Air Pollution - Will They Act Now?

[simonhill]

My friend has had a multi fuel stoves for years. He swears by them. In current house it warms the whole house and he often has the gas central heating off. He's so committed that I wouldn't dare mention the downsides.

However he as a persistent low level cough. Had it checked out nothing wrong. A recent Which report said that even sealed stoves give out fumes, etc every time they are opened - and the opener is right next to the stove. I wonder if his cough is connected.

It seems the householders can be affected as much as people walking the streets.

[Cugel]

My friend has had a multi fuel stoves for years. He swears by them. In current house it warms the whole house and he often has the gas central heating off. He's so committed that I wouldn't dare mention the downsides.

However he as a persistent low level cough. Had it checked out nothing wrong. A recent Which report said that even sealed stoves give out fumes, etc every time they are opened - and the opener is right next to the stove. I wonder if his cough is connected.

It seems the householders can be affected as much as people walking the streets.

An acquaintance of mine has a large Victorian terraced house in which he and his wife have gradually migrated to the cellar, as it costs a fortune to heat this house, which is anyway inclined to throw immense amounts of internal heat to the outside. The cellar is "tanked" and large, now a combined living, dining and cooking room.

He heats it with a wood burning stove, into which he feeds not just any old wood he can find but various chunks of particle board, MDF and other builder-waste, as he's a former building trades lad so has plenty of sources for such stuff.

He and his wife both have permanent and rather nasty coughs. They've chosen, though, to blame those on the internet router or probably the local telephone signals, as its much more convenient to read and believe mad conspiracy theories about 4G or 5G cancer-causing effects than give up the free-fuel stove. Neither have given up surfing mad interwebbery sites, anti-social media nutcase postings or the use of their personal prattle gizmos, mind.

Yes, seriously - this is what they truly believe and they'll qet very arsey if challenged about it. Its astonishing what humans will convince themselves of to avoid admitting to a more obvious truth that doesn't suit their immediate wants & needs.

[Jdsk]

My friend has had a multi fuel stoves for years. He swears by them. In current house it warms the whole house and he often has the gas central heating off. He's so committed that I wouldn't dare mention the downsides.

However he as a persistent low level cough. Had it checked out nothing wrong. A recent Which report said that even sealed stoves give out fumes, etc every time they are opened - and the opener is right next to the stove. I wonder if his cough is connected.

It seems the householders can be affected as much as people walking the streets.

Yes.

The Which? article: "Wood burning stoves: pollution and health impacts":
https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/wood-bu ... PXC8g7lbu5

and the cited review from 2018: "Air Pollution and Noncommunicable Diseases":
https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0 ... 5/fulltext

Jonathan

[wheelyhappy99]

when we lit the stove with a few pieces it burned very quickly with very little smoke.

Bedtime reading:
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/12/1326

Quote from the report:

the study demonstrates that people inside homes with a residential stove are at risk of exposure to high intensities of PM2.5 and PM1 within a short period of time through normal use.

[pwa]

For the past three evenings we have been using the wood burning stove for about three hours each night, burning eucalyptus cut from our own tree last winter. Bone dry. Free fuel. All my life I have been around wood smoke, from one source or another. And that puts me at a little bit of a risk? Okay. So do lots of things I do in life. I live in an area of low housing density, so the air outside is pretty good. My neighbours aren't living in a fug. I confidently predict that some time in the next few decades I will die of summat, and I ain't gonna waste my life fretting about every little risk. In the unlikely event that my demise is related to wood burning emissions, so be it. But I bet it's the excess chocolate and biscuits that get me.

Where I am now, in a place with acceptable air quality, I am satisfied with that aspect of my environment, and I'm not ruining it for my neighbours. If I were in a town or city that might be different.

[wheelyhappy99]

Wood burning in rural areas:

Further evidence on the health impacts of air pollution from wood burning arises from intervention studies where wood burning emissions were decreased in communities. In Launceston (Tasmania), an education programme and financial incentives decreased wood burning usage from 66% to 30% of households. Winter mean PM10 fell by 40%; wintertime respiratory deaths reduced by 28% and heart deaths by 20% (Johnston et al., 2013).

Full report:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 9122013197

Your neighbours may not be aware of the effects. Yet.

[pwa]

Wood burning in rural areas:

Further evidence on the health impacts of air pollution from wood burning arises from intervention studies where wood burning emissions were decreased in communities. In Launceston (Tasmania), an education programme and financial incentives decreased wood burning usage from 66% to 30% of households. Winter mean PM10 fell by 40%; wintertime respiratory deaths reduced by 28% and heart deaths by 20% (Johnston et al., 2013).

