Fighters and health experts are appealing to people with alternative heating not to use their wood stoves this winter, amid growing concerns about its impact on public health.
The Guardian recently reported that wood burners triple the amount of harmful particles in the home, as well as creating dangerous levels of pollution in the surrounding area.
Now experts from the Asthma UK and British Lung Foundation Partnership are asking people with wood burners to use them only if they have no alternative heat source.
“We know that the burning of wood and coal releases particulate matter (PM2.5) – the most worrying form of air pollution for human health,” said Sarah MacFadyen, head of the charity’s policy. “It is therefore important to consider less polluting fuel options to heat or cook your home, especially if coal or wood is not your primary fuel source.”
Wood burners have become increasingly popular in recent years and together with coal fires it causes almost 40% of the small pollution caused by the particles outside as well as creating toxic air in the house. Nearly 16% of people in the south east of England use wood fuel and 18% in Northern Ireland, according to government data from 2016, and around 175,000 wood burners are sold annually.
But a growing body of research shows that air pollution can damage every organ in the body, with consequences such as heart and lung disease, diabetes, dementia, decreased intelligence and increased depression. Children and the unborn suffer the most.
More than a third of local authorities in the UK have areas where the level of PM2.5 exceeds the limits of the World Health Organization, and MacFadyen has called on the government to use the forthcoming environmental bill to commit to bring the whole country in line with the WTO limits by 2030.
She said: ‘We also need to see politicians do more to promote the health hazards of wood and coal burning as part of a national toxic air health campaign so that people can make the best choices for their own health as well as health. of others around them. ”
Dr Nick Hopkinson, medical director of the Asthma UK and British Lung Foundation Partnership, said pollution inside and outside of wood stoves caused serious health issues, from breathing problems to an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and lung cancer.
‘To protect yourself and others around you, especially children who are particularly vulnerable because their lungs are smaller and still developing, avoid buying a wood stove or using an open fire if you have another source around your home to boil and heat. . ”