With apologies to Chardin – www.johnsadlerillustration.com

• I APPLAUD Cllr Adam Harrison’s enthusiasm on his efforts to reduce air pollution, especially in Camden, (Action on air pollution, June 17).

However one major source of air pollution that he could push to be banned in Camden, as it has been in many other boroughs as well as in numerous states in the USA, is the leaf blower.

These “soul-destroying” noisy, air-polluters use petrol to operate, absorb oxygen from the air while spewing out high levels of carbon dioxide back into the air.

They kill wildlife, such as ladybirds and butterflies, and destroy the wildlife habitats in their track. They scare birds and other small wild animals, such as hedgehogs and rabbits.

These awful “reverse hairdryers,” whose air and noise pollution is inflicted on Camden dwellers throughout the year, (despite there being no leaves on the ground for a large part of the year), blow up dust and dirt that is lethal to asthmatics, like nine-year-old Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah, who Cllr Harrison mentioned in his letter as having died from air pollution.

Users have been known to die from psittacosis, a respiratory disease caused by the inhalation of the dust of bird droppings blown up by a leaf blower.

Central Park in New York banned leaf blowers, hedge strimmers and edging tools after one of their young gardeners, who had used a leaf blower regularly, died suddenly from psittacosis.

A shovel and brush do a much better job without creating air or noise pollution and they have done so for hundreds of years.

A ban on the use of these awful polluters, used by council contractors as well as by private gardening maintenance contractors, would go a long way to protect the local humans, as well as Camden’s dwindling wildlife.

A ban would also win a lot of votes from locals who are forced to endure the horrendous and continuous noise they emit on a daily basis.

P MARSHALL
King Henry Road, NW3