Woodsmoke & Health
Tobacco
smokers have higher death rates from lung diseases, cancers, heart attacks,
strokes. Yet vested interests such as the tobacco industry tried for decades to
tell us there was no direct causal evidence.
Similar tactics have been used by the asbestos and coal industries.
The
research cited below shows the same is true for woodsmoke pollution. Dr
Ben Ewald, GP & Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology, Newcastle University, told
a 2013 Senate
Inquiry into air pollution and health that exposure at the
current National Standard of 25 ug/m3 has equivalent mortality risks
to actively smoking 3 cigarettes a day. Tasmanian researchers found that hospital admissions for heart failure (HF, the leading cause of hospitalisation for adults aged over 65 years) started to increase as soon as PM2.5 exceeded 4 ug/m3, a tiny fraction of the current Australian PM2.5 standard. The researchers noted that the main cause of elevated PM2.5 in Tassie is biomass smoke from wood heaters during winter and from bushfires and planned burns at other times of the year, and also that there are more HF incidences and readmissions occurred in winter than in other seasons. Another Tasmanian researcher, Dr Fay Johnston previously described woodsmoke particles as worse than car exhausts. Canadian research found that when most of the pollution came from wood burning a 5 ug/m3 increase in PM2.5 pollution was associated with a 19% increase in the risk of heart attacks for people aged 65 and older, noting "the association was stronger when more of the air pollution came from wood burning." See also the news report: 2 min video, Canadian BC News, Feb. 27, 2017: Study links wood smoke to senior heart attacks.
Most of us would be concerned
about the health effects of children, pregnant ladies and the elderly smoking
even one cigarette a day. New technology has created affordable, non-polluting,
climate and environmentally-friendly heating options. We need to read and understand the
evidence so that informed decisions can be made about what is best for our city,
our communities.
NSW Chief Medical Officer & other health professionals recommend
The NSW Asthma Foundation warned that wood smoke emissions in winter pose
a bigger immediate health danger in built up urban areas than cars or
cigarettes. The evidence convinced the NSW Chief medical officer, who said "wood heaters are so detrimental to
health she supports banning and phasing them out in built-up urban areas". Similarly strong
statements were made by the Australian
Lung Foundation (who added: “real-life emissions from new wood-heaters
have little relationship to measurements from a perfectly operated test model
under laboratory conditions”),
the Canadian Lung Association (“don’t
burn wood in a residential setting”) the American Lung Association (“avoid burning wood”) and the American Lung
Association of California who urges the public to avoid wood
burning and to consider cleaner heating alternatives. Burning wood emits
harmful toxins and fine particles into the air that can worsen asthma and
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
How wood burning affects children
3-minute UNICEF video: What does Air Pollution PM 2.5 do inside children's body and brain? Explains how PM2.5 pollution causes problems for all critical organs in the children's bodies and brains.
Dr. Eric Zee, pulmonary medicine specialist at
Stanford Children’s Health, explains how wood burning affects
children. "The fine particles in woodsmoke are around 2.5
micrometers in size or smaller. That’s a size 30 times smaller than the size of
a human hair and the smaller particles are so small several thousand of them
could fit on the tip of a needle. These
particles are called PM2.5 and are small enough to bypass the nose and throat’s
natural filtering systems, enter our lungs and pass into blood and to every
organ in the body.”
Dr Zee says fine particle pollution from
woodsmoke is especially harmful to children, the elderly and those with
respiratory conditions such as asthma and bronchitis. Children breathe at a
faster rate and have developing respiratory systems … “Woodsmoke causes other
problems in the body outside the lungs. Inflammation, while generated in the lungs,
can be felt throughout the body … these higher inflammatory mediators running
round our bloodstream can affect the way our brains work, can affect the health
of our heart, and can affect our risk of stroke.” Keeping these health effects
in mind, Dr Zee says it’s vital to reconsider burning wood.
