Wood burning stoves in urban areas are responsible for almost half of people’s exposure to cancer-causing chemicals found in air pollution particles, new research has shown. They said that home wood burning was a significant issue for urban air quality throughout Europe and that excessive exposure to wood smoke could cause severe health effects. Even new wood burning stoves meeting the “ecodesign” standard still emit 750 times more tiny particle pollution than a modern HGV truck. “We know that [smoke from] wood burning is much more toxic than other types of particles,” said Nenes, and the results clearly highlight wood burning as a principal driver of long-term carcinogenic risk. “However, enforcing such a policy, or even wider restrictions on wood burning in densely populated areas, could be challenging,” she said.

Source: The Guardian December 18, 2021 03:15 UTC