Many people do not realize that the way homes are heated could pose health risks.
For example, the use of wood stoves could be associated with indoor pollution. Currently, different forms of heating can be used, bringing benefits not only to health but also to the planet.
Photovoltaic panels allow you to save on your bill and earn money immediately. Even installing a turbine to create a mini-wind turbine not only allows you to save but also a large discount on the purchase.
Changing the way we heat our homes can benefit both health and the climate
The cozy glow and crackle of a wood stove creates an atmosphere that’s hard to resist. But various American researches have established that the charm of wood stoves would have a very high price on human health.
In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that wood smoke is most responsible for poor air quality in many American homes. Burning wood would produce toxic gases (nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide) and tiny solid particles called particulate matter (PM). The most harmful particles have those that have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers (thousandths of a millimeter) and are called PM2.5.
These being very small if breathed in, they could travel inside the lungs causing irritation and inflammation. The immediate symptoms could be: wheezing, lack of air, cough, asthma attacks, chest tightness. Leading to the development of chronic bronchitis in people.
Furthermore, according to the EPA, particulate matter could cause strokes, irregular heart rhythms and therefore heart failure, heart attacks especially if people already suffer from these diseases.
Also according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the smoke given off by a wood stove could cause lung inflammation that would make a person more at risk of being infected with Covid-19.
Effects on health
According to scholars, these particles would then be deposited in the lungs, heart and brain. The repercussions on the subject’s health would be very serious. In particular, for children, the elderly or people with previous pathologies.
According to a study done by the British Lung Foundation, particulate matter could cause COPD, that is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or lung cancer. It seems that there may even be links between PM2.5 and diabetes or with degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Some research carried out by the EPA establishes that the level of particulate matter inside homes may be higher than those outside. They include: cigarette smoke, cooking, candles, fireplaces, wood, gas or kerosene stoves that are not ventilated.
Wood stoves have become very popular in recent years. Among other things, they are considered cheap because the cost of wood is lower than that of gas or oil. In this way they have become an alternative to heating the house. However, recent research has shown that wood stoves generate more particulate matter than multi-fuel stoves or pellet stoves.
This is because every time the door is opened to insert wood, the particulate peaks increased inside the houses.
How to fight indoor pollution
According to the EPA, one way to combat indoor pollution, or in homes, would be to:
- limit the use of stoves, fireplaces or stoves with non-ventilated combustion;
- choose a wood stove certified and compliant with EPA standards;
- use the most appropriate fuel for each stove, such as dry or well-seasoned wood.
Be that as it may, as Kevin M. Stewart, director of environmental health advocacy and public policy at the American Lung Association puts it: “even the wood stove (or composite wood pellet) designed and better used still produces some pollution atmospheric “.
(The information in this article is for informational purposes only and concerns scientific studies published in medical journals. Therefore, it does not replace the consultation of a doctor or specialist, and should not be considered for formulating treatments or diagnoses)