Woodsmoke is the number 1 child killer in developing countries. According to UNICEF: "Every year, nearly 600,000 children under the age of five die from diseases caused or exacerbated by the effects of indoor and outdoor air pollution" ..In Bangladesh, "more than 8,500 children per year die from diseases caused by household air pollution (HAP) and 89 per cent of households use solid fuels – mostly wood, agricultural waste and cow dung – for cooking and space heating" ...In Zimbabwe in 2010 "more than 3,000 child deaths from 0–4 years were caused by acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI). Research also shows that children in Zimbabwean households using wood, dung or straw for cooking were more than twice as likely to have suffered from ALRI than children from households using Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), natural gas or electricity." A comprehensive study published in 2018 in Nature Research covering 30 African countries found that a 10 μg m−3 increase in PM2.5 concentration was associated with a 9% rise in infant mortality. The new study used satellite data to provide accurate estimates of PM2.5 exposure and therefore more accurate estimates of the effect. The total of 449,000 additional deaths (22% of all infant deaths) in 2015 is more than three times higher than existing estimates that attribute death of infants to poor air quality for these countries.
Increased mortality in developed countries
Developed countries have less woodsmoke pollution, but the risk is still significant. In Utah,
where a high proportion of wintertime pollution is woodsmoke: "we are really sure that
the air pollution contributes to let’s say low birth weight - or increased
mortality." said Dr Blagev, director of the
Schmidt Chest Clinic at Intermountain
Medical Center. "Multiple studies point to a connection
between bad air days and lifelong health problems for babies conceived and or
born during periods of pollution. Blagev explains that “even if you
feel fine on a bad-air day the pollution is still bad for you. Particulates in the air enter your lungs and
ultimately your bloodstream causing inflammation which can make you feel sick.
More importantly that inflammation can alter the growth of a baby in utero."
Another Utah study found: "Even the briefest increase in airborne fine particulate matter PM2.5, pollution-causing particles that are about 3 percent
of the diameter of human hair, is associated with the development of acute
lower respiratory infection (ALRI) in young children, according to newly
published research ... In an analysis of death rates among
the study population, 17 children ages 0-2, nine children ages 3-17 and 81
adults (18+) died within 30 days of diagnosis with ALRI."
In California, where programs
such as 'Spare the Air' inform residents of the dangers of woodsmoke, and wood
stove use is banned on high pollution days, a 10 ug/m3 increase in PM2.5
pollution was found to double the rate of
respiratory-related postneonatal mortality.
The effect of PM2.5 pollution on
cot deaths has been difficult to interpret, because other factors such as
sleeping position are also important. In the UK, where this was addressed by the
'back to sleep' program, an increase of 12.5 ug/m3 in PM10 (PM2.5 measurements
weren't available) was associated with a 16% increase in SIDS.
Can’t keep PM2.5 out of our homes
Because of their small size
PM2.5 behave like gases and enter our homes even when all windows and doors are
shut, just like the air we need to breathe. High levels of outdoor PM2.5
pollution in Armidale have been shown to create high indoor PM2.5 pollution - see
Fig 7 of the peer-reviewed research 'What makes a Successful
Woodsmoke-Reduction Program?'
Residential air pollution in the
Netherlands during fetal life was linked to brain abnormalities that may
contribute to impaired cognitive function in school-age children. These brain abnormalities contribute in part
to difficulty with inhibitory control—the ability to regulate self-control over
temptations and impulsive behavior—which is related to mental health problems
such as addictive behavior and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Stanford researchers have found that wood smoke is also bad for the
brain, even in young people … "We're finding in young adults that
there may be an increased risk of psychiatric problems like depression,"
said Stanford pediatrics professor Eric Zee. And in kids and teens, "it
also affects grades and test scores …" Zee said the tiny particles from
smoke can inflame the lungs, and in turn cause inflammation all over the body,
including in the brain. The study found regular exposure to smoke can speed up
the brain's aging process, even in kids.
