Breathe Healthy Air

Exposing children to smoke is child abuse

2012-01-28T08:17:00.000-08:00

Exposing children to smoke is child abuse!!

Post by Woodnyet » Sat Jan 07, 2012 6:47 pm
This is my belated New Year Editorial

Exposing children to smoke is child abuse

We grew up in the 1960s, when our parents and elders used tobacco in the house. On holidays, I recall choking in a pall of thick blue smog in my grandfather's small living room. Yes, we kids "survived it," but almost every relative of mine that had smoked is now dead (on an average age of their late forties)

Of course the general public did not learn of the health danger of second-hand smoke until the late 1980s. As of now, 2012, more and more states are enacting smoking bans in public places. And most sensible smoking parents now use their tobacco out-of-doors.

Interestingly enough, second hand smoke from wood-burning fireplaces creates substantial indoor air pollution, much the same as we had experienced in our youth. That being said, I have identified a new smoking chimney right near my back yard. Today, I smelled subtle smoke inside my own home. I looked out my back window and
noticed the next yard looked almost like a London fog. (I am not making this up) The smoke was originating from a neighbor's chimney. After dark, I rechecked that chimney with my laser pointer to confirm the continuance of that particular pollution source.

I know these people have a small 3-year old child. Their window drapes were open, so I could see their television. It had Mickey Mouse on, confirming that a small child was present in the same room as the badly-smoking fireplace. I reckoned that the child was breathing a substantial dose of secondhand smoke, because that fireplace is in that TV room.

Should I have called child protective services? Because carelessly exposing children to smoke is child abuse. That is because smoke is in fact harmful, especially to young lungs. And there is no excuse for this.

Should people report clueless parents exposing their kids to SHS, in a car or otherwise? In every state, small children are required to be sitting in car safety seats ... should we not protect them from smoke as well? After all, a car safety
seat protects against possible harm. But smoke creates not just a possible harm, it creates a certain harm.

So where is the outrage on this?

P.S.
The Surgeon General has determined that there is no safe level of exposure to ambient smoke!

If you smell even a subtle odor of smoke, you are being exposed to poisonous and carcinogenic compounds!

Since smoke drastically weakens the lungs' immune system, staying away from smoke is one of the best ways to avoid colds and flu, or risk of an even more serious respiratory illness, such as pneumonia or tuberculosis!

Source: http://burningissues.org//forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4676

Webmaster---All who care about the environment, the air that we breathe, and your health should check out this great website as to why all wood burning should be prohibited/banned/ended. Then take action in your town to do just that!!! http://burningissues.org/car-www/index.html

Where’s there wood smoke, there’s a health hazard

2012-01-18T09:47:00.000-08:00

Where’s there wood smoke, there’s a health hazard

Because wood comes from trees and since trees are natural and/or since pioneers burned wood, many people assume that wood smoke is benign. Nothing could be further from the truth. Whether it is from a fireplace or a wood stove, wood smoke contains significant amounts of the most toxic substances on the planet: dioxins, furans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide and many others. These substances are sent into the air as fine particles that travel deeply into the lungs.

Wood smoke causes lung and cardiovascular disease and premature death. Wood smoke is more than 10 times more carcinogenic than is tobacco smoke and, where it is burned, it easily outstrips cars’ and industry’s effects on human health.

A neighbor’s home is heated with wood through the winter. Thus, my other neighbors and I have acrid, visible wood smoke in the air outside our houses for nearly half of the year. Not only is it annoying to smell wood smoke every time we step outside during cool weather, but it’s distressing the learn (Google “wood smoke carcinogenic,” for example) that wood smoke nanoparticles enter even tightly sealed houses, so harmful levels of wood smoke are inside houses, as well.

Heating with wood is unnecessary in a high-density setting, where natural gas or oil are readily available. Given the health damage it causes, wood burning is an inappropriate, anti-community technology.

Reports indicate that, even when it comes from a certified stove, wood smoke contains 200 times as many hazardous particles as does fuel oil exhaust. Natural gas burns cleaner than oil.

Burning wood is not “green.” It’s lethal and should be banned in populated areas.

Mark Oshinskie,
New Brunswick
The writer is an environmental attorney.

Source:http://www.nj.com/times-opinion/index.ssf/2011/12/times_of_trenton_letters_to_th_192.html

Happy Valentine's Day--without woodsmoke!

2012-01-13T17:28:00.000-08:00

Valentine’s Day..Protect the Heart of the ones you Love!!

This Valentine’s Day and every day protect the heart of the ones your love by becoming informed about Tobacco smoke and Woodsmoke Pollution.

The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation states:

Smoking, heart disease and stroke
“Smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke have many negative health effects that increase your risk of developing heart disease and stroke. Smoking contributes to the buildup of plaque in your arteries, increases the risk of blood clots, reduces the oxygen in your blood, increases your blood pressure and makes your heart work harder. Smoking also nearly doubles your risk of ischemic stroke.

Did you know?
Being smoke-free has enormous benefits for your health and the health of the people around you. More than 47,000 Canadians will die prematurely each year due to tobacco use, and almost 8,000 non-smokers die each year from exposure to second-hand smoke.

The good news
Once you become smoke-free and avoid exposure to second-hand smoke, you will immediately reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke. The sooner you become smoke-free, the sooner your body can start to recover and it doesn't take long to see the effects.

Within 48 hours, your chances of having a heart attack start to go down and your sense of smell and taste begin to improve.
Within 1 year, your risk of suffering a smoking-related heart attack is cut in half.
Within 15 years, your risk of heart attack is the same as someone who never smoked at all.”

The Bad News
Millions of Canadians are living in urban areas that are continually polluted with Woodsmoke. Woodsmoke is even worse for our health than tobacco smoke and stays active in the body 40 times longer than tobacco smoke. Woodsmoke pollution is associated with cardiovascular disease, stroke and mini-stroke. Wood burning stoves, Wood burning fire places, pellet stoves, OWBs and all outdoor open air burning harm our heart health.

Knowing the facts about tobacco smoke and the danger to our heart, Canadians are demanding the same protection from a deadly form of airborne pollution that also has a negative impact on our heart. Woodsmoke is a Public Health Issue that must be addressed in every Canadian community.

Exposure to fine particulate matter in Woodsmoke (PM 2.5) means the possibility of immediate risk of sudden heart attack, stroke, heart arrhythmia and other heart related events that could result in sudden death or long term heart disease.

Woodsmoke contains many of the same toxic chemical compounds as tobacco smoke, yet millions remain exposed to this deadly form of pollution. Our community leaders can no longer neglect, ignore or dispute the facts that Woodsmoke is a grave threat to everyone in our Nation.

Banning tobacco smoke has saved millions of lives. Now is the time to ban all urban residential Wood burning. Become wisely informed today about the grave dangers of Woodsmoke!

This Valentine’s Day and everyday protect the hearts of the ones you love!

