Wood-burning stoves have skyrocketed in popularity following freezing weather in the UK, triggering air pollution warnings.

Rising energy prices and falling temperatures have led to an increase in the use of wood stoves in the UK, but the joy of crackling fires could cost the country’s health.

Under certain circumstances, wood-burning stoves can save consumers money, and stove and firewood suppliers are reporting a significant increase in sales over the past 12 months.

However, wood burning has become the main source of particulate matter pollution in UK urban areas, overtaking industry and transport. Now experts have warned that UK regulations fall short of the health risks associated with burning wood.

This was reported by the Stove Industry Association (SIA), which represents manufacturers, sellers and installers of wood-burning stoves. I that sales in the second and third quarters of 2022 were up 40 and 66 percent, respectively, and demand is expected to remain strong.

Andy Hill, president of the association, explained the surge in energy prices and “reliability issues” in the power grid, stating that “consumers want to be able to ensure they can heat their homes without relying on electricity or gas.” .

Wood, the UK’s largest supplier of firewood, certainly made this claim. I that orders had already begun in August, and demand was at least a third higher than usual.

The recent cold snap may have boosted demand even more, but it has also brought the environmental issue back to the surface. Frosty windless weather not only encourages people to burn wood, but also delays pollution.

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has twice this week warned of high levels of pollution and urged people not to burn wood.

While much of Britain’s urban areas, including the country’s major cities, are covered in smoke control zones – a legacy of the dreadful smog of the industrial age – it only requires the burning of smokeless fuel, not a complete ban on fires.

Prof Bill Collins, an air pollution expert at the University of Reading, says great strides have been made in reducing soot from car exhausts, but the growing popularity of wood burning has turned two malls into a source of urban pollution.

As a result, as mercury levels decrease, the air in the country fills with microscopic particles known as PM2.5, which can penetrate deep into the lungs and possibly into the bloodstream. The exact effects of particulate pollution are still being studied, but are associated with respiratory and cardiovascular disease and premature death.

A report released last month by Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, warned that wood-burning stoves pollute the environment 450 to 3,700 times more than gas heating and that emissions have risen by a third since 2010.

SIA believes modern eco-design stoves that burn the right fuel are a clean and efficient way to heat a home. These burners produce “up to 90 percent less particulate emissions than an open fire and up to 80 percent less than many older stoves,” Hill said.

In many cases, according to Professor Collins, the problem is a small number of people who unwittingly or otherwise cause most of the pollution.

However, the existing rules are a step in the right direction, but do little to solve the problem, he added.

“The development time for stoves is 15 to 20 years, so it will be a very, very long time before these new stoves appear in people’s homes. If you have an open fire, you don’t have to switch to the stove, you just keep burning.”

Other experts and activists point out that no amount of wood can be considered safe.

Lung Moms, an anti-air pollution group, is demanding a total ban. “No one needs a wood stove,” Jemima Hartsthorn, co-founder of the group, told me. I.

James Haydon, an environmental law expert at the University of Nottingham, said the current legislation focuses solely on the visible smoke problem and not on the danger of particulate matter.

“Even if everyone strictly followed the current regulations, there would still be PM2.5 in the air,” he added.

“I can’t live like this, but I have nowhere to go”

Paula, Warrington South

I moved into my current home seven years ago because almost everything is within walking distance. Over the past few years, I began to notice the smell of wood-burning stoves around me, which gradually intensified to such an extent that for most of the year I cannot walk on the territory and have to use a car.

The problem was exacerbated when a close neighbor installed a Defra-approved wood-burning stove almost three years ago. From that moment on, even after taking a shower, I could not hang up my clothes, go out into the garden or open the windows, which meant that the air in the house was always musty and damp. Our houses are leaky and I often smell wood smoke in the house.

A few weeks after my neighbor installed his wood burning stove, my lungs were so badly damaged that my GP had to refer me to a pulmonologist. I can’t live like this and I’m planning to sell my house and move to a new area, but after more than a year of searching I couldn’t find an area where I’m not likely to be bothered by wood smoke due to the massive increase in popularity of these stoves.

The number of wood stoves in my city continues to increase. I live in a smoky area which doesn’t seem to mean anything as there is often visible smoke from the chimneys and even when there is no smoke the smell is very strong and if I smell it I breathe in the pollution.

Smoking has been banned in enclosed public places because it is unacceptable to expose people to secondhand smoke, and yet many people in our own homes are exposed most of the day to a lot of smoke and invisible pollution from neighbors’ wood stoves for most of the day. Year. How can this be acceptable? Wood stoves should be banned in densely populated areas.

Thank you moms for the lungs