A report published Monday by a trio of environmental groups found gas-powered lawn equipment emitted roughly 245 tons of fine particulates in 2020 in Dallas County — equivalent to 2.6 million cars on the road for one year — the fifth-highest total in the U.S.
Fine particulates, minuscule flecks of pollution that can lodge in the lungs and blood, are exceptionally dangerous to human health and have been linked to heart attacks, strokes, asthma and other respiratory ailments.
In a statement, Environment Texas, an advocacy group, called the amount of pollution emissions “shocking.” Environment Texas worked U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Frontier Group to analyze 2020 data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The study’s authors urged a move to electric-powered lawn equipment, which they touted as cleaner, quieter and, in the long run, cheaper than fossil fuel-powered equipment.
“It’s pretty absurd that we have been tolerating so much harmful pollution and noise from cutting grass and maintaining landscapes,” Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas Research and Policy Center, said in a statement.
Houston saw some of the highest emissions in the U.S. Harris County ranked first in the U.S. for particle pollution, at 358 tons, equivalent to 3.8 million cars.
In North Texas, Tarrant County ranked 20th in the U.S., with 120 tons or the equivalent of 1.2 million cars; Collin County ranked 35th with 98 tons, or roughly 1 million cars.
Gas-powered lawn equipment also generated vast amounts of nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds, with Dallas County emitting the sixth-highest totals of both. When combined with sunlight, the two chemicals combine to form ground ozone, the main ingredient in smog. Dallas County’s lawn equipment emitted the ninth-highest total of carbon dioxide, the leading cause of climate change.
Dallas city officials are working to address gasoline-powered lawn equipment. The city considered a ban on gas-powered lawn mowers and other landscaping equipment earlier this year, but backed off after Texas legislators passed a new law placing limits on how cities and counties govern themselves.
Instead, Dallas city council members recently approved a $750,000 rebate program to help residents purchase electric lawn equipment. The program is believed to be the first of its kind in Texas. Dallas is also developing a plan to phase out all city-owned gasoline-fueled landscaping equipment.
“We have a chance to whack away at our air pollution problem by switching to cleaner, quieter, readily available electric lawn equipment,” Metzger said in a statement. “We shouldn’t accept tons of air pollution and ear-splitting noise as an inevitable byproduct of taking care of our gardens and lawns.”
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