Wood burning stoves and fires produce 750 x more carcinogens than a vehicle

 

Christmas is often the time when we think of having a log fire burning in the lounge. Normally most families don’t have open fires, but at Christmas time things often change. But we know from recent studies that the smoke from wooden logs albeit seasoned or green produce many more toxins and toxic chemicals that are carcinogens cancer forming. So when you go out and you think about oh let’s have a log fire this year consider what harm you actually might be doing to yourself, and others. Research undertaken last year showed that woodburning in homes is the single biggest source of small particle air pollution in the UK and it produced more than three times the amount the road traffic did from about 8% of the population using these woodburning fires. Even the new eco-design woodburning stoves still emit 750 times the amount of tiny particle pollution than a modern HGV vehicle. Many of these particles are toxic and can cause cancer.



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