More and more people are turning to wood burning stoves, as a cheaper alternative amid soaring energy prices.
There are now more than 1.5 million wood burners in the UK, with many people using them to keep warm rather than paying to have the central heating on. Another part of their appeal is that they burn renewable fuel, timber logs.
But wood burners are not as environmentally-friendly as some think, Leicestershire Live reports.
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There has been increasing scrutiny on wood burners in recent years, as they have been linked to nearly 50% of people's exposure to cancer-causing chemicals found in air pollution particles in urban areas. This is despite under 10% of the population owning one.
Though once thought to be an eco-friendly heating solution, trees are not being planted at a rate to keep up with the amount of CO2 released by burning them. Government regulations state: "Burning at home, particularly with traditional house coal or wet wood, is a major source of the pollutant PM2.5, which has been identified by the World Health Organisation as the most serious air pollutant for human health."
In response to modern research, much of the nation now lives in smoke control areas, meaning there are restrictions on what you can burn and the stoves you can use. New wood burning stove laws aim to cut the UK's emissions, with wood burners accounting for 38% of particulate matter air pollution.
However, despite legislation and many now owning cleaner burning stoves, there are still serious health problems associated with having one in your home.
Having a wood burning stove inside your house presents a cancer risk, just as it does to the wider population due to it pumping out carcinogenic chemicals. New wood burners have to meet specific requirements to be sold, but these Ecodesign models still emit 750 times more tiny particle pollution than a modern HGV truck, the European Environmental Bureau says.
Wood burning in towns and cities contributes to thousands of early deaths each year, forecast to be around up to 38,000 in England alone. Toxic particles is our air, much of which is caused by wood burning, has been linked to health problems such as heart and lung disease, dementia and even mental illness in children.
In a report published by Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, even Ecodesign models in homes produce 450 times more emissions than gas central heating. Though wood burners are normally enclosed, opening the doors to refuel releases enough emissions to to fill a room, which take hours to dissipate.
Though estimates have been made around how many deaths are caused by emissions outdoors, there is a clear absence of data for pollution-related deaths indoors, something Prof Whitty says needs urgent attention.
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