Home Up

 

 

Up

Health and Safety Hazards

of Leaf Burning

 

Fall is a toss-up with spring for my favorite season. Spring may win because it doesn't bring with it the cubic yards of leaves and other tree debris that I somehow have to deal with. It wasn't so bad when you could bag them up and let the trash man worry about it, but those days are gone in Cobb County.

Cobb does allow outside burning within limits (http://www.cobbfire.org/marshal.htm) but that disregards the serious health risks involved. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls it An Unhealthy Solution to Leaf Disposal (http://www.epa.gov/ttnatw01/burn/leafburn2.html).

Other links I found that make me believe the fall fire to be a flawed fashion follow:

bullet http://es.epa.gov/techinfo/facts/leafburn.html
bullet http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/burnleaves.html
bullet http://county.ces.uga.edu/murray/Article%20Folder/LeafBurningHazards2001.htm
bullet http://www.ces.uga.edu/Agriculture/horticulture/Tip/TTNov2001.html
bullet http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/aw/air/hot/leaves.htm
bullet http://www.county.ces.uga.edu/chatham/attack_of_fall_colors.htm
bullet http://www.epa.gov/ttnatw01/burn/leafburn2.html

-Michael Huebener


Home Up