinogens in a chemical plant, where the safety of the workers was a top priority. 

"We got the levels in that plant down to 10 parts per million in the workplace, which was the OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] standard at that time," he said in conversation with The Sunday Edition's host Michael Enright.

"Now you stand near a leaf blower and you're probably getting 10,000 parts per million exposure to hydrocarbons that are in gasoline and oil, and many of them are carcinogens."