Wood smoke: natural – but harmful to health 

Many people think of industry or traffic when they hear the word air pollution. Precisely because wood is a natural substance, many people cannot imagine that burning wood pollutes the air in a way that is harmful to health. But tobacco is also a natural, plant-based substance – and yet it releases a toxic mixture of carcinogenic substances and harmful chemicals when it is burnt. We now know that tobacco is responsible for the loss of years of life as well as cancer and cardiovascular disease. 

However, burning wood releases many more of these toxins than cigarettes. Wood smoke is more carcinogenic than tobacco smoke and causes more genetic mutations than traffic exhaust fumes. A number of other diseases are also associated with wood smoke to the same extent as smoking or passive smoking.

These include heart attacks, strokes, pneumonia, asthma, COPD and ear infections.

A large and growing body of research proves that pollution from wood burning plays a role in behavioural and developmental disorders in children. It also plays a role in the progression of cognitive decline and dementia in adults.

Wood smoke pollution also increases the risk of premature death doctors + scientists

Burning wood is actually the largest source of particulate matter emissions in Europe.

Nino Künzli from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute comments: ‘There is a tendency to canonise wood. There is no evidence that pollutants from wood combustion are less harmful than traffic emissions, for example. 

The most harmful components of wood smoke are invisible to the naked eye. Just because you can’t see smoke doesn’t mean you won’t be harmed.