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Balancing Wood Smoke and Your Health
By Martha Webster
In Maine and throughout northern New England, with cold winters and a
forested landscape, wood is an obvious choice for home heating. Wood
continues to be plentiful and has been used to heat dwellings since the first
people began to live here.
All wood smoke, whether visible or not, can affect the health of everyone in
the neighborhood. During the winter, wood smoke contributes to higher
particle pollution values when conditions trap local emissions near the
ground. ‘Wood smoke’ found indoors may come directly from a
woodstove/fireplace or from outdoor wood smoke that has penetrated the
building.
Wood smoke contains harmful chemical substances such as: carbon
monoxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), dioxin, and
inhalable particles. Some of the VOCs are irritating, toxic, and/or cancer
causing.
The biggest health threat from wood smoke comes from ‘particle pollution’ --
tiny particles that remain airborne. Particle pollution contains many of the
chemical substances mentioned above. These microscopic particles can get
into your eyes and respiratory system, where they can cause health problems
such as burning eyes, runny nose, and illnesses such as bronchitis. Particle
pollution can also aggravate chronic heart and lung diseases and is linked to
premature deaths in people with these chronic conditions.
There are ways we can all reduce our impact on air quality in our
neighborhoods. Burn seasoned firewood in a manner that promotes
complete combustion to reduce the amount of pollution emitted. Small, hot
fires are better than large smoldering fires.
To maintain your fire in the proper temperature range, use a stovepipe
thermometer, an inexpensive device that sticks to the pipe magnetically. For
improved draft and combustion, as well as safety, the chimney or stack
should be cleaned as directed by the manufacturer.
Another important recommendation is not to install any device, such as a
'rainhat', which impedes or reduces the vertical momentum of smoke out the
stack. Vertical momentum helps to spread the wood smoke over a greater
volume of air and also pushes wood smoke higher above the ground thus
diluting concentrations, especially at ground level.
Newer woodstoves and fireplace inserts, which have been approved by the
EPA, emit less particle pollution and produce much more heat per unit of
wood than older models ultimately paying for their replacement after a few
years. Pellet wood stoves are much cleaner than any other wood burning
appliance. All wood burning appliances should be the proper size for the
job.
People with respiratory and/or heart disease, the elderly and children
should take precautions when air quality is likely to be poor. The Maine
Department of Environmental Protection forecasts air quality year-round
using the Air Quality Index (AQI). These forecasts and much more
information can be found at www.mainedep.com click on ‘Maine Air Quality
Forecast’. A brief forecast discussion can also be heard by dialing (800) 223-
1196. So “Give A Hoot, Don’t Pollute” and “Keep an eye on the AQI.”
About the author:
This column was submitted by Martha Webster, a Meteorologist and Air
Quality Forecaster with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection's
(DEP) Bureau of Air Quality.
By Martha Webster
In Maine and throughout northern New England, with cold winters and a
forested landscape, wood is an obvious choice for home heating. Wood
continues to be plentiful and has been used to heat dwellings since the first
people began to live here.
All wood smoke, whether visible or not, can affect the health of everyone in
the neighborhood. During the winter, wood smoke contributes to higher
particle pollution values when conditions trap local emissions near the
ground. ‘Wood smoke’ found indoors may come directly from a
woodstove/fireplace or from outdoor wood smoke that has penetrated the
building.
Wood smoke contains harmful chemical substances such as: carbon
monoxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), dioxin, and
inhalable particles. Some of the VOCs are irritating, toxic, and/or cancer
causing.
The biggest health threat from wood smoke comes from ‘particle pollution’ --
tiny particles that remain airborne. Particle pollution contains many of the
chemical substances mentioned above. These microscopic particles can get
into your eyes and respiratory system, where they can cause health problems
such as burning eyes, runny nose, and illnesses such as bronchitis. Particle
pollution can also aggravate chronic heart and lung diseases and is linked to
premature deaths in people with these chronic conditions.
There are ways we can all reduce our impact on air quality in our
neighborhoods. Burn seasoned firewood in a manner that promotes
complete combustion to reduce the amount of pollution emitted. Small, hot
fires are better than large smoldering fires.
To maintain your fire in the proper temperature range, use a stovepipe
thermometer, an inexpensive device that sticks to the pipe magnetically. For
improved draft and combustion, as well as safety, the chimney or stack
should be cleaned as directed by the manufacturer.
Another important recommendation is not to install any device, such as a
'rainhat', which impedes or reduces the vertical momentum of smoke out the
stack. Vertical momentum helps to spread the wood smoke over a greater
volume of air and also pushes wood smoke higher above the ground thus
diluting concentrations, especially at ground level.
Newer woodstoves and fireplace inserts, which have been approved by the
EPA, emit less particle pollution and produce much more heat per unit of
wood than older models ultimately paying for their replacement after a few
years. Pellet wood stoves are much cleaner than any other wood burning
appliance. All wood burning appliances should be the proper size for the
job.
People with respiratory and/or heart disease, the elderly and children
should take precautions when air quality is likely to be poor. The Maine
Department of Environmental Protection forecasts air quality year-round
using the Air Quality Index (AQI). These forecasts and much more
information can be found at www.mainedep.com click on ‘Maine Air Quality
Forecast’. A brief forecast discussion can also be heard by dialing (800) 223-
1196. So “Give A Hoot, Don’t Pollute” and “Keep an eye on the AQI.”
About the author:
This column was submitted by Martha Webster, a Meteorologist and Air
Quality Forecaster with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection's
(DEP) Bureau of Air Quality.
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