Indoor particle pollution from wood burning

It is well-known that residential wood stoves are a significant particle pollution source of the ambient air. The smoke contains the same harmful compounds as tobacco smoke and increases the risk of cancer, blood clots, cardiovascular diseases, asthma, bronchitis, COPD and many other serious diseases. At the same time, wood burning contributes to global warming and deterioration of our biodiversity, when logs and branches are burned instead of acting as a CO2-storage and biodiversity hotel.

Particle pollution and health hazards:

WHO: Breathe Life – How air pollution impacts your body KK: Ren luft redder liv (Danish)

However, the focus on indoor air pollution from wood stoves and fireplaces is surprisingly minute, although these are placed inside our homes. Hence, our indoor environment can be directly polluted to substantially higher levels than what is detected on the most polluted streets in Denmark during rush hour. The pollution can easily spread to the entire house, thereby causing exposure to a high level of air pollution most of the time while residents are at home.

The leading experts in Denmark say this about indoor air pollution from residential wood stoves:

Avoid wood smoke in your home

Both our own measurements (see below) and investigations carried out by BUILD (previous Statens Byggeforskningsinstitut) and the Technical University of Denmark show that even new ecolabelled wood stoves can pollute the indoor air with particles to much higher levels than what WHO considers as high pollution.

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, still no requirements exist on how much wood stoves and fireplaces are allowed to pollute 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) instead. This way, both you and your neighbors breathe cleaner air. At the same time, you spare the climate and nature of a huge negative impact.

Any use of the knowledge provided on this website is highly welcome – by using this knowledge, you secure cleaner air for more people so they stay healthier. However, we highly appreciate acknowledgement of the source.

More information

Funding

Healthy Indoor Environment receives funding from European Climate Foundation to work on the phase-out of residential wood burning to the benefit of public health, the climate, and our biodiversity.

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