Submitted by: Linda Baker Beaudin
Cornwall Ontario, Canada

Webmaster....Unless we work and succeed to end/ban/prohibit all wood burning in 2012, and the resulting woodsmoke, this will be the last Valentine's Day for many people. Let's make sure we do succeed. Take action now!!!!

Burning Wood Causes Cell Mutation..Thus Cancer

2012-01-09T16:47:00.000-08:00

“Burning 2 cords of wood produces the same amount of
mutagenic (capable of causing cell mutations that can
cause cancer) particles as driving 13 gasoline-powered
cars 10,000 miles each at 20 miles/gallon.

These figures indicate that the worst contribution that an
individual is likely to make to the mutagenicity of the air
is using a wood stove for heating, followed by a diesel
car.”

Dr. Joellen Lewtas, Contribution of Source
Emissions of the Mutagenicity of Ambient Urban Air
Particles. U.S., EPA, #91-131.6, 1991

Webmaster--Also see previous article on the deadly composition of woodsmoke.

Smoke Chemistry---Woodsmoke

2012-01-09T16:37:00.000-08:00

Smoke Chemistry
Chemical Composition of Smoke

By Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.,

"Sometimes you can see smoke, but smoke also can be invisible."

Sometimes you can see smoke, but smoke also can be invisible. Often you can smell smoke even when you can't see it.

Smoke consists of gases and airborne particles produces as a result of combustion or burning. The specific chemicals depend on the fuel used to produce the fire. Here is a look as some of the principal chemicals produced from wood smoke. Keep in mind, there are thousands of chemicals in smoke so the chemical composition of smoke is extremely complex.

Chemicals in Smoke
In addition to the chemicals listed in the table, wood smoke also contains a large amount of unreacted air, carbon dioxide and water. It contains a variable amount of mold spores. VOCs are volatile organic compounds. Aldehydes found in wood smoke include formaldehyde, acrolein, propionaldehyde, butryaldehyde, acetaldehyde and furfural. Alkyl benzenes found in wood smoke include toluene. Oxygenated monoaromatics include guaiacol, phenol, syringol and catechol. Numerous PAHs or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found in smoke. Many trace elements are released.

Reference: 1993 EPA Report, A Summary of the Emissions Characterization and Noncancer Respiratory Effects of Wood Smoke, EPA-453/R-93-036

Chemical Composition of Wood Smoke
Chemical g/kg Wood
carbon monoxide 80-370
methane 14-25
VOCs* (C2-C7) 7-27
aldehydes 0.6-5.4
substituted furans 0.15-1.7
benzene 0.6-4.0
alkyl benzenes 1-6
acetic acid 1.8-2.4
formic acid 0.06-0.08
nitrogen oxides 0.2-0.9
sulfur dioxide 0.16-0.24
methyl chloride 0.01-0.04
napthalene 0.24-1.6
substituted napthalenes 0.3-2.1
oxygenated monoaromatics 1-7
total particle mass 7-30
particulate organic carbon 2-20
oxygenated PAHs 0.15-1
Individual PAHs 10-5-10-2
chlorinated dioxins 1x10-5-4x10-5
normal alkanes (C24-C30)1x10-3-6x10-3
sodium 3x10-3-2.8x10-2
magnesium 2x10-4-3x10-3
aluminum 1x10-4-2.4x10-2
silicon 3x10-4-3.1x10-2
sulfur 1x10-3-2.9x10-2
chlorine 7x10-4-2.1x10-2
potassium 3x10-3-8.6x10-2
calcium 9x10-4-1.8x10-2
titanium 4x10-5-3x10-3
vanadium 2x10-5-4x10-3
chromium 2x10-5-3x10-3
manganese 7x10-5-4x10-3
iron 3x10-4-5x10-3
nickel 1x10-6-1x10-3
copper 2x10-4-9x10-4
zinc 7x10-4-8x10-3
bromine 7x10-5-9x10-4
lead 1x10-4-3x10-3

Source: http://chemistry.about.com/od/firecombustionchemistry/a/Smoke-Chemistry.htm

Webmaster---Woodsmoke will harm and kill you. Let's prohibit woodsmoke now. No exceptions!

Santa’s Decree---A Poem

2011-11-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

Santa’s Decree

All through the valley and all through the dale
Santa soon would arrive looking quite pale

His sleigh was all loaded with gifts and sweet toys
For wee little babies, the girls and the boys

As Santa stooped over checking all of his treasures
He wanted to take all preventative measures

He checked his black boots and the toque on his head
Then hooked all the reindeer onto the big sled

He reached for his gas mask to protect him from smoke
Going down into chimneys did make him choke

His wheezing was heavy as they sped through the night
The Woodsmoke all over had become such a fright.

Though the tears shed down the cheeks of the gentle old soul
His wish for the children was soon to be told

His mission would bring him to each city hall
And a letter he would leave for one and for all

He swooped through the clouds and down from the sky
And landed with ease and exclaimed “oh my”

He slipped out of his sled and onto the lawn
Knowing all his deliveries must be made before dawn.

The City Hall lights lit his way to the door
He tucked in his letter which fell to the floor

Inside the letter was Santa’s Decree
It would also be tucked under each Christmas tree

“My name is Santa and I do declare
I am here to bring every person the gift of fresh air

There must be no woodsmoke, no burning or fire
There must only be healthy voices all singing in the choir

I want children to breathe without wearing a mask
And families to be safe and healthy at last
The air they inhale must be free of those toxins
Of mercury, of lead and deadly dioxins

There must be no more soot and black stacks all about
There must be clean air each day, inside and out

Now my decree I do share and advise all to take heed
My Decree will help you to follow the lead”

As each city Mayor declared Woodsmoke no more
The voices did rally and the children did roar

Gone were the woodsmoke hazed skies from before
The windows were open and so were the doors

The air was so crisp, so pure and so clean
And the gift from Santa would always been seen

Back home and exhausted Santa was proud of his night
The gift he had given would last them for life

No more would they suffer, become ill and die
From the Woodsmoke that used to fill all the cities and skies

Santa picked up his newspaper and read with delight
The woodsmoke had ended and now there was light!

Every city hall had posted Santa’s Decree
The gift of fresh air was met with much glee

Anonymous
(The writer wishes to remain private)

Biomass report raises concerns

2011-11-25T11:26:00.000-08:00

Biomass report raises concerns

Letter to the Editor

"Fuelling a Biomess," a Greenpeace Canada report released Nov. 2, raises important concerns about the use of forest biomass for energy on a large scale, and explains how it is not the carbon-neutral, clean and green fuel that governments and industry have claimed.

The report warns of adverse impacts for the climate, our forests, and the health of people, if the current trend toward biomass projects, such as escalating pellet production (and associated deforestation) continues.

I think that pollution and health hazards of industrial biomass burning outlined in the report apply to residential and commercial wood burning as well. In Lethbridge and other cities that, according to the World Health Organization, have clean air overall, some residents can still be forced to breathe air that is unhealthy, if they live or work near a source of localized pollution like a wood fire pit, wood stove or fireplace, or wood-fired oven. Neither can the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) protect people in wood burning neighbourhoods from wood smoke, one of the most harmful forms of air pollution.