Full report:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 9122013197

Your neighbours may not be aware of the effects. Yet.

That is Launceston, Tasmania, with a population of 76 000, located in a valley bottom, and two thirds burning wood! I'm not surprised they had an air quality issue. I'd expect problems in any town that size using wood burning to such an extent. It's bonkers. But that isn't at all like my own community of less than 1000 on top of a low hill, where wood burning emissions don't hang about. I have often said that the appropriateness of wood burning depends on population density and topography.

[wheelyhappy99]

Here's the text from the preceding part of the Introduction to that report:

Biomass burning from domestic heating releases harmful air pollutants to the atmosphere including gases such as carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) alongside primary fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Fresh particles include toxic air pollutants such as benzene, formaldehyde, acrolein and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) (Kirchsteiger et al., 2021). Particles emitted during wood combustion also include both elemental and organic carbon and inorganic ions (e.g., fine potassium) (Fine et al., 2004a, 2004b; 2001). The proportion of organic to elemental carbon depends on the conditions of combustion, with more organics emitted in suboptimal combustion processes. Secondary organic aerosols formed from atmospheric oxidation reactions of wood burning emissions represent a big proportion of particles related to wood burning emissions (Bruns et al., 2015; Bruns et al., 2017).

There is substantial evidence that links chronic exposure to biomass smoke with adverse health effects, notably chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (Capistrano et al., 2017). An estimated 61,000 premature deaths in Europe in 2010 were attributable to outdoor PM2.5 from residential heating with solid fuels (either wood or coal) (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2015). The toxicity of wood smoke particles seems to strongly depend on the organic fraction and probably associated with the organic components (Bolling et al., 2012). In a study performed in Athens (Greece), PAH from wood burning was associated with an increased health risk, accounting for almost half the annual PAH carcinogenic potential (Tsiodra et al., 2021). Wood smoke also impacts on ecosystems reducing visibility (haze) and creating environmental and aesthetic damage.

[pwa]

Here's the text from the preceding part of the Introduction to that report:

Biomass burning from domestic heating releases harmful air pollutants to the atmosphere including gases such as carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) alongside primary fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Fresh particles include toxic air pollutants such as benzene, formaldehyde, acrolein and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) (Kirchsteiger et al., 2021). Particles emitted during wood combustion also include both elemental and organic carbon and inorganic ions (e.g., fine potassium) (Fine et al., 2004a, 2004b; 2001). The proportion of organic to elemental carbon depends on the conditions of combustion, with more organics emitted in suboptimal combustion processes. Secondary organic aerosols formed from atmospheric oxidation reactions of wood burning emissions represent a big proportion of particles related to wood burning emissions (Bruns et al., 2015; Bruns et al., 2017).

There is substantial evidence that links chronic exposure to biomass smoke with adverse health effects, notably chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (Capistrano et al., 2017). An estimated 61,000 premature deaths in Europe in 2010 were attributable to outdoor PM2.5 from residential heating with solid fuels (either wood or coal) (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2015). The toxicity of wood smoke particles seems to strongly depend on the organic fraction and probably associated with the organic components (Bolling et al., 2012). In a study performed in Athens (Greece), PAH from wood burning was associated with an increased health risk, accounting for almost half the annual PAH carcinogenic potential (Tsiodra et al., 2021). Wood smoke also impacts on ecosystems reducing visibility (haze) and creating environmental and aesthetic damage.

All reasons to avoid prolonged exposure to high concentrations. There are countries in Europe where wood smoke is far more obvious than here in the UK. There are parts of the world, and India comes to mind, where wood burning significantly contaminates the air of entire cities and their surrounding regions. There are deep, steep sided valleys in the Cotswolds where smoke seems to linger. And there is the dirty air of our big conurbations. In all those situations wood burning needs looking at.

Happily that is not the case in my own village. I have just taken the dog for her late walk around the village green. It is a bit chilly outside and I would imagine that most of the wood burners are active. Yet only for a brief moment did I detect a faint and fleeting whiff of wood smoke, when I was directly downwind of a bungalow. There is a bit of a mist around at the moment, so you might think smoke would hang around more than usual, but no. The air quality was as it usually is here, clean and fresh. It is sometimes said that prolific lichen growth on trees and rocks is a good sign of decent air quality, and we have a lot of lichen here.

[pwa]

My friend has had a multi fuel stoves for years. He swears by them. In current house it warms the whole house and he often has the gas central heating off. He's so committed that I wouldn't dare mention the downsides.

