There are more than 1.5 million wood burning stoves in homes across the UK, leading to a major health warning being issued.
Sales are booming for the product, given that they are a cheaper alternative than the central heating, reports Leicestershire Live. However, burning renewable fuel and timber logs isn't as environmentally friendly as some may think.
Research has been increased on wood burners in recent years, as they have been linked to almost 50 percent of people's exposure to cancer-causing chemicals found in air pollution particles in urban areas.
This is despite under 10 per cent of the population actually owning a wood burning stove.
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What was once thought as an eco-friendly solution to the world's problems, is now causing trees to deplete, as they 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."
And in response to research, a lot of the UK now live in smoke control areas, so there are now restrictions of 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 percent 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.
Owning a wood burning stove can present a risk of cancer, just as it does to the wider population - due to it pumping out carcinogenic chemicals. Modern wood burners are required to meet specific requirements to be sold, but these models can still emit a staggering 750 times more tiny particle pollution than a modern HGV truck.
This is according to the European Environmental Bureau, as wood burning in towns and cities contributes to thousands of early deaths each year. The forecast states that there was up to 48,000 in England alone.
The toxic particles in the 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 its 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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