Woodburning stove pollution has soared in a decade, new figures show

2023-02-15

Pollution from trendy woodburning stoves has more than doubled in just a decade, new figures reveal

Woodburning pollution soared by 124 per cent between 2011 and 2021
Its pollutant, PM2.5, is considered as the most dangerous form of air pollution

Pollution from trendy woodburning stoves has more than doubled in just ten years, according to the latest official statistics.

Emissions of the pollutant PM2.5 from domestic wood burning alone increased 124 per cent between 2011 and 2021.

Demand for household stoves soared by 40 per cent between April and June last year, with many households turning to log-burning as an alternative to costlier central heating.

But the popular stoves have proven controversial for their contribution to worsening air quality, as shown in the Department for the Environment’s figures. Environmental groups have described it as a ‘worrying trend’.

PM2.5 is considered by health experts as the most dangerous form of air pollution.

Woodburning pollutant emissions soared by 124 per cent between 2011 and 2021

The tiny particles can pass through the lungs, into the bloodstream, and into your organs, and can cause illnesses including asthma, stroke and lung cancer.

Ross Matthewman, head of policy and campaigns at the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health, said: ‘Not only have emissions of PM2.5 from domestic wood burning increased but have done so by 124 per cent since 2011. This is a worrying trend that cannot continue if we are serious about protecting both the environment and public health.

‘Now is the time for the UK Government to regulate the sale and use of domestic solid wood burners in urban areas where there are on-grid heating alternatives.’

Sir Chris Whitty, the Government’s chief medical officer, recently said: ‘There’s a big difference in my view between having a very dense urban area with everybody using wood burning and someone doing it in a rural area where it is essentially them, their family and a lot of sheep.’

The Government recently said it would encourage councils to issue fines for households that break air pollution rules in this way. But in the past six years, just 17 fines have been issued, despite more than 18,000 complaints.

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