Will Greenpeace Canada's new report help encourage provincial and federal governments to avoid rushing to support the bioenergy boom? Instead of the burning of trees, governments may instead invest more in truly clean, renewable forms of energy.

By extension, could the report's challenges to pervasive wood-burning myths perhaps help more municipal leaders and citizens across Canada to also recognize residential wood burning as a serious health and air quality issue? In our own and other communities, might new and better policies (including, hopefully, proactive bans preventing wood smoke in neighbourhoods) be on the horizon?

Cathy Baiton
Lethbridge

Source: Lethbridge Herald (Canada) November 13, 2011

Also: The Wood Smoke Activist Network, December 2011 Newsletter
Web site: http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net

Webmaster---Banning wood burning and all associated wood products (like pellets) must be done ASAP. Biomass is a "biomess" for the environment and the health of the people who have to breathe its poisonous emissions.

One last comment---the writer above states, "....(including, HOPEFULLY, proactive bans preventing wood smoke in neighbourhoods) be on the horizon?

Let's not "hope" for woodsmoke bans. We have to do something about it now. WE HAVE TO TAKE ACTION NOW. Attend your city/town board meetings and tell them you want to end/prohibit/ban all wood burning-indoor and outdoor. Meet with your local Fire Chief who should support your efforts 100%. Write letters to your locally elected officials and leaders and tell them you want a ban. Inform your regional and national leaders you want them to pass by-laws to end the deadly pollution of wood burning. Find and join with other people who care about their children's health and their own health, and go to meetings and write a group letter. Find out why your local health boards are not educated on the deadly effects of woodsmoke, and then ask them to present a request to the town leaders to end/prohibit/ban all wood burning--including wood pellets, and pellet plants. Don't just HOPE! Take action now...or continue to suffer the horrible effects of woodsmoke. Choose Life or choose Death. Which do you choose for your family...and yourself?

Woodsmoke....Where do we go from Here?

2011-11-24T07:20:00.000-08:00

Woodsmoke....Where do we go from Here?

“Where do we go from here?” is a question that must be asked by every citizen who cares about the longevity of their life, the quality of their health and the environment, now and in the future. Wood burning habits, pervasive in nearly every urban neighbourhood, continually pollute, destroy and fill the air with many of the same toxic compounds that are found in tobacco smoke.

By community leaders and elected officials adopting bylaws to ban all outdoor open-air burning and implementing regulations to phase out the use of all wood-burning devices, communities then can truly wear the mantle of “green and healthy” places in which to live.

If not, then we are residing in unhealthy communities. As long as wood burning exists in urban areas, we are not caring for the environment. We are not caring about the well being and overall health of our residents. Last, but, not least, we are certainly not protecting the health of the future generations, who will suffer the immediate short-term and long-term negative health effects of living being exposed to woodsmoke-filled communities.

Where do we go from here? Ask yourself that question if you care about your community taking proactive action to ban wood burning from all devices. Ask yourself, have you voted into power leaders who do care about health and the environment. Ask yourself, what does “green” really mean? We cannot have communities boasting about being “green” when plumes of toxic smoke billow forth from wood burning and thousands of outdoor open air fires exist each season from April until October. “Green” does not and cannot be applied to air that is polluted, permeated and saturated with acrid Woodsmoke.

“Green” implies healthy, wholesome, fresh, renewed, hopeful, vital, everything that wood burning is not.

Where do we go from here? We go back a few decades when our leaders finally accepted the truth about how deadly tobacco smoking was. Bylaws were adopted to ban tobacco smoke from planes, hospitals, schools, restaurants, workplaces, other venues and now even outside in parks and playgrounds. That is where we must go.

We must recognize the deadly, grave, unhealthy negative impact that wood burning is making in all our communities. We must apply the exact strong initiatives that were taken to ban all tobacco smoking and prohibit the use of all Wood burning in urban areas.

Millions became ill, suffered and died from tobacco. Millions are ill, suffering and dying from woodsmoke. Applying and adopting tobacco bans saved millions from death. Millions of lives could be saved by banning all Wood and biomass burning in residential neighbourhoods.

Where do we go from here? We go forward into healthy, truly “green” communities where there is fresh, pure, unadulterated air to breathe every day and each day thereafter.

Linda Beaudin
Cornwall (Ontario, Canada)

Source: Northumberland November 24, 2011
http://www.northumberlandtoday.com

Webmaster---After reading this informative and dynamic letter, elected officials and leaders in all communities need to step-up right now and really, truly "go green"...and end/prohibit all wood burning, (pellet plants, residential fire pits, OWB's, etc.). Woodsmoke is harmful and deadly to the environment...and harmful and deadly to all of us. Let's get moving, and really, truly..."Go Green"!

Woodsmoke from cooking fires linked to pneumonia

2011-11-11T14:16:00.000-08:00

Woodsmoke from cooking fires linked to pneumonia

Researchers at the University of Liverpool and the universities of California, Berkley and del Valle, Guatemala, have found that cases of severe pneumonia among young children are reduced by one-third in homes with smoke-reducing chimneys on cooking stoves.

The research, published in the Lancet, highlighted the health effects of exposure to smoke from open fires and dirty cooking stoves, the primary source of cooking and heating for 43% of the world's population, affecting some three billion people.

Previous research has linked exposure to household cooking smoke to respiratory infections, but these latest findings form part of the first-ever randomised controlled trial on reducing the impacts of air pollution on health.

The team worked with rural communities in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Households with a pregnant woman or young infant were randomly assigned to either receive a woodstove with a chimney or to continue cooking with traditional open woodfires.

The researchers found that using chimneys to vent cooking smoke outside homes led to a one-third decrease in cases of severe pneumonia. A smaller decrease was reported in all pneumonia cases – both severe and non-severe - possibly because the reduction in smoke from these stoves was not sufficient enough to result in a significant change.

Children exposed to open fires every day, however, inhaled the equivalent of smoking three to five cigarettes a day. Researchers found that the larger the reduction in exposure to fires without chimneys, the greater the impact on pneumonia.

Dr Nigel Bruce, from the University of Liverpool's Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, explains: "Pneumonia is the chief cause of death for children aged five years or under worldwide, responsible for about 20% of total deaths in these age groups. It is caused by viral and bacterial infections. Smoke from burning solid fuels, such as wood and animal dung, reduces the lung's defences against infections, particularly bacterial.

"Increasing awareness of the effects of woodsmoke on health will help us to significantly reduce the numbers of cases of severe pneumonia, as well as respiratory disease in adults. The use of open fires and inefficient traditional stoves for cooking is also a cause of burns and can have a negative impact on the environment and increase pressures on natural resources."

