Wood burning stoves ‘can be as damaging as cigarette smoke’

A new study has found a link with domestic wood burners and lung damage, reports Ella Pickover

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BURNING wood indoors could cause damage in a similar way to cigarette smoke, researchers have warned, after a new study linked the growing popularity of domestic wood burning to lung damage.

Wood burning stoves have grown in popularity in Europe.

And experts say that in the UK domestic wood burning is one of the largest single sources of a type of air pollution known as PM2.5, tiny particles that penetrate deep into the lungs.

Researchers from University College London examined health data on 11,000 people taking part in the English Longitudinal Study Of Age-ing, property level energy performance certificates, also known as EPCs, and UK census data.

‘They found that wood burning appliances are more likely to be used among white people in affluent neighbourhoods in cities, even within Smoke Control Zones, they told the European Respiratory Society Congress in Amsterdam.

Measurements of lung function were assessed three times over an eight-year period among a smaller group of more than 1,700 people. Researchers used a test to see how much air people could blow out in one second after a deep breath in, also known as forced expiratory volume in one second or FEV].

‘They found that declines in FEV1 were larger among people who used indoor wood burners.