Woodsmoke has been called a
"witch's brew of carcinogens" because of
all the toxic chemicals
including PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) it contains. Domestic
solid fuel burning is the major source of PAH emissions in Australia.
In the USA, PAH exposure during pregnancy resulted in genetic
damage in babies (measured in umbilical cord blood), behavioural problems,
reduced
IQ on starting school, and reduced white matter in the brains of 8 year olds. A review of published research stated: "We encountered … evidence of detrimental effects of
pre- or postnatal exposure to PAH on global intelligence quotient.”
Tests on bacteria and mice
show that woodsmoke causes 12 to 30 times as many mutations and tumours as the
same amount of cigarette smoke. Benzo[a]pyrene
(B[a]P, a known human carcinogen), is
the most well known PAH in cigarette smoke.
Burning 10 kg of wood in a
correctly-operated Australian heater emits as much BaP as in the smoke from
270,000 cigarettes.
Six studies link PM2.5 pollution to increased autism
"Children whose mothers were exposed to high levels of fine particulate pollution in late pregnancy have up to twice the risk of developing autism as children of mothers breathing cleaner air" says a Scientific American article. In 2014, Prof
Frank Kelly, director of the environmental research group at King's College
London, discussed the links between PM2.5 pollution and autism:
"I think if it was this study by itself I wouldn't take much notice,
but it's now the fifth that has come to the same conclusion." A sixth
study, Fine Particulate Air Pollution Associated with Increased Risk of Childhood Autism was published
a few months later.
"There are a range of
studies now that have shown that even a short amount of exposure to modest
levels of pollution in utero and the first year of life leads to demonstrable
impacts on intellectual performance on standardized tests in middle school, in
high school," said Dr. Joshua Graff Zivin, a professor of
economics at the University of California San Diego . "We also find from other studies
that we even see the imprints of that exposure 30 years later on the earnings
of workers." "Those same impacts at more subtle
levels simply impair our ability to do every day tasks." This might lead to increases in injuries and
deaths from apparently unrelated causes such as accidents at work and on the
road. In Australia, poverty and low school
achievement are also linked to higher child death rates.
Armidale doctors and health professionals have spoken out
Armidale doctors and health
professionals have spoken out about the health problems. UNE
research found that, about 38% of visits to Armidale GPs
for respiratory complaints in winter were due to woodsmoke pollution.
Armidale Lung Specialist Dr Gary Baker, “We need to eliminate or minimise
the need for heating by design.
Wherever possible, substitution with other non-polluting technologies is
the best."
UNE Associate Professor and retired
local GP John Nevin said "Where people have had
respiratory problems and have lived in the inversion hollow of central Armidale
I have suggested that they move to the heights or out of town." “It’s not in their best interests to
be exposed to the dangerous levels of woodsmoke.” ...
"on really bad mornings when the
inversion layer comes into affect over Armidale - you can nearly cut the air
with a knife, like you are in Beijing." More than 30 years ago, Dr Nevin heeded his
own advice: he moved out of town. “Although I don’t have lung trouble,
I don’t want to be exposed to the risk of lung cancer, chronic bronchitis and
emphysema”.
Woodsmoke reduces the ability of the lungs to fight infection
People
think they get colds in winter - they don't realise that woodsmoke reduces the
ability of the lungs to fight infection, a fact demonstrated in animals. When mice were forced to breath woodsmoke for 6 hours at
levels not much higher than we get in Armidale and then challenged with a
respiratory bug, 21% were dead 2 weeks later compared to only 5% that breathed
oil furnace fumes for the same period of time or clean air.
The “Growing up in New Zealand”
study found that every additional modern woodstove per hectare increased by 7% the risk children under 3 would need hospital emergency treatment. Thankfully, most will recover, but as
demonstrated by the Utah
study, 26 children died of acute lower respiratory infections.
The NSW Asthma Foundation
warned that: wood smoke emissions in winter pose
a bigger immediate health danger in built up urban areas than cars or
cigarettes.