The research follows growing worldwide attention to the need for cleaner, safer and more fuel-efficient cookstoves. In 2010 the United Nations Foundation launched the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, an international public-private initiative championed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Source: University of Liverpool
http://www.sciencecodex.com

Webmaster----Immediate ATTENTION must be given to Residential Woodsmoke Pollution (all indoor and outdoor wood burning) where in countries/nations that do not have the need to burn wood everyday. Other cleaner, healthier alternatives (natural gas, propane, electric, etc...) are available! The banning/prohibiting/ending of WOODSMOKE everywhere will save lives, and our fragile environment.

Not Ready to Make Nice! Not Ready to Back Down!

2011-10-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

Not Ready to Make Nice! Not Ready to Back Down!

Empowering words from the song by the Dixie Chicks, Not Ready To Make Nice!

The Victims of Residential Woodsmoke pollution are not ready to make nice. We are not ready to back down from fighting for our right to breathe healthy-air, Woodsmoke-free!!

We are not ready to back down when our children and families are hurting, suffering, and dying from Woodsmoke. We will not make nice with our community leaders who do not take immediate action to help our body and soul from being exposed to the deadly toxins in Woodsmoke emissions.

We are sad. In pain. Many of us have cancer, COPD, asthma, heart and lung disease. We are real people with real hearts and real names and families…suffering souls. We are innocent Victims in a Nation that has turned its back on us!!!

This is a disgrace when one hand of our political system boasts about Banning Tobacco in our schools, work places and other venues to save lives and yet………they let us sit in our homes surrounded by deadly toxic Woodsmoke Pollution. Hypocritical, yes, it is.

Yes, we are mad as hell. We are not ready to back down until we make it known to all our elected officials throughout Canada that we will no longer remain silent about the Woodsmoke that is doing such grave harm to our life and health. We won’t back down. We will not be silenced! Not for government, or industry or anyone who does respect the decency of others right to breathe healthy air—Woodsmoke-free.

We are ready to name those who are responsible for our suffering. Join with us to add the name of those in your community who did nothing to help you while you were suffering.

I will begin with my community leaders: Mayor Bob Kilger: Did nothing to stop Woodsmoke Pollution. Fire Chief Myles Cassidy : did nothing to Ban outdoor open air burning. He allowed it to continue. Most Cornwall, Ontario city council members did Nothing. Council member Glen Grant did make an attempt to assist. Thank you Glen!! You tried at least!

Mr. Jim Brownell, Member of Provincial Parliament, thank you for your support. Your compassion and your belief that Outdoor open air burning could be banned and become a Province wide Ban like Tobacco Bans, offered us HOPE! You inspired us with your humanity for others and your immediate pro-action action regarding this toxic deadly issue we live with. We will be forever grateful for all you did to support the Air Is Precious Coalition.

Mr. Guy Lauzon, Member of Parliament, you joined the ranks of those who did nothing! You promised to offer “moral support” and even that was lacking and never received.

Now is time for all Canadians to place their names on a petition to offer to our Government. Fight for your life!!! Add your names….Your life depends on breathing healthy air—air that is Woodsmoke-free!! Join the millions in Canada who are….Not Ready to Make Nice! Not Ready to Back Down…until Woodsmoke is ended in Canada.

Author: Linda Baker Beaudin
Cornwall, Ontario, Canada

Webmaster: Elected officials seem to not "get it" yet. All Woodsmoke is noxious, harmful, and deadly to all who breathe it. Woodsmoke needs to be prohibited. The above author is echoing what Howard Cosell, a renowned American sports journalist always use to say......"I'm just telling it like it is".

The truth will always win in this quest to ban woodsmoke pollution. Remember, woodsmoke, as stated in a previous post, Thursday, October 27, 2011, is "ENVIRONMENTAL TERRORISM". It is time to end it...now!

ENVIRONMENTAL TERRORISM (A.K.A.-Woodsmoke)

2011-10-27T19:24:00.000-07:00

Legal: ENVIRONMENTAL TERRORISM (A.K.A.-Woodsmoke)

ENVIRONMENTAL TERRORISM: Welcome to the Trenches March 1, 2003

by L. Backus, B.A., Historical Studies, M.A. candidate, E. Backus, B.S., Health Science/Respiratory Therapy

"Your right to peaceful picketing was guaranteed by the Supreme Court as long ago as 1940, in the case Thornhill v. Alabama. Free speech is our last bastion against injustice when all other means have failed. In some developing countries with virtually no environmental laws in place to protect citizens from pollution, people who are suffering are not allowed to speak out and protest. Fortunately, this is one right you still have as an American, and officials and polluters who trample on the First Amendment go down that road at their own legal peril. "

It seems that we have heard the phrase "War on Terrorism" almost every day since September 11, 2001. But do you know that people are being terrorized environmentally, on a daily basis, by the smokestack emissions of their own neighbors? Before I was personally victimized by such pollution, I would have never guessed that such a thing would ever happen to me. Even in my wildest imagination, I would never have been able to predict that my mother and I would actually be denied the right to breathe fresh air by neighbors who repeatedly and senselessly operate hellacious-smelling wood stoves in barns to produce odors that make the lungs seize up and create nausea in the pit of one's stomach. The odors that emanate from two barns near our house are so offensive to the respiratory tract that the neighbors would not even think of placing such foul-smelling devices in their own living rooms. Our neighbors know that their burning activities are producing respiratory problems, headaches, and nausea in my family. However, their response has actually been to step up the burning and burn even fouler-smelling materials than before. We have even seen them laughing at our suffering, taking delight in the production of strange new odors and colorful varieties of smoke, as if it were all a great big joke. This is something that I find difficult to understand, since my mother and I are the kinds of people who would be distressed to hear that any of our neighbors were suffering physical symptoms from pollution that was coming from our property. If the shoe were on the other foot and we ever thought that we were responsible for such a thing, we would rush to remedy the situation immediately. Not because we would be afraid of a lawsuit, but simply because we would not want to be responsible for ruining the health of other human beings. So what kind of person would want to do this, you ask? Who is the burner? In a case like this, I call him an environmental terrorist because he has absolutely no compunctions about destroying the health and happiness of his neighbors and literally making it impossible for them to live and function in their own homes. He does it, in my opinion, for several reasons. First of all, he is ignorant, like most of us are before we study this subject. He probably has no idea how toxic the smokestack emissions produced by wood stoves can be for human beings. And he should know, because the very same emissions that make his neighbors' lungs hurt, give them coughs and headaches, and produce nausea will eventually sicken his own family, if it has not happened already. Second, he may believe that he is doing something very wholesome and rustic when he uses a wood stove. In this sense, he is deluded by a popular myth that the sellers of wood stoves are hoping you will buy into. The idea that wood smoke and fumes are "wholesome"is scientifically bogus and somewhat like the old belief that once prevailed about secondhand smoke -- that it was not harmful in any way. We now know better. Secondhand smoke is toxic, and we are taking steps to reduce it in public places. But in most communities, nothing is being done to stop wood smoke pollution, which is twelve times more toxic than cigarette smoke. A third point is that this kind of burner is arrogant. He believes that it is his "right" to produce just about any odor and chemical reaction he can conjure up in that stove (and they vary greatly) and that nobody really has a right to question him on the subject. My profile of the chronic burner is ignorance, delusion, and arrogance. Part of that arrogance can lead him to threaten you with bodily harm or destruction of your property. Just because we filed a pollution complaint against our burners, they dumped gasoline on our doorstep to threaten us. If this seems like a rather extreme reaction, it is, but it is not inconsistent with the profile of the kind of burner I call an environmental terrorist.

