Wood smoke: natural – but harmful to health 

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

Burning wood however releases many more 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, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and ear infections.

A large and growing body of research also shows that pollution from wood burning can lead to behavioural and developmental disorders in children. And that it plays a role in the progression of cognitive decline and dementia in adults.

Wood smoke pollution also increases the risk of premature death.

Burning wood is actually the largest source of Particulate Matter (PM) emissions in Europe.

Nino Künzli from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute warns that: “There is a tendency to speak of energy wood with reverence, but there is no evidence whatsoever that pollutants derived 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.