Research done into the comparison of noise levels generated from petrol-powered tools and battery-powered tools reveals the negative side effects of prolonged exposure goes beyond hearing loss.

The research conducted by EGO Power Plus as part of its Challenge 2025 initiative found that noise pollution generated by petrol-powered outdoor equipment, commonly used in gardens and by gardening professionals exceeds the daily exposure limit.

Tests compared noise levels emitted by both petrol and battery-powered rotary mower, hedge trimmers, grass trimmers, leaf blowers and chainsaws.

With petrol tools found to be up to three times louder than their electric counterparts, four of which exceeded the daily noise limit of 87dB(A), while two surpassed 100dB(A).

Decibels are measured logarithmically, meaning they increase by units of 10. This means 20 dB is 10 times the intensity of 10 dB, and 30 dB is 100 times as intense as 10 dB.

Emma Gayler, ambassador for Challenge 2025 says: “Many gardening professionals are still working with petrol-powered tools for hours upon hours every day, and without the correct personal protective equipment (PPE) to help reduce the impact of the noise levels these tools generate…many could be doing more damage than they realise.”

In findings published by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee it was found that exposure to noise pollution increases the risk of stroke and heart disease, while the equivalent of 130,000 healthy life years are lost from noise pollution each year in Britain.

Gayler continues: “Far more awareness needs to be made across the industry to help protect gardening professionals from the dangers of being exposed to high levels of noise pollution.”

EGO’s Challenge 2025 campaign was launched back in 2020 to support domestic and professional outdoor power equipment users.