When you become a victim of this environmental terrorism, do not be surprised if your town, county, state, or the Federal government sides with the polluters and refuses to help you. That is because in most parts of the United States, law has not yet caught up with science on this issue. Legal mechanisms have not yet evolved to protect residential areas from environmentally negligent or overtly malicious air-poisoners. If they were corporations, more laws would be available to force them to clean up their operations. In fact, I believe that if my neighbors were running businesses that were polluting, we would have been able to shut down their polluting activities by now. Authorities need to open their eyes to the fact that intentionally destroying the quality of your neighbor's air is no different than battery--physically laying hands on him to do him harm. I believe that some day the law will evolve to the point where authorities will begin to take this environmental abuse more seriously and treat it like the crime it truly is. But we still have a long way to go.

As a victim of smokestack poisoning, what can you do? I would like to be able to give you a solution that eases your mind, but I have no such solution. If you are an ordinary person like me who is not wealthy enough to shell out about $30,000 to sue your polluters, you may be placed in an almost impossible position of having to sell your house and move, perhaps, although you do not want to lie to a prospective buyer by failing to disclose the property's air quality problem. This is how the burner not only destroys your own health, but your entire life, by forcing you out of your own home and making the real estate you own virtually worthless. You may love your house, and you may have planned to remain in it for the rest of your days; perhaps you worked hard to pay the mortgage for many years. But you cannot remain in your house, because you know that it is only a matter of time before you will succumb to lung cancer or something equally grave if you continue to breathe in the emissions. Because studies have already shown these emissions to be highly toxic, I can say without exaggeration that the town of Skaneateles, New York, Onondaga County, and New York State have all sentenced my family to death by refusing to stop the fumes that are bombarding our house around the clock. You can see why being a victim of smokestack poisoning is not a fate that I would wish on my worst enemy. It is a living hell. In most cases, there will be no support system for a person in this position, and this can lead to severe depression on your part, and even suicidal or violent thoughts. Expect that your neighbors and various authorities you contact to try to resolve the problem will try to make you out to be a nut case. The authorities you contact do not live in your house on a daily basis and therefore can never know what you are going through living in a chemical "soup" of fumes over a long term. However, you and I can be fairly certain that if their OWN families were exposed to the same kinds of toxic odors night and day, they would indeed find the situation intolerable and take action. But they are not you.

It is easy for authorities to write you off as a nut case because the alternative is to actually help you, and in most states, there is no real effective system in place for doing that yet. It s also very tempting for authorities to write you off as a nut case because many of them are convinced (without ever having studied the issue) that wood stove fumes are "harmless"--even if they smell like something out of Dante's Inferno. In all likelihood, you will be experiencing a highly-localized form of pollution. This means if your house is not close to other houses, you will have trouble getting witnesses if the smoke and/or fumes in question normally blow toward your residence and not anyone else's. On top of this, expect to be treated like a nut case because the witnesses you do find will probably be too afraid to back you up. I found that most people who visit our house and smell the smokestack fumes agree that they are awful, but the same individuals are too afraid to sign an affidavit saying that they smelled odors, out of a fear that the burners will retaliate against them.

If you are dealing with a government agency, the bottom line for them is always money. In their way of thinking, the use of actual air-testing equipment to help you to substantiate your complaints in a very concrete and empirical way is too costly for the town, county, state, or Federal government to take on in cases where the polluter is not a corporation. Ironically, however, the ineffective, bureaucratic kind of assistance they will offer you will end up costing the taxpayer a lot MORE money in the final analysis. Government agencies are bureaucracies, and most of them are still poorly equipped to deal with residential polluters. As a result, authorities may try to "blame the victim" (a D.E.C. officer actually threatened to "cite" us if we called him and he did not think the fumes were strong enough !--nice subjective criteria for law enforcement purposes, eh?). The alternative to blaming the victim would be to admit that the agency in question is incapable of handling residential air quality problems. So what kind of change is needed? To truly assist you, the authorities you contact would need to verify that your toxic fumes complaints were legitimate by planting monitoring devices on or in your home for a week or two. If this were the policy, the toxic air that is making you sick would become evident in the readings, and a great deal of money would be saved because the unreliable and subjective "sniffing tests" and time-consuming visits that most authorities rely on would be replaced by tests that are truly scientific and objective. If you can smell a chemical, it will show up on an air test, and you will be able to test for toxins. Unfortunately, this is not how things are done yet. But we are going to need to solve this problem in the future using much more efficient means than we have at present.

More and more people are getting fumed and smoked out of their homes every day. Their neighbors are depriving them of a fundamental human right -- the right to breathe reasonably fresh air. This is one of those rights that you will never really appreciate until you lose it. Our air toxicity problem did not become unbearable until a tornado destroyed some huge spruce trees that were shielding our home, in the summer of 2002. Of all the horrors we could have imagined, this was never one of them. You would never think that everything you have could be put in jeopardy like this one day--your health, your property, and your psychological well-being, all in one fell swoop. The only analogy I can think of for this experience is perhaps the way that warfare affects society. But even if you were a civilian casualty of warfare, you'd probably have more people on your side; you'd probably have more of a support system. It is hard for me to believe that anyone living in the United States could ever fall into such a state of oppression. You'd only think such things happen to political dissidents in dictatorships in other parts of the world.

Speaking of dictatorships--besides the damage I have mentioned, there is another kind of damage that may be done to you if you are a victim of burners. Neighbors and authorities may try to silence you by taking away your right to speak freely. But this is one thing that they cannot get away with unless you let them. This is where your strength lies. You have a constitutional right to speak about the problem, pass out information to the public on this kind of pollution, and put up protest signs. If the burners are going to kill you (and they may well do it with the full cooperation of the authorities) at least you do not have to go silently into the night with a whimper. If officials side with the polluters and force you to remove your protest signs, then pick up those signs and do protest marches with them. If you want to protest but are unfamiliar with how the Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment over the years, ask your lawyer if you have one, or call your local legal aid society for free advice. Your local chapter of the A.C.L.U. is also a good resource. I found them to be sympathetic when it comes to environmental protest issues, and if they cannot support you in your sign battle, they will certainly be able to give you advice on your protest rights. Your right to peaceful picketing was guaranteed by the Supreme Court as long ago as 1940, in the case Thornhill v. Alabama. Free speech is our last bastion against injustice when all other means have failed. In some developing countries with virtually no environmental laws in place to protect citizens from pollution, people who are suffering are not allowed to speak out and protest. Fortunately, this is one right you still have as an American, and officials and polluters who trample on the First Amendment go down that road at their own legal peril. But this does not mean they wonÕt try to shut you up. They would like nothing more than to see you slink away into the shadows and disappear so that they can continue to spew their toxins into the air and poison your lungs. But we can't be silent. On the contrary, I would advise you to scream bloody murder, because that's exactly what this kind of environmental terrorism is--murder. Hopefully thousands more will not have to die before the Federal, state, and local governments "wake up and smell the fumes." At one time in this country, it was considered acceptable to own slaves, and women were once prohibited from voting; the few who spoke out against such things were labeled "hysterical" wackos. More recently, you would have been considered a paranoid alarmist if you said that second-hand smoke was harmful. As a student of history who is working on a Masters thesis about the way culture can blind a society to certain truths, including scientific facts and moral injustices, I definitely see a parallel here. Human history is often a long, slow process of people WAKING UP to the truth. So wake up and join with us and the people sponsoring this web site and take your place on the cutting edge of environmental activism.

