Clean Air Night: Wood burning could cause 'damages health and the environment'

Clean Air Night is taking place tonight (January 24) and will shine a light on the uncomfortable truths about wood burning.

Most people in the UK don’t know that wood burning is bad for our health and for the environment.Wood burning:

· Harms your wallet – It is almost always more expensive than other forms of heating

· Harms your health - Lighting fires in our homes is the largest source of harmful small particle air pollution in the UK

· Harms the planet – wood burning creates CO2 emissions and we cannot reproduce trees fast enough to offset the CO2 emitted by burning wood

Councillor David Tucker, cabinet member for adults, health and care said: “We are supporting the Global Action Plan and joining the action to raise awareness of the harms that are mostly unknown.“Rural areas like the East Riding tend to have higher reliance on alternative heating fuels, like wood burners or oil heating. We know that the glow of a fire or wood burner is associated with comfort, but the evidence is showing that it damages health and the environment.”

Pollution particles and gases enter our bodies and can damage cells in different ways. They usually get into our lungs first and can then move into our blood to reach organs such as the heart and brain. Any amount of pollution can be damaging to our health, but the more you are exposed to, the bigger the risk. It can increase risk of developing lung cancer or lung disease.Even homes with the newest eco-design wood burners are three times more polluted than homes without. The European Environmental Bureau highlights that a new eco-design stove in 2022 is allowed to emit 60 times the particulate matter of an old truck from 2006, and 750 times as much as a newer truck from 2014.Visit www.cleanairhub.org.uk/clean-air-night about the harms of wood burning this Clean Air Night.