Smog Fighters Likely to Curb Gas Can Leaks

Every day, Californians allow huge volumes of gasoline fumes to seep into the air, causing smoggy skies. But it’s not just from cars. Or boats. Or even lawn mowers. It’s also from gas cans.

The small, portable containers are so leak-prone and ubiquitous--Californians own an estimated 10 million of them--that they account for as much smog-forming pollutants as 1 million cars, according to state air experts.

This morning, California’s air quality board will consider cleaning up this overlooked source that is now one of the largest unregulated contributors to smog. If approved as expected, the new measure will eliminate more tons of pollution than all but a few major smog rules adopted in recent years.

Under the Air Resources Board’s proposal, beginning in 2001, portable gas cans sold in California must include spill-proof devices and be thick enough to avoid most evaporation. The price of a container, now $3 to $4, is expected to double or triple, although consumers will not be required to get rid of their old cans. Officials estimate that cans are replaced on average every five years.

The proposal reflects the fact that after half a century of setting standards for cars and industries, California air quality officials are finding that the most familiar culprits in the smog wars are playing a smaller and smaller role.

As a result, attention has turned in the 1990s to an array of everyday household products that collectively now rank among the major sources. Hair spray, paints, car waxes, deodorants, nail polish remover, perfume, bathroom cleaners and charcoal lighter fluid are among the products that have been ordered reformulated in recent years.

Individually, a gas can sitting in a garage, shed or trunk has a negligible effect on the air: Each one emits a fraction of an ounce of hydrocarbons per day, on average. But statewide, the volume is astounding, even to air pollution experts: Gas cans spew 87 tons every day, they say, eight times more than the Los Angeles region’s dozen oil refineries.

“That’s quite a large amount of smog-forming emissions,” said air board spokesman Rich Varenchik. California’s smog, he said, is caused by “a jigsaw puzzle of a lot of smaller emission sources. Of the remaining unregulated sources, these gas cans are a very significant piece.”

The substantial role of gas cans surprised air board officials. It came to light a couple of years ago, when they noticed that more raw, unburned hydrocarbons were leaking into the air than their smog inventory could explain. Also, last year, lawn equipment manufacturers told the board that people often spill gasoline when they use the cans.

From oil wells to service stations, gasoline is already highly regulated by smog officials every step of the way, as it is produced, refined and delivered to consumers. The portable can represents “one of the final links in the fuel distribution chain,” air board officials say.

Gas can emissions would be cut 73% under the new rule, the air board calculates, eliminating 70 tons of daily pollution in California by 2010. In the Los Angeles Basin, the state’s smoggiest region, the cans account for about 4% of hydrocarbons polluting the air daily, experts say.

Ten large companies and six small ones manufacture gas cans, according to the air board. Representatives of several major manufacturers--Rubbermaid Inc., Blitz USA and Chilton Products--were unavailable for comment Wednesday.

At least one company has supported the proposal, but some manufacturers say it would hurt their business. Greg Scherger, sales manager for S&K; Inc., which produces steel gasoline cans in Ohio, told Associated Press that his company would stop marketing the cans in California if the proposal passes.

“We view it as impractical to tool up to serve the specifics of the California market and we would back away from marketing in California if the proposal is adopted,” Scherger said.

Under the proposal, the cans must be equipped with automatic shut-off devices that prevent overflows. Also spouts must close automatically and lock. Vents, now common, will be prohibited. And plastic cans must be made of a less permeable material.

No cans manufactured today meet the proposed standards, but all the needed components are already commercially available, Varenchik said. Several manufacturers have said they are capable of making cans that comply, but they worry that consumers would be put off by the higher cost and find them harder to use, slowing sales.

The price tag is expected to reach $19 million a year, yet it would be one of the most cost-effective smog measures. Smog rules typically cost more than twice as much per pound of pollution eliminated.

Gas cans, ranging in size from one gallon to five gallons, are used mostly to fuel lawn equipment, personal watercraft and motorcycles. Most fumes come from evaporation during storage, because three-quarters of them are made of highly permeable plastic.

In the Los Angeles Basin, this summer has been the mildest smog season on record, with no full-scale alerts for the first time since air officials began issuing such warnings. Favorable weather conditions deserve most of the credit, but smog levels also have been steadily declining because of lower-polluting vehicles, businesses and household products, air quality experts say.

Nevertheless, the region still has a long way to go before its air is considered safe to breathe, and efforts are being made to reach federal air standards by 2010, as required by federal law.

What’s next in the smog fight? Hair mousse, glass cleaning sprays and air fresheners, among other things. In October, the state board will consider a measure--the fourth of its type since 1990--that takes aim at a long list of consumer products.

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Gas Can Emissions

A state rule expected to be adopted today is designed to eliminate 73% of fumes seeping from portable gas cans. This list of major smog rules to reduce emissions shows that it would be one of the most effective measures adopted in recent years.

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Smog measure, year adopted

*Benefits are calculated for 2010, except for reformulated fuel, which brought an immediate reduction upon implementation in 1996.

Source: California Air Resources Board and South Coast Air Quality Management District.