- L. Backus, B.A., Historical Studies, M.A. candidate
- E. Backus, B.S., Health Science/Respiratory Therapy
lisa.maria@mindspring.com

Source: BurningIssues website

http://burningissues.org/car-www/legal/backusprotest.html

Breast Cancer Awareness Month-October, 2011---It's Very Personal!

2011-10-02T13:43:00.000-07:00

Breast Cancer Awareness Month-October,2011---It's Very Personal!

Breast Cancer Awareness…and Woodsmoke
(October 2, 2011)

In the past, just like many of you, I respectfully and quietly supported the theme and efforts of The Cancer Society to inform the public of Breast Cancer Awareness during the month of October. But, this year, it became even more personal. I have breast cancer. I am thankful to have this opportunity to encourage other women world wide to become informed about the grave danger of air pollution, but more specifically, Woodsmoke… and breast cancer.

Life style choices and genetics play an important factor in breast cancer. But, so does the impact of the air we breathe each day. Being exposed, like I have been over the years, to deadly amounts of Woodsmoke from a neighbour’s wood burning stove, wood-burning devices and outdoor open air burning will make you ill and suffer. Many people have and will die prematurely from Woodsmoke-related illnesses.

In my city of Cornwall, as in many other cities in Canada, leaders sadly, condone, enable and support all wood burning, allowing the deadly cancer causing toxins to infiltrate our homes, lungs and cells.

All women, and men too, should become informed about the direct correlation and association between cancer and Woodsmoke. Scientists, Doctors and environmentalists concur that Woodsmoke is doing grave harm to our health and our fragile environment.

Prohibiting the use of all wood burning in communities across our Nation will save millions of lives from cancer and many other Woodsmoke-related illnesses. We must do that now. Millions of lives were saved when Tobacco bans were implemented and adopted. Woodsmoke is even worse for our health than tobacco smoke. Ending Woodsmoke in urban neighbourhoods in Canada will also save millions of lives from illness, suffering and death from Woodsmoke.

This October we also give thanks to the teams of health care providers who not only administer medical care to the body, but to the spirit and soul of all cancer patients everywhere.

Words of inspiration: “What Cancer Cannot do…. Cancer is so limited, It cannot cripple love, It cannot shatter hope, It cannot corrode faith, It cannot destroy peace, It cannot kill friendship, It cannot suppress memories, It cannot silence courage, It cannot invade the soul, It cannot steal eternal life, It cannot conquer the spirit.” –Author Unknown.

Breathe Healthy Air http://breathehealthyair.blogspot.com/

Clean Air Revival http://burningissues.org/

Canadian Clean Air Alliance http://canadiancleanairalliance.ca

Air is Precious airisprecious@gmail.com

We must have by-laws passed now to prohibit ALL Wood burning in our communities. I hope and pray that no other person-woman, man, or child-ever gets cancer caused by Woodsmoke. But we will, until our elected officials who have disregarded and ignored the harm caused by Woodsmoke (PM2.5) for too long, continue to do nothing to end the suffering of millions. Yes, October Breast Cancer Awareness Month is very, very personal to me…and it should be to you too.

Written by:
Linda Baker Beaudin
Founder, Air is Precious
Cornwall, Ontario, Canada

Webmaster----Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in Canadian women. The Canadian Cancer Society estimates 23,200 women in Canada will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 5,300 women will die from the disease in 2011.

23,000 women would represent about half the population of the city of Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. Sad statistics...5,300 women died prematurely. How many acquired cancer and then died prematurely due to woodsmoke emissions in their community?

Smog decision puts lives at risk

2011-09-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

Smog decision puts lives at risk

Letter to the Editor
Daily Herald newspaper-Arlington Hts, Illinois
September 26, 2011

For too long, smog pollution has left our children gasping for breath. Unfortunately, rather than acting decisively to protect our kids from this dangerous air pollution, on Sept. 2 President Obama announced that he will not update critical air quality standards for smog pollution until 2013. This decision was made despite a unanimous recommendation by the independent board of air experts and scientists created under the Clean Air Act to ensure that the standards be sufficiently strong to protect public health.

Exposure to smog triggers asthma attacks, causes permanent lung damage, and can even lead to premature death. In Illinois alone, almost 250,000 children and over 700,000 adults experience asthma attacks every year. Environment Illinois deeply disappointed with Obama’s decision to delay cleaning up smog pollution, and calls on the president and Congress to do more to protect Illinoisans’ health in the coming weeks and months.
Advertisement

Bruce Ratain
Environment Illinois
Chicago, Illinois USA

Source: Daily Herald Newspaper
Arlington Heights, Illinois USA
September 26, 2011

Webmaster...
About a week ago, woodsmoke from a wildfire in the State of Minnesota, drifted over Chicago, Illinois, and the suburban area. This harmful and deadly air saturated the area and caused many to become severely ill, and suffer dangerous breathing problems.

Unbelievably, all suburban communities, including Chicago, still permit people to burn wood indoors and outdoors and thus add to the "F" (failed) rating of the area air for small particle pollution (PM2.5) as stated in the State of the Air Report-2011 by the American Lung Association.

It's time now to prohibit ALL wood burning in Chicago and all suburban communities by our elected officials.

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Comment received from Supporter to the above letter to the editor.....

The lack of action taken by government leaders and elected officials regarding the quality of the air we breathe and particulate pollution, is leaving millions literally gasping for breath.

Sadly the repercussions of toxic air filled with residential Woodsmoke pollution, added to reality and deadly brew of industrial pollution means that the repercussions of such neglect have also become the suffering stories of millions who are desperately seeking help to end this horror they live with in their respective communities, Nations and States.

People are suffering! People are ill. People are dying from the increasing rate in which Particulate Pollution is on the rise. It cannot be denied or disputed. When levels of pollution rise, the death toll rises.

For whom does the bell toll? It tolls for you, for our families everywhere. It tolls for the young, the fragile elderly, those with pre-existing heart and lung conditions and yes Mr. President, it also tolls for you and your family and sadly for generations to come.

How will the millions of sick children of the future look back and view the actions of our leaders today? Is this the legacy of your Presidential term that you will leave your Nation Mr. President? When you have grandchildren and reflect on this decision you have made, will you be proud of what you failed to do to protect millions from the grave harm of Particulate Pollution?

