HEALTH EFFECTS OF WOODSMOKE
Wood smoke may smell good and bring pleasant memories but it's not good for your health. So it's a good idea to avoid breathing smoke if you can help it.
As mentioned previously, the biggest health threat from wood smoke comes from particle pollution. These microscopic particles can get into your eyes and respiratory system, where they can cause health problems such as burning eyes, runny nose, and illnesses such as bronchitis. Particle pollution can also aggravate chronic heart and lung diseases-and is linked to premature deaths in people with these chronic conditions.
Many studies around the world have shown that higher particle pollution levels from wood smoke result in more visits to the hospital with respiratory complaints. Pediatricians have long known that children in homes heated by wood have more upper and lower respiratory complaints and illnesses than children in homes heated by other sources of fuel. Even physically fit, healthy firefighters display reductions in some lung functions following a battle with a wild fire (forest fire). These statements are just a sampling from a growing body of evidence that both acute and chronic exposures to wood smoke are associated with adverse health impacts. Clearly, wood smoke can and does impact the health of those breathing it.
Some people are more susceptible than others:
- If you have heart or lung disease, such as congestive heart failure, angina, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema or asthma, you may experience symptoms sooner and at lower smoke levels than healthy people.
If you have a lung disease, and you are exposed to particle pollution, you may not be able to breathe as deeply or vigorously as normal. You may have respiratory symptoms including coughing, phlegm, chest discomfort, wheezing and shortness of breath.
In people with heart disease, short-term exposures to particle pollution have been linked to heart attacks and arrhythmias. If you have heart disease, particles may cause you to experience chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath, and fatigue.
- Older adults are more likely to be affected by smoke, possibly because they are more likely to have chronic heart or lung diseases than younger people. Another possibility, hinted at in the literature, is that repeated exposure, even to lower levels of particle pollution, including that from wood smoke, over a lifetime may contribute to an increased susceptibility to respiratory illnesses and complaints, although more studies need to be conducted to prove or disprove this possibility.
- Children also are more susceptible to wood smoke for several reasons: their respiratory systems are still developing; they breathe more air (thus air pollution) per pound of body weight than adults; and they are more likely to be active which increases their respiratory rates and thus the amount of pollution inhaled. A number of studies have demonstrated clear links between higher particle pollution levels due to wood smoke and respiratory illnesses and complaints in children.
- A literature survey on the subject has indicated that females face a higher risk for health impacts from wood smoke exposure than males. Since some studies were conducted in developing countries it may merely reflect that women are more likely than men to be doing the cooking over un-vented or poorly vented fires. If that is the case it would be an indication of frequency, duration and concentration of exposure to wood smoke rather than a biological difference between males and females. It will be interesting to see if future studies indicate whether it is exposure alone or if biology also contributes to this difference.
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