It is well-known that residential heating with wood and coal in small stoves and boilers is a serious pollution source in many countries. The smoke contains same toxic particles and carcinogenic PAHs as tobacco smoke and increases the risk of cancer, blood clots, cardiovascular diseases, bronchitis, COPD, asthma, and many other serious diseases. Thereby contributing significantly to mortality and morbidity i.e., imposing a huge health burden on society. Furthermore, wood burning contributes to global warming and deterioration of our biodiversity, when logs and branches are burned instead of acting as a long-term CO2-storages and biodiversity hotels in ecosystems.
Particle pollution and health hazards:
WHO: Breathe Life – How air pollution impacts your body
Wood burning – Sustainable and clean?
However, focus is very often on pollution of the ambient air. Even though, wood stoves and fireplaces are placed inside our homes and often pollute the indoor environment to substantially higher levels than what is detected on the most polluted streets during rush hours. The pollution easily spread to the entire home, thereby causing significant exposure to harmful particle pollution.
Interviews with leading Danish experts regarding indoor air pollution with wood smoke:
Avoid wood smoke in your home
Our measurements document significant risk of high indoor air pollution in homes using wood stoves and thereby confirms investigations performed by DTU Sustain (Technical University of Denmark) and BUILD at the University of Aalborg. All studies find that new eco-labelled wood stoves pollute indoor air to the same high levels as old stoves i.e., levels being much higher than what WHO considers as high pollution levels that should be avoided.
The most essential knowledge on indoor air pollution from wood stoves: PPT – use freely by acknowledging the source
Despite the well-documented risk of polluting the air in our homes, there are no rules limiting how much pollution wood stoves and fireplaces are allowed to emit to the indoor environment.
We therefore recommend that you avoid wood burning completely by improving the insulation of your house and using environmentally friendly heat sources (district heating or heat pumps). Thereby both you and your neighbours breathe cleaner air – and you do less harm on the climate and nature.
Any use and dissemination of the knowledge provided on this website is highly welcome – by using this knowledge, you can create cleaner air for more people, so they stay healthier.
Publications
Brief: Measurements of ultrafine particles from wood stoves in Denmark
Indoor particle pollution from residential wood stoves
Indoor air pollution from wood stoves and fireplaces
Pollution inside houses with wood stoves
Wood smoke from neighbours in houses with mechanical ventilation
Pollution from residential wood burning – GGF
Where there’s fire, there’s smoke – Emissions from domestic heating with wood – EEB
Ecodesign
Cost-benefit: Electrostatic precipitators for wood stoves
Position paper – Comments on the ecodesign and energy labelling draft working documents for solid fuel heating(March 2025)
Comments on the regulations about ecodesign and energy labelling requirements for solid fuel boilers and solid fuel local space heaters
Policy brief – Ecodesign regulations on solid fuel heating
Links
Wood smoke and health – Doctors and Scientists
Outdoor air pollution from residential burning
Studies on indoor air pollution with wood smoke
Other
Letter to the Danish Minister for Public Health and the Danish Minister for the Environment
The Consumer Ombudsman’s ruling on misleading marketing of wood stoves – includes the complaint
Funding
Healthy Indoor Environment received funding from the European Climate Foundation (2023-24) to phase-out residential wood burning to the benefit of public health, the climate, and biodiversity.
