Joe Pinkstone wrote this article in the Daily Mail:
Fashionable wood burning stoves are the UK's single biggest source of particulate air pollution and produce three times more of the toxins than road traffic, Government data shows.
DEFRA figures reveal domestic combustion created more than 47,000 tonnes of PM2.5 pollution in 2019 — 43 per cent of all PM2.5 particles produced.
The vast majority of this comes from domestic wood burning, which spewed out around 41,000 tonnes of the dangerous pollutant in 2019.
This means more than a third (38 per cent) of PM2.5 particles made in the UK in 2019 were from domestic wood burning stoves — three times more than from road traffic.
PM2.5, or particulate matter, are tiny pieces of carbon which measure less than 2.5 microns in diameter.
They infiltrate a person's body and get wedged in internal organs, leading to a host of health issues.
DEFRA says in the report that PM2.5 is a toxin which 'may enter the bloodstream and be transported around the body, lodging in the heart, brain and other organs. Therefore, exposure to PM can result in serious impacts to health.'
Domestic wood burning is the single biggest source of PM2.5 in the country despite just eight per cent of the population owning one, according to figures from a separate report released earlier this week.
Road vehicles, which are still predominantly powered by petrol or diesel, produce 13,000 tonnes of PM2.5 a year, drastically down from previous figures due to strict legislation forcing out older, more polluting vehicles and ushering in cleaner tech.
'Exhaust emissions have decreased markedly since 1996 due to stricter emissions standards (by 85 per cent for both PM10 and PM2.5),' DEFRA said in its report.
'This has been partially offset by an increase in non-exhaust emissions (e.g. brake, tyre and road wear) as traffic activity has increased.'
The other major source of particulate matter emissions is industry and manufacturing, which is split into two categories but collectively creates a third of all PM2.5 emissions.
In December, researchers from the University of Sheffield found wood burners triple the level of harmful pollution particles inside homes.
The scientists placed pollution detectors in 19 homes using the stoves for a month and collected data every few minutes.
Wood burners were lit for about four hours at a time and, while operating, the levels of harmful particles detected was three times greater than when they were unlit.
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