Clean-and-Safe.org

Outdoor Power Equipment

Introduction:

In 2005, fire safety organizations joined with the outdoor power equipment industry to look into the question of whether an incremental increase in fire and burn risk exists from adding catalytic converters to the exhaust systems of outdoor power equipment, specifically riding lawn mowers, in real-world, reasonably foreseeable worst-case conditions. The outdoor power equipment industry has concluded that the addition of catalytic converters is one possible way of achieving emissions targets required in California and proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the United States. Fire protection officials have expressed concern that increases in fire and burn risk could lead to increases in deaths, injuries and property loss as a result of this product modification, potentially eliminating the benefits to be gained from emission reductions. Due to its low combustion efficiency, an accidentally ignited wildfire causes the production of more unburned hydrocarbons and a broader range of harmful chemical species compared with a controlled combustion.

Because of its mission to address issues in which concerns about fire safety, human health and environmental quality sometimes come into conflict, the International Consortium for Fire Safety, Health and the Environment was chosen to be the forum in which an independent investigation of this question could take place. The study was funded primarily by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute Education & Research Foundation, with additional resources provided by the National Association of State Fire Marshals.

The reports resulting from this research were submitted to the US Environmental Protection Agency in August 2007 as public comment to its proposed rule, “Control of Emissions from Nonroad, Spark-Ignition Engines and Equipment.” In addition, the outdoor power equipment industry is using the results of the research to inform manufacturers and the industry’s ongoing work to develop new ANSI standards for “Mitigation Of Heat-Related Hazards From Mufflers On All Ground-Supported Equipment.”

Reports:

Scientific Evaluation of the Risk Associated with Heightened Environmental Requirements on Outdoor Power Equipment, a report prepared by the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden

Ignition of Cellulosic Fuels by Heated and Radiative Surfaces, NIST Technical Note 1481, a report prepared by the National Institute of Standards and Technology