Between COVID and winter weather, many of us are hunkered down at home, spending more time indoors now than perhaps at any other time in our lives. So it’s only natural that we want to make our home environments cozy and comforting. During wintertime, that often means lighting a fire in our fireplace or gathering around a firepit. But what many don’t realize is that the warm glow of a fire comes at a high cost to our health.
Wood smoke doesn’t all go out the chimney. Much of it stays inside or spreads throughout our communities. Here’s why that’s a problem:
Burning wood releases carcinogens into our air.
Pollution from wood smoke is linked to health problems like asthma, cardiac arrest, and cancer.
Wood smoke harms our lungs’ ability to fight respiratory illnesses, like COVID-19.
According to the EPA, burning 10 pounds of wood generates 4,300 times more carcinogens into the air we breathe than smoking 30 cigarettes. This can be especially harmful for vulnerable people in our neighborhood, and anything we can do to reduce wood smoke pollution will help our health and our planet.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 3, 2020
OEC releases a round-up of recent science about the health impacts of diesel exhaust
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As we roll into fall, many people start cleaning out their wood-burning stoves and fireplaces to start heating their homes, or just to get that cozy ambiance. What many people don’t realize is that, when a lot of people are burning wood in their homes, the cumulative effect on air quality can be similar to a wildfire. OEC has been advocating to reduce harmful air pollution from urban wood fires and to provide healthier options for those that rely on w
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While many of us enjoy the warmth and coziness of a wood stove or fireplace, few realize just how dangerous wood smoke is. Burning wood releases high levels of tiny particles and gases that harm our health. The cancer risk from a lifetime of exposure to wood smoke is 12 times greater than being exposed to the equivalent amount of cigarette smoke.
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Thanks to a huge team of fast-thinking first responders the smoke has cleared after a disastrous scrap yard fire in Northeast Portland. Does “all clear” mean that everything is ok? Not exactly.