However he as a persistent low level cough. Had it checked out nothing wrong. A recent Which report said that even sealed stoves give out fumes, etc every time they are opened - and the opener is right next to the stove. I wonder if his cough is connected.

It seems the householders can be affected as much as people walking the streets.

An acquaintance of mine has a large Victorian terraced house in which he and his wife have gradually migrated to the cellar, as it costs a fortune to heat this house, which is anyway inclined to throw immense amounts of internal heat to the outside. The cellar is "tanked" and large, now a combined living, dining and cooking room.

He heats it with a wood burning stove, into which he feeds not just any old wood he can find but various chunks of particle board, MDF and other builder-waste, as he's a former building trades lad so has plenty of sources for such stuff.

He and his wife both have permanent and rather nasty coughs. They've chosen, though, to blame those on the internet router or probably the local telephone signals, as its much more convenient to read and believe mad conspiracy theories about 4G or 5G cancer-causing effects than give up the free-fuel stove. Neither have given up surfing mad interwebbery sites, anti-social media nutcase postings or the use of their personal prattle gizmos, mind.

Yes, seriously - this is what they truly believe and they'll qet very arsey if challenged about it. Its astonishing what humans will convince themselves of to avoid admitting to a more obvious truth that doesn't suit their immediate wants & needs.

I confess that I find that grimly amusing. MDF! And here's me, examining little bits of timber to check for signs of varnish, and discarding pieces I am not sure haven't been tanalised. You are right of course. Living in a basement, burning any old rubbish, ain't gonna work out well.

[Psamathe]

In those 20 mph school speed limit things that flash, friend on mine drives at 70 mph through them! I'm really good, I only drive through them at 50 mph.

Just because somebody is worse than you does not make what you do good.

Ian

[pwa]

Speed analogies! How about the drivers who show a bit of restraint and go slower than the law would allow? How about the people who try to convince folk that there is a 20mph limit when the law says otherwise? Except that last one would be weird and nobody really does it. How about the drivers who think that the speed they feel appropriate in one location light not be appropriate in another. There are lots of analogies if one looks for them.

According to the online sources I have accessed over the last few years, air quality (including PM2.5s) in my area regularly falls within guidelines. It is different in other areas, but that's how it is here. Frankly, we have enough worries without folk trying to find more.

[Biospace]

For the past three evenings we have been using the wood burning stove for about three hours each night, burning eucalyptus cut from our own tree last winter. Bone dry. Free fuel. All my life I have been around wood smoke, from one source or another. And that puts me at a little bit of a risk? Okay. So do lots of things I do in life. I live in an area of low housing density, so the air outside is pretty good. My neighbours aren't living in a fug. I confidently predict that some time in the next few decades I will die of summat, and I ain't gonna waste my life fretting about every little risk. In the unlikely event that my demise is related to wood burning emissions, so be it. But I bet it's the excess chocolate and biscuits that get me.

Where I am now, in a place with acceptable air quality, I am satisfied with that aspect of my environment, and I'm not ruining it for my neighbours. If I were in a town or city that might be different.

A sensible approach. Those who highlight the dangers of woodburning stoves (which has included myself at times, but until the fairly recent move into a newly built house, we'd used wood a lot for cooking and heating) clearly have real concerns, but how often do we hear about the dangers of barbeques or having poor house airflow mentioned?

The amount of off-gassing from plastics and other synthetic products is at least as much of a concern as a well managed wood stove if there is not sufficient exchange of internal air.

[plancashire]

A problem with many wood burning stoves is not just the exhaust but the air supply: you need one. This usually means in a British house that cold air is entering the room to feed the stove. On its way it takes some heat with it. The same problem applies to open fireplaces. When I have lived in houses with such an open vent I have sealed it. British houses are generally leaky; they even have trickle vents! I have seen these only once in Germany.

The only way to make a building very energy efficient is to seal it and use a mechanical ventilation with heat exchange system. This is standard in a Passivhaus. It rules out simple free-standing wood burners.

[Pebble]

A problem with many wood burning stoves is not just the exhaust but the air supply: you need one. This usually means in a British house that cold air is entering the room to feed the stove. On its way it takes some heat with it. The same problem applies to open fireplaces. When I have lived in houses with such an open vent I have sealed it. British houses are generally leaky; they even have trickle vents! I have seen these only once in Germany.

The only way to make a building very energy efficient is to seal it and use a mechanical ventilation with heat exchange system. This is standard in a Passivhaus. It rules out simple free-standing wood burners.

ours sources it air from under the floor, and when not in use the whole aperture is sealed to stop the warmth in the house going stright up the chimney