What will the future generations say about leaders who deprived them of a basic human right and necessity, fresh clean air to breathe? How do children comprehend suffering and wheezing and gasping for each breath while our leaders turn away and neglect the true toxic issues that face millions?

The time is now to take immediate pro-active action to end all forms of particulate pollution, including all residential woodsmoke and wood burning.

Linda Baker Beaudin
Founder, Air Is Precious

Stop Woodburning---Lawsuit Won!!!!!

2011-09-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

Stop Woodburning---Lawsuit Won!!!!!!

In a case that proves where there's smoke there's ire, an Amherstburg couple has won a six-year legal battle to prevent a neighbour from burning wood at his home.

"Thank heavens! It's been a long haul," said Shirley Brandie Thursday.

Brandie and her husband, James, first took their neighbour to court in 2005 after what she described as three years of non-stop burning next door on Simcoe Street. According to the Brandies, Salvatore DeSantis was burning pressure-treated lumber, painted wood and composite materials in addition to logs and tree limbs.

Shirley Brandie said the smoke made being outside impossible. It even permeated her home despite her keeping her windows closed tight. She had to replace mattresses, furniture, carpeting, window coverings and ductwork. Her eyes burned, her throat hurt and she felt dizzy all the time.

A Superior Court judge granted the Brandies an injunction that prohibited DeSantis from burning anything that would result in the release of smoke from the property.

But the Brandies wanted the injunction to be made permanent and they wanted damages.

They got both this week when DeSantis agreed to a restrictive covenant on his property that prohibits him or any subsequent owner to ever burn and produce smoke. In addition, DeSantis must pay the Brandies $50,000.

"You can certainly call it a victory," said the Brandies' lawyer, James Ball.

Shirley Brandie said the couple is still out about $38,000 in legal fees, repairs to their home and replacement of their belongings.

But she said, "It's worth it . No matter who ever lives there, no one can ever burn."

The agreement came on the day the case was set for trial. The Brandies were armed with photographs of DeSantis's chimney and piles of wood products in his yard.

DeSantis wasn't up for a fight, said his lawyer, Luigi DiPierdomenico.

DiPierdomenico said DeSantis, 77, is suffering from "mental deterioration" and would not have been able to testify at trial. In a 2008 interview with the Windsor Star, DeSantis proudly gave a tour of his property, including the wood-burning stove and brick wood-burning oven in a greenhouse-like addition he built himself off the back of his home. He also showed his barn on Meloche Road filled to the rafters with hundreds of cords of firewood he said he hoped to burn.

"Mr. DeSantis does not believe he has done anything wrong," DiPierdomenico said Thursday. He suspects DeSantis may move.

"He may end up on his farm on Meloche Road where he doesn't have any neighbours to worry about and he can burn all he wants."

Shirley Brandie said throughout her battle, she sought the help of her town council, the fire department and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. But all were powerless to help.

She founded an international lobby group called the Wood Smoke Activist Network, publishing a monthly newsletter on the Internet that gets submissions from around the globe.

She said she will use this week's court ruling to push Amherstburg for a bylaw banning what she calls "nuisance smoke."

© Copyright (c) The Windsor Star September 16, 2011--Canada

Read more: http://www.windsorstar.com/levied+wood+burning/5410916/story.html#ixzz1YA5qmP9q

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Below is a "letter to the editor" commenting on the above lawsuit----

Cheers to the Brandies
By John McCrossan

The Windsor Star September 30, 2011

Re: "Man levied wood burning ban" by Sarah Sacheli, Sept. 16

The Brandies are to be commended for their determination in seeing this issue through to a fair and healthy conclusion. It is sad that Mr. DeSantis would wait until the day of trial to acquiesce to the agreement ratified by the court. This speaks more of his attitude and belligerence than any "mental deterioration".

What is more sad is the ineffectiveness of local government agencies to protect their residents from the dangerous health hazards of raw wood burning. That the Brandies needed to invoke a "nuisance" law and not have the backing of local health and environmental laws speaks volumes to the cavalier manner in which Canadian agencies with authority and influence are treating our environment and the health of Canadians.

Ten per cent of adults and 15 per cent of children in Canada have asthma. Thousands more have lung cancer and other dreadful diseases. Burning wood in residential neighbourhoods accounts for 20 per cent particulate matter in winter months (source: Air Quality Group, Metro-Vancouver, Jan. 2011), this PM is a major trigger of breathing difficulties, heart arrhythmias, and asthma attacks. I hope that the Brandies have escaped serious and long-lasting health issues as a result of this wood smoke exposure.

It is a real pity the burning injunction is not attached to his person also - has Mr. De-Santis not heard of neighbourhood, regional, and global pollution?

Tonight I will have a glass of brandy and raise a toast to the Brandies of Windsor. Well done. Now I ask that all rational and thinking residents of Canada build on this small but important victory.

Step 1: Write to your municipal governments and insist they implement strong antiburning regulations starting with urban residential areas.

Step 2: Wssess electoral candidates before you next vote and choose those who have a track record of caring for their people and our local environments.

JOHN MCCROSSAN, Richmond, B.C.
© Copyright (c) The Windsor Star

Webmaster----A prohibition on all wood burning is the by-law that is sorely needed.

Don't romanticize smoke

2011-08-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

Don't romanticize smoke

By Cathy Baiton

Edmonton Journal August 13, 2011

Re: "Scent of woodsmoke strikes primal chord; Backyard ovens lend themselves to casual outdoors entertaining," The Journal, Aug. 10.

This article romanticizes the smell of woodsmoke and praises the use of wood ovens. But wood-burning devices are part of a growing residential pollution problem across North America. Whether it is from a lit cigarette or any wood-burning appliance, all smoke is unhealthy to breathe.

Wood smoke in residential areas is a serious public health issue. The gases and fine particles in wood smoke pollute the air that children and others are breathing outside. As well, high levels of smoke pollution can enter nearby homes, even with doors and windows closed.

Most Albertans now support cigarette smoke bans in public places. Bans on equally harmful woodsmoke are also needed in Alberta municipalities.

Cathy Baiton, Lethbridge

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Shedding Light on Particulate Pollution

2011-08-12T17:36:00.000-07:00

Shedding Light on Particulate Pollution
Letter to the Editor
Source: London Free Press August 9, 2011

Shedding Light on Particulate Pollution A visit to any hospital will shed light on the dire effects on human health caused by particulate pollution (PM 2.5) that exists in every community. Residential Woodburning is a leading contributor to Woodsmoke-related illnesses.

Fire Pits, Fire Rings, Chimeneas, Wood fuelled cooking devices and all appliances that prepare or smoke food, Woodburning stoves, Woodburning fireplaces, and pellet stoves all pollute and harm the air. The negative impact of Woodburning is felt by all residents. Woodsmoke crosses all boundaries, sex, faith, colour and socio economic conditions.