Example of Armidale residents who did not know that woodsmoke was affecting
their children's health until they moved house.
A submission on Armidale's Air Quality
Policy, April 2010, states: We
lived for fifteen years in xxx St, between xxx and xxx. From two years of age my
daughter suffered respiratory illness every year. It started in early May each year
approximately two weeks after wood fires were lit, and continued until the end of
winter when the fires stopped. This occurred
until my daughter was twelve years old, which is when we moved to a house above
the smoke line on South Hill. Since then she has not suffered from the same respiratory
illness. It just stopped! We did not have to go to the Doctor or buy any more medication
.During the same time my son suffered from a persistent cough during winters, this
also stopped when we moved house.
Note our previous house was heated by a wood
fire our new house is not. Otherwise nothing changed. We have always had a good
diet and our children participated in several sports. The only thing that changed
was our moving out of a house that had a wood heater in an area that was in a heavy
smoke zone into a non-wood heated house out of the smoke zone. Our decision to move house was not driven to get
out of the smoke, but we were surprised in the dramatic change in our children’s
health when we did.
Summary article
A recent article, the Effects Of Air Pollution On
Human Health states: "Exposure to high levels of air
pollution during pregnancy has been linked to miscarriages as well as premature
birth, autism spectrum disorder and asthma in children. Air pollution may damage children’s brain
development. Pneumonia, which kills
almost 1 million children under the age of 5 every year, is associated with air
pollution. Children who breathe in higher levels of pollutants also face a
greater risk of short-term respiratory infections and lung damage."
What happened when Launceston residents understood what woodsmoke was doing to their health
When residents of Launceston
understood what woodsmoke was doing to their health, a majority chose to switch
to non-polluting heating. The community was rewarded by 28%
fewer deaths in winter from respiratory disease and 20% fewer cardiovascular
disease deaths.
A similar level of
understanding has not yet been achieved in Armidale, as demonstrated by the
health professional who, as explained above, was surprised by the dramatic change
in his children’s health on moving out of the area affected by woodsmoke.
Non-polluting heating - cheaper than buying firewood, better for the
environment
Modern, efficient heat pumps
have superseded wood stoves and
natural gas as the most cost-effective heating. They can deliver 5 or 6 times as much heat to
the home as they use in electric power, are affordable (as cheap as buying a
wood stove) and have lower running costs than buying firewood. In addition they cause a lot less global
warming, and don't damage our health, as explained in the New Scientist Review:
log-burning stoves are harming our
health and speeding up global warming.
For those who like snuggling
up against a flaming fire, gas-logs are a healthy alternative, especially for
pubs and restaurants.
The evidence cited above shows
beyond doubt that PM2.5 pollution in Utah, California, Europe and the UK increase the risk of both child
and adult death rates. It would be naive
to think it's not also happening here.
With estimated health costs of thousands of dollars per wood
heater per year (a significantly greater cost than switching to
non-polluting heating), what would an informed community want?
Ideally, all new homes should be
energy efficient so they don't need wood stoves. We should also heed the NSW chief medical
officer's recommendation to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes and
gradually phase out wood stoves in favour of non-polluting, climate friendly
heating.
HEPA (High Efficiency Particle Air) Filters
HEPA filters can
reduce the damage to our health. Canadian
researchers studied healthy adults living in a small community in British Columbia where
wood burning stoves are the main sources of pollution. They found that HEPA
filters reduced the amount of airborne particulate matter inside homes,
resulting in improved
blood vessel health and reductions in blood markers that are associated with an
increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
In another experiment, mice were housed for
10 weeks in a outdoor location with high PM2.5 and PAH pollution. Half were housed in enclosures with HEPA
filters. They were then moved to clean air and mated 9 weeks later.
Those that
breathed filtered air had mutation rates 52 per cent lower than the mice
exposed to full-strength pollution.
