More and more of us are inviting a silent invisible threat into our homes – putting our families, pets, neighbours and local wildlife at risk. We’re paying an average of £2,000 for the privilege. The cosy charms of woodstoves mean installations have risen for 15 years: one in 12 homes now has one, a total projected to rise to one in 10.
At the heart of the health risks are fine particulates – so small (a third of the width of a human hair), they can enter the blood stream and travel to all parts of our bodies. The consequences can be fatal, and the wide range of health harms include dementia, diabetes, and health and lung conditions. Retired doctor (and health campaigner) Heather Lambert, from Newcastle, explains: “Air pollution causes a lot of disease, affecting almost every organ in the body and at all ages, from before birth throughout life. There is no safe limit, and small particle pollution is particularly harmful.”
The sad fact is that more than 90% of these homes already have heating before they add a woodstove – it’s often a lifestyle extra. And many purchasers are environmentally-concerned people who think they are “doing the right thing”. The image has been at odds with the reality. Woodburning is usually a less efficient heat source, as well as being three times more polluting than other forms of heating.
Have our say now
A government consultation has been launched; now that we have greater understanding of the bigger picture, seizing this chance to send responses is vital to strengthen regulations. The deadline is 19 March, and suggestions for responses can be seen on Climate Action Newcastle’s webpage. It is also worthwhile to lobby MPs to press for tougher action. Paris bans woodstove use entirely when its monitors show dangerous pollution spikes; our local air is also monitored – why shouldn’t we have the same protection?
Ways we can tackle harms in our local areas
Woodburning directly affects air that we breathe – its pollution now has greater impact than that from vehicles. The results are costs for our health services, harm to local wildlife, damaged lives and lives cut short. These are powerful reasons to urge our local councils to raise awareness through all forms of media about how we can reduce this harm.
In addition, we can push for greater enforcement of Smoke Control Area regulations and ask for local statistics on how many penalties have been issued in recent years. We can also encourage more complaints when we’re aware of smoke: one current campaign slogan reads, “If you can smell wood burning, you’re breathing in fine particulate air pollution that can harm your health ”.
Each of us also has the power of word of mouth. Simply spreading this information – through community and workplace newsletters, WhatsApp groups, discussions with family and friends – could help protect people from future regrets. Climate Action Newcastle’s campaign has gathered pictures of woodstoves standing idle in homes, due to purchasers realising – too late – the harm the woodburning could cause. Schools are also a powerful way to communicate pollution risks to young people. The national Clean Air Hub provides free school lesson packs, assemblies, worksheets and activities that explain air pollution simply. Preventing woodstove installations is better than trying to manage the harms caused by their pollution.
However, deterring future installations will not tackle the harms being caused by millions of woodstoves already in homes, which may emit particulates for 20-30 years. The consultation proposes tightening rules regarding wood that can be burned, which could achieve small improvements. Locally, we can stress the value of minimising use to the very coldest days, and provide commiserations and support to help people abandon use altogether.
“Invisible” dangers in our everyday lives still neglected
If 30,000 people died each year in UK road accidents, it would be huge news: disturbing pictures, headlines we notice, alarmed conversations. But when the same number die because of air pollution? – it is ignored, even though the victims are our friends, family, workmates.
In the past, air pollution’s greater visibility meant it was seen for the killer that it was: five days of the Great Smog of 1952 led to the Clean Air Act of 1956. In contrast, it was striking that health harms and death due to “invisible” air pollution from vehicles were hardly mentioned in much of recent coverage of reforms to clean our air, such as ultra-low emission zones. Yet with remarkable speed, London’s ULEZ has already reduced pollution to legal limits and reports show 10% less respiratory illness, 18.5% fewer sick days and £37mn of health service savings.
In Newcastle, the Clean Air Zone has resulted in a 9% drop in nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) in two years. However, levels of fine particulates (PM2.5) have not fallen. Across the UK, woodburning is now overtaking traffic as a source, emitting 20% of particulates in the air around us.
Will woodstove awareness open our eyes to “invisible” harms?
The harms we and our loved ones suffer due to our society’s bias against invisible risks is not new.
Professor Nick Hopkinson, the medical director at Asthma + Lung UK and a specialist respiratory consultant, said recently that respiratory conditions do not receive the same attention as other diseases such as cancer and heart disease, even though they are the third biggest killer globally. He was commenting on the rise (by a quarter) in the number of people needing emergency care for pneumonia, over two years. He made clear this was due to a broad range of factors, such as poor housing quality. The North East’s traditional low ranking for a wide range of health, social and economic factors supports the case for priority to be given in this region for greater protection from invisible pollution.
The 1993 Harvard Six Studies study is another reminder that this is not new; it established a definitive link between fine particulate pollution and higher death rates in urban areas. As evidence grows that even very low levels of air pollutants hurt human health, the World Health Organization halved its recommended safe limit for particulate matter in 2021.
No time like the present to take action
Wintry days like these are when fine particulate levels always spike across urban areas, and a major contributor is domestic wood smoke. Every breath we take may include fine particulates. There are easy ways we can protect ourselves. We’ve done it with seat belts, smoking bans, flu jabs; opening our eyes to see this threat – then taking action – will open the way to yet more progress.
***For more in-depth information, see Climate Action Newcastle’s Bloghttps://www.climateactionnewcastle.com/post/wood-burning-stoves-hidden-costs-and-harms
