Burning wood produces emissions that are widely recognized as harmful to human health. Many of these harmful emissions can occur both indoors and outdoors and can pose a risk to children, older adults, and people with heart disease, asthma, and other lung diseases.
According to the American Lung Association, pollution from wood smoke includes the following:
- Climate change pollution: wood smoke adds carbon dioxide and methane to the air, two pollutants that contribute significantly to climate change.
- Particle pollution: smoke from fireplaces, wood stoves, backyard and land-clearing burn piles and wildfires contains fine particle pollution, which is one of the most serious air quality problems in the Puget Sound region.
- Carbon monoxide: wood smoke can increase both outdoor and indoor concentrations of carbon monoxide.
- Nitrogen oxides: nitrogen oxides harm health indoors and outdoors and helps create particle pollution.
- Volatile organic compounds: these gases – some of which are carcinogens – include harmful pollutants that contribute to ozone pollution.