Researchers from the Menzies Institute for Medical Research showed
that that hospital admissions for heart failure (HF, the leading
cause of hospitalisation for adults aged over 65 years) started to increase as soon as PM2.5 from woodsmoke exceeded 4 ug/m3.
They are now investigating the role of HEPA filters in reducing the risk.
Our residents might also wish to consider
the health benefits of HEPA filters, given their role in protecting the
offspring of mice from genetic damage and research showing HEPA filters reduce
inflammation in healthy human volunteers.
Protecting children also protects adults
Woodsmoke and PM2.5 pollution
also affects adults, damaging our lungs, hearts and brains. “We have seen that people who live in areas where wood-fire stoves are common run a greater risk of being affected (by dementia), and that also goes for people who live next to someone who uses wood-fire stoves,” said Anna Oudin, a researcher in occupational and environmental medicine at Umea University’s department of public health and clinical medicine. "The risk for residents living in areas with the highest rate of smoke from wood fires to be hit by dementia, or dementia-related diseases, was 30% higher compared to other residents in the town of Umea. "In households that had their own wood-fire stoves the risk was 70% higher." The abstract of the journal paper shows that exposure of just 1 ug/m3 of PM2.5 pollution increased the risk of dementia by 55%. In May/June 2018, Armidale's woodsmoke pollution at the new OEH monitoring station averaged 17 ug/m3, 17 times worse than the woodsmoke exposure found to increase dementia by 55%. In the USA, increased exposure of 10 ug/m3 PM2.5 increased
the risk of dementia by 80%, Alzheimer's by
150% and the risk of Parkinson’s diseases by 80% Increased exposure of 3.5 ug/m3
reduced the volume of white matter
in the brain by 6.2 cubic centimeters. Exposure to PM2.5 pollution above
the US EPA standard of 12 ug/m3 nearly doubles the risk of cognitive decline
and all-cause dementia; exposure to this level of PM2.5
pollution quadrupled the risk for people with 2 copies of the APOE gene.
As well as harming the developing brains of children, evidence suggests exposure to air
pollutants can cause inflammation
in the brain, can damage brain and neural networks and influence behaviour -
see air pollution increases crime in
cities – here’s how. Low level air pollution are also
said to cost the economy billions of dollars in lost productivity "What we're learning is that, at
severe levels, pollution clearly impacts respiratory and cardiovascular
function," says Graff Zivin. "Those same impacts at more subtle
levels simply impair our ability to do every day tasks."
Like Armidale, the vast
majority of PM2.5 pollution in Tasmania
is woodsmoke. Researchers found that
hospital admissions for heart failure (HF, the leading cause of
hospitalisation for adults aged over 65 years) started to increase as soon as PM2.5 from woodsmoke exceeded 4 ug/m3,
a tiny fraction of the current Australian PM2.5 standard of 25 ug/m3. An increase of 20 ug/m3 daily average PM2.5 was associated with a 58% increase in admissions for heart failure.
The good news is that a 40%
reduction in woodsmoke pollution in Launceston reduced deaths in winter from
respiratory disease by 28% and cardiovascular disease by 20%. The cost was less than $21 per resident.
Surely it would be a great
investment to protect our health and boost our economic development by making
Armidale a more attractive place to live.
What could Armidale do?
Local
sustainability charity Starfish offered to help fix the problem by coordinating
a demonstration project to show that non-polluting heating can be affordable
and environmentally friendly. The cost would be less than the consultancy fees
for the controversial designs and plans for traffic in the Armidale Mall that
sparked outrage.
If Armidale converted from wood stoves to heat
pumps, we could expect to live longer, healthier lives with fewer heart
attacks, strokes, lung diseases and cancers, as well as healthier children. The
total costs would probably be less than building a rail trail from Black Mountain
to Ben Lomond, but provide a much greater
boost to our economy.
A 28% reduction in wintertime deaths from respiratory diseases and a 20%
reduction in heart attacks and strokes would be a great investment for our
economy. Don't our current residents and
potential new residents want to live longer, healthier lives?