Wood Smoke is Hazardous to Your Health

Scientists have now linked wood smoke and the pollution it creates with a litany of health hazards. These include asthma attacks, diminished lung function, increased upper respiratory illnesses, heart attacks, and stroke. Long-term exposure to wood smoke can lead to emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and arteriosclerosis.

Many of the substances in wood smoke are carcinogenic. Laboratory studies have linked wood smoke exposure to nasal, throat, lung, blood, and lymph system cancers.

While pollution from wood burning is harmful to everyone, research has shown that it is particularly dangerous for children.

Epidemiological studies have linked daily morbidity and mortality to particle pollution concentrations; burning wood creates particle pollution. Put in plain English, this means that when particle pollution levels rise, more people die.