The Dioxin Problem

Burning wood produces dioxins, some of the most toxic substances known to science. In the San Francisco Bay Area, residential wood burning is the second largest source of dioxins.

Research shows that exposure to dioxins increases the risk of genetic defects, cancer, birth defects, reproductive abnormalities, and immune dysfunction.

Threats to human health occur at extremely low levels of exposure. There is no “safe” level of exposure to dioxins. According to the US National Toxicology program, there is no known threshold below which dioxins will not cause cancer.

Dioxins are passed from mothers to infants through breastfeeding. Because of the chemical stability of dioxins and the fact that they are stored in fatty tissues, once dioxins from wood burning enter the human body, they can persist for a lifetime.