People have been warned to "think twice" about using log burners at home. It comes after a six-month study discovered that the fashionable stoves continually exceeded World Health Organisation guidelines for air pollution.
The research, carried out between November and March, found 11 exceedances of the WHO's ultra-fine particulate pollution recommendations. Sensors were placed in houses where fuel-burning appliances were installed and participants were given technology to monitor the pollution emitted.
Burning wood or coal creates tiny particulates called PM2.5 and PM10. The 10 sensors in the study, carried out in Bristol, found that the average log burner emitted 10 PM10 and 12 PM2.5, The Express reports.
Particulate matter associated with wood smoke has been linked to health problems. These include asthma, heart disease and lung cancer.
The Clean Air Act 1993 makes it illegal to release smoke from chimneys unless burning an authorised fuel or using an exempt appliance. Steve Crawshaw, who managed the community-led project, said: "The evidence is that virtually any level of PM 2.5 is harmful – there is no threshold below which you don’t see health effects."
Tim Wye, a Green Party councillor in Bristol, said rising energy prices could be driving some struggling families to use log burners over radiators. "For some, especially now, burning solid fuels is sometimes the only option to stay warm – but what I hope the study shows is that those who can afford it should really think twice about using solid fuels in an urban environment," he said.
"Current research suggests the air pollution impact of wood-burning is really significant, and as with the air pollution emitted by vehicles, there is no ‘safe level’ for humans."
Campaign group Mums for Lungs has called on the Government to ban all wood-burning stoves by 2027. The group said that, in a six-year period, local councils only issued 19 penalties for wood smoke despite receiving more than 19,000 complaints.
