Ann Arbor became one of the latest communities to ban leaf blowers this month, a trend that has been sweeping the nation as residents seek to silence the noisy machines and reduce air pollution.

Air pollution from a blower, studies have found, can be worse than a car.

The Ann Arbor council approved an ordinance prohibiting the use of lawn equipment with two-cycle combustion engines in the Downtown Development Authority district, according to an Ann Arbor News report.

The ban includes equipment that is used to collect and blow leaves, dirt, debris, or to trim trees and vegetation.

As a result, crews will need to find another way to brush away grass, leaves and debris.

Alternatives to gas-powered leaf blowers, lawn mowers and chainsaws include four-cycle or electric equipment, which are less noisy and reduce emissions, and low-tech hand tools, such as rakes and brooms.

City council approved the ordinance in April to take effect in July.

For the first year of the new ordinance, two-cycle chainsaws are exempt if used by a city contractor, employee or utility worker to prune trees, or when a bucket truck or power lift is needed to trim trees.

Those who violate the ban will receive a $100 fine for the first offense, and a $250 fine for subsequent offenses.

Council member Ali Ramlawi spearheaded the ban, with Jeff Hayner and Elizabeth Neslon co-sponsoring the ordinance.

Ramlawi told the Ann Arbor News the blowers are noisy; they push garbage and debris into the street that ends up in storms drains and eventually in the Huron River; and they also pollute the air.

The two-cycle lawn equipment, which uses gas, emit carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides and hydrocarbons, according to a Washington Post report. Nitrous oxides can cause smog and acid rain, while hydrocarbons can be carcinogenic.

In fact, Edmunds, the online car store, found in a 2011 study that a consumer-grade leaf blower emits more pollutants than a 6,200-pound Ford F-150 SVT Raptor.

An Echo 2-cycle leaf blower, the study also concluded, generated carbon monoxide 23 times more than the pickup and nearly 300 times more non-methane hydrocarbons.

"The hydrocarbon emissions from a half-hour of yardwork with the two-stroke leaf blower are about the same as a 3,900-mile drive from Texas to Alaska in a Raptor," said Edmunds Engineering Editor Jason Kavanagh. "As ridiculous as it may sound, it is more 'green' to ditch your yard equipment and find a way to blow leaves using a Raptor."

The noise pollution, reports also have found, also can lead to some damaging health effects, such as hearing loss, tinnitus, hypertension and headaches.

News reports in recent years have detailed how communities in more than a dozen states nationwide are seeking to ban or limit the use of leaf blowers.

At least 25 cities in California have banned or limited the use of gas-powered leaf blowers, Oregon lawmakers considered a bill on the issue this year, and Washington, D.C., passed a bill last year that will go into effect in January 2022.

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