Health Threats From Burning Wood

A lot has been written about the dangers of cigarette smoking and not enough information about the dangers of burning wood. Yet studies show many of the toxins found in tobacco smoke are the same found in smoke from burning wood.

Burning wood, like cigarette smoke, produce fine particle pollution which contains toxic chemical substances, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, benzene, formaldehyde and dioxin, the most toxic substances. Studies also found that cancer risk from wood smoke may be 12 times greater than from an equal amount of tobacco smoke.

Recent researches show that particle pollution is linked to many health risks such as respiratory diseases, heart attacks and stroke. Here's some tips one can do to reduce wood smoke pollution :

* Replace wood stoves with gas appliances. If you need to burn wood, make sure you burn seasoned hard wood that is clean and dry.

* Do not burn wood that is chemically treated and painted, or wet wood. Do not burn garbage, tires, plastics, old furniture to avoid releasing very toxic chemicals.

* Design kitchens with adequate ventilation in your home, especially those in the countryside that use wood as fuel for cooking.