The significant toll on human health from Woodsmoke polluted air is evident everywhere. Woodsmoke affects everyone, healthy or not. No one is immune to Woodsmoke's deadly impact on their health. No one.

We know that Tobacco smoking continues to destroy the health of people. Even non-smokers suffered and died from the constant exposure to second hand tobacco smoke. Prohibition of Tobacco smoking, education and awareness has saved millions of lives. Yet, the toxic repercussions still exist in hospitals across our Nation as we see people struggle for each breath they take, living on oxygen support, and other means of survival. For many it is not survival but barely existing.

Facts are that "As many as three million Canadians may have COPD and it is Canada's fourth leading cause of death. The Canadian Lung Association predicts that COPD will soon move to the third leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer." "The true impact of COPD is probably underestimated as it is not usually diagnosed until the disease is moderately advanced."

Scientific and medical evidence state that Woodsmoke pollution is even worse for our health than tobacco smoke.

Asthma, COPD, Cardiopulmonay, Cardiovascular, Stroke, SIDS, Cancer, Respiratory, and other illnesses are associated with Woodburning. The failing and many times irreversible health of those who suffer from lung disease such as Asthma and COPD reveal the damages occurred from not only Tobacco but community Woodsmoke and Woodburning pollution. COPD cannot be cured. It can be managed. Asthma can be controlled, yet people continue to die each year from these diseases.

Shedding light on Particulate Pollution means that our Mayors, city council members, elected leaders and others must take immediate pro-active action to prohibit the use of all Woodburning devices. It is time to end Woodsmoke in our towns and cities. Our environment, our breath, and our life depend on doing so.

Author: Linda Baker Beaudin, Founder, Air Is Precious, Cornwall, Ontario, Canada

Source: London Free Press August 9, 2011

Webmaster: The above letter to the editor should shake-up the leaders in Canada to take action to prohibit all wood burning. For them to stand idly by and do nothing as millions of Canadians suffer (and die) from woodsmoke, is a travesty. Our congrats to the Air is Precious organization and its efforts to save millions of Canadians from the horrors of woodsmoke. Hey, leaders in Canada, it is time to take action now!

Ban Firepits in the City------Canada

2011-07-13T16:22:00.000-07:00

Ban firepits

By Dan Lowe, The StarPhoenix July 11, 2011

Letter to the Editor

Why are firepits allowed in the city?

How many people are sitting with the windows closed because of the stink of someone's firepit? How hot is it for most of them?

Isn't a health decision more important than entertainment? Bike helmets, seatbelts, no smoking in public are among many restrictions in place for our health. Why not include firepits?

It's 17 degrees outside and I'm sitting here with the air conditioner on to cool off, instead of using the free, nonpolluting cool breeze.

Dan Lowe Saskatoon
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

The Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Street: 204 - 5th Avenue N. Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7K 2P1

Comment Sent to BHA website--

2011-07-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

To All Readers and Supporters of Breathe Healthy Air website

Webmaster---The below is a comment sent to the Breathe Healthy Air website received on July 2, 2011. This comment is similar to the other hundreds of other e-mails that we have received since our inception. After you read the comment, please continue reading and see what you can and should do to end wood burning in your community.

You must take action NOW if you want to survive and end the horrors of woodsmoke emissions(PM2.5). If you do nothing, you and your family will become even more ill, and die prematurely. Now is the time for you to end woodsmoke.........

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"I live in a lake area just north of Valparaiso, a small community in northwest Indiana (USA). Here the problem is rapidly getting worse instead of better. It's 11:56 PM, July 2, 2011. It's 72 degrees out, but the air stinks so badly of wood smoke that you can't open your windows to let in a cool night breeze. This has become the norm. All it takes are a few neighbors with fire pits, outdoor fireplaces, and a few compulsive indoor fireplace users who insist on fires year-round. They seem to believe they have some sort of fundamental right to foul the air that everyone must breathe. If you complain, YOU'RE the problem."

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Please read the information below-----

Welcome to the world of Hell experienced by millions due to woodsmoke.

The below are suggestions and comments to help you end woodsmoke in your community......

Woodsmoke emissions are killing you. You must act to stop it. If you do nothing, it will never, never end!!!!!!!!!

Check out these websites for great information and help.

1. Breathe Healthy Air

http://www.breathehealthyair.blogspot.com/

2. Clean Air Revival

http://burningissues.org/car-www/index.html

3. Wood Burner Smoke

http://woodburnersmoke.net/

4. Canadian Clean Air Alliance

http://www.canadiancleanairalliance.ca/

5. The Smoke In Action From The OWB...

www.myspace.com/freedomofair

6. RAWSEP
http://woodsmokenuisance.spaces.live.com/

7...New York
http://www.woodsmokefreeny.com/

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BHA Supporters and Friends,

Yes, wood smoke emissions and other toxic emissions will harm you and your family and make all of you sick. Wood smoke kills too.

We hope you do not mind straight-talk about woodsmoke. That's what you will get from us.

The following websites will give you factual, scientific, medical, educational, and legal information about wood smoke, the pollution it creates, and the harm it does to people.

A..http://burningissues.org/car-www/index.html Great to print out information!!!!

B...http://www.myspace.com/freedomofair

C...http://www.breathehealthyair.blogspot.com/

D...http://woodburnersmoke.net/

E...http://www.woodsmokefreeny.com/

Note...Please visit and read the above five web sites.

There are no filters of any kind that will filter out the small particulate matter (PM2.5) that wood smoke emits into the air. The particulates go directly into the lungs of anyone who breathes it. There, they fester, and then the problems begin. This medical information can be found on the burningissues web site. You can/should print out fact sheets from the burningissues web site.

Testing can be done. You will have to rent a unit to do that. It can be expensive. But, it is an option to consider.

General comments----...

1...Our experience is that the EPA (state and federal), Pollution Control Board, state government, the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, local health boards, and town councils never/seldom help people like you/us. Why? Who knows. Lack of knowledge of the harmful and deadly effects of woodsmoke may be one reason. There are other reasons: lazy, don't care, etc....

2...This wood/toxic burner knows he/she is harming you and your family. You must act now before it is too late.

3...Wood burning is a public and private nuisance. When the wood smoke emissions involuntarily enter your property, that violates your property rights. Woodsmoke is really an assault and battery on your person.

Here are more suggestions.....

It is your choice as to which ones (or all) you wish to do-----

1...You must document the smoke and the illnesses as they occur. You need to start a Daily Log and record the time of the smoke, the intensity, and what it did to your family (coughing, wheezing, nauseous feeling, etc.). Take pictures. Start a file for all correspondence---IMPORTANT!

2...Send a letter to your neighbor asking him/her to stop burning and explain how the woodsmoke/toxic smoke affects you and your family. You need this documented for the future (for a lawsuit or when you go to the Town Meeting to plead your case)

3...Ask your neighbors to co-sign the letter to the burner. Ask your neighbors to go to the Town Meeting with you and voice their concern.

4...Send a letter (for documentation again) to the Mayor and the Town