American Lung Association Cautions Against Wood-burning And Urges

[Guest guest]

For those who missed them, I am re-posting what Cindi was talking

about -

American Lung Association Cautions Against Wood-burning And Urges

Cleaner Alternatives For Winter Heat

As cooler temperatures begin to mark the beginning of fall, the

American Lung Association warns that the comfort of a roaring fire

can be harmful to your health and have a negative impact on both

indoor and outdoor air quality.

Burning wood emits harmful toxins and fine particles in the air that

can worsen breathing problems and lead to heart and lung disease and

even early death.

" With energy costs at an all time high, we are concerned about the

potential impact the increased reliance on wood burning, particularly

the use of wood stoves, might have on both the environment and the

families who rely primarily on this method of home heating this

winter, " said Bernadette Toomey President and CEO of the American

Lung Association.

Wood smoke poses a special threat to people with asthma and COPD and

should be actively avoided by those with lung disease.

When possible, the American Lung Association strongly recommends

using cleaner, less toxic sources of heat.

Converting a wood-burning fireplace or stove to use either natural

gas or propane will eliminate exposure to the dangerous toxins wood

burning generates including dioxin, arsenic and formaldehyde.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/123456.php

Alana

[Guest guest]

Very few homes here burn wood for heating, as virtually all homes have gas central heating. Some people still have coal fires in their living rooms, though. We couldn't afford to keep the heating on for long periods at a time in my flat at uni, so we'd both be sat there during the day in bed working (the beauty of laptops and WiFi!, drinking lots of hot drinks... I moved house this weekend (I only oved into the last one a month ago, but unfortunately turned out that one of the people alreadty there is very nasty, plus the house was quite damp), so I've moved into somewhere else, which is a) not damp, warm, and c) gas and electricity is included in my rent so I don't have to worrt as much about not putting hte heating on. (I'm also living with medical students, which could be useful if I have a bad flare up!)

Jenn

Tha can tek t'lass outta Yorkshire...!

Don't brand me, don't classify me, don't tell me what to wear. I'll be who I want to be, and I'm proud to be me.

Subject: American Lung Association Cautions Against Wood-burning And UrgesTo: asthma Date: Sunday, 12 October, 2008, 6:29 PM

For those who missed them, I am re-posting what Cindi was talking about - American Lung Association Cautions Against Wood-burning And Urges

Cleaner Alternatives For Winter Heat

As cooler temperatures begin to mark the beginning of fall, the

American Lung Association warns that the comfort of a roaring fire

can be harmful to your health and have a negative impact on both

indoor and outdoor air quality.

Burning wood emits harmful toxins and fine particles in the air that

can worsen breathing problems and lead to heart and lung disease and

even early death.

"With energy costs at an all time high, we are concerned about the

potential impact the increased reliance on wood burning, particularly

the use of wood stoves, might have on both the environment and the

families who rely primarily on this method of home heating this

winter," said Bernadette Toomey President and CEO of the American

Lung Association.

Wood smoke poses a special threat to people with asthma and COPD and

should be actively avoided by those with lung disease.

When possible, the American Lung Association strongly recommends

using cleaner, less toxic sources of heat.

Converting a wood-burning fireplace or stove to use either natural

gas or propane will eliminate exposure to the dangerous toxins wood

burning generates including dioxin, arsenic and formaldehyde.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/123456.php

Alana

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

I lived in Phoenix, Arizona for 25 years. About 15 years ago during the

winter they started banning all fireplace use during certain days in the

winter due to the inversion of the city being in a valley. They would

actually hunt out fire places and fine you if you were using it on

" banned " days. I noticed an improved quality of the air when they

started doing that, although it was not a great improvement because of

all the other pollution. Most homes there did not use fireplaces as

their main source of heat because it is not effeciant in heating the

whole house....most had other sources of heat.

Another bad thing is people who use burn barrels. Of course in the

bigger cities, burn barrels are banned, but like where we live now

people use them all the time. We even use one, but we only burn paper in

ours, and my husband does it when I am not home. Other people burn all

of their daily trash in them, and there is not way to get away from

that, especially in the winter when the air inverts. Lots of toxic stuff

going in the air from that, because of all the plastics and whatever

else would be in their " trash " .

Cindi

A Hill wrote:

>

> Very few homes here burn wood for heating, as virtually all homes have

> gas central heating. Some people still have coal fires in their living

> rooms, though. We couldn't afford to keep the heating on for long

> periods at a time in my flat at uni, so we'd both be sat there during

> the day in bed working (the beauty of laptops and WiFi!, drinking lots

> of hot drinks... I moved house this weekend (I only oved into the last

> one a month ago, but unfortunately turned out that one of the people

> alreadty there is very nasty, plus the house was quite damp), so I've

> moved into somewhere else, which is a) not damp, warm, and c) gas

> and electricity is included in my rent so I don't have to worrt as

> much about not putting hte heating on. (I'm also living with medical

> students, which could be useful if I have a bad flare up!)

>

> Jenn

>

> Tha can tek t'lass outta Yorkshire...!

>

> Don't brand me, don't classify me, don't tell me what to wear. I'll be

> who I want to be, and I'm proud to be me.

>

>

>

>

>

> Subject: American Lung Association Cautions Against

> Wood-burning And Urges

> To: asthma

> Date: Sunday, 12 October, 2008, 6:29 PM

>

>

> For those who missed them, I am re-posting what Cindi was talking

> about -

>

>

>

>

>

> American Lung Association Cautions Against Wood-burning And Urges

> Cleaner Alternatives For Winter Heat

>

>

>

>

>

>

> As cooler temperatures begin to mark the beginning of fall, the

> American Lung Association warns that the comfort of a roaring fire

> can be harmful to your health and have a negative impact on both

> indoor and outdoor air quality.

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Burning wood emits harmful toxins and fine particles in the air that

> can worsen breathing problems and lead to heart and lung disease and

> even early death.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> " With energy costs at an all time high, we are concerned about the

> potential impact the increased reliance on wood burning, particularly

> the use of wood stoves, might have on both the environment and the

> families who rely primarily on this method of home heating this

> winter, " said Bernadette Toomey President and CEO of the American

> Lung Association.

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Wood smoke poses a special threat to people with asthma and COPD and

> should be actively avoided by those with lung disease.

>

>

>

>

>

> When possible, the American Lung Association strongly recommends

> using cleaner, less toxic sources of heat.

>

>

>

>

>

> Converting a wood-burning fireplace or stove to use either natural

> gas or propane will eliminate exposure to the dangerous toxins wood

> burning generates including dioxin, arsenic and formaldehyde.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/123456.php

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Alana

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

>

[Guest guest]

When I am camping wiht my Guides, we tend to have a wood fire lit all day. We do use it to burn as much rubbish as possible (though things like plastic which give off fumes go in hte bin), then at night it's great for sitting round tpo keep warm. We have never had a problem with any of our asthmatics doing that, though it is always a small fire in an open area.

Another unit I was with were very close to the beach, so each year at the end of the summer term we'd go down to the beach and ahve a barbeque on open fires. Again, this never caused problems, but being ontbhe beach on the north sea we had plenty of fresh air!

Jenn

Tha can tek t'lass outta Yorkshire...!

Don't brand me, don't classify me, don't tell me what to wear. I'll be who I want to be, and I'm proud to be me.