They concluded: “It is recommended that new residential stoves be accompanied by a health warning at the point of sale in order to indicate the health risks posed to users.” Government approval schemes should also assess indoor pollution, the scientists said. “Epidemiologists are increasingly recognising that exposure to high intensities of over much shorter periods of time – hours rather than days – is linked to a range of health issues,” the researchers wrote. The World Health Organization limit is 25μg/m3 over 24 hours. The results showed the burners were usually lit for about four hours at a time, and during this period the level of harmful particles in homes was three times higher than when stoves were not being used.ĭuring those four hours, average particle levels rose to between 27 and 195 micrograms per cubic metre of air. The study, published in the journal Atmosphere, analysed data collected every few minutes from pollution monitors in people’s homes and in total assessed 260 uses of wood burners. “We should leave it to people to decide, but they should at least know what’s going on, and, of course, don’t use it if you don’t need to.” Some people without central heating rely on wood burners for heat, and Chakraborty did not call for a ban. Some burners have filters, but these only reduce the pollution being vented outside. “But by the time it comes down, someone opens the door again to refuel and you get spike after spike,” Chakraborty said. The peaks take an hour or two to dissipate. “But every time you open the door, you reduce the stove to an open fire and particulate matter floods into the home,” he said. Wood burners cause less indoor pollution than open fires. If people want to use them, we recommend minimising the time the stove is open during lighting or refuelling.” “It is recommended that people living with those particularly susceptible to air pollution, such as children, the elderly or vulnerable, avoid using wood-burning stoves. “Our findings are a cause for concern,” said Rohit Chakraborty, of the University of Sheffield, who led the study. Almost 16% of people in the south-east of England use wood fuel, and 18% in Northern Ireland, according to 2016 government data, and about 175,000 wood burners are sold annually. Wood and coal burning in homes is estimated to cause almost 40% of outdoor tiny particle pollution, but the new research is among the first to analyse indoor pollution in real-life settings. The government is phasing out the sale of wet wood, which produces more smoke, but the people in the study used only dry, seasoned wood. But this and the new EcoDesign standard, due to become compulsory by 2022, only assess outdoor pollution. The wood burners used were all models certified by the government as “smoke exempt appliances”, meaning they produce less smoke. The research was conducted in 19 homes in Sheffield over the course of a month at the start of 2020. The particles can pass through the lungs and into the body and have been linked to a wide range of health damage, particularly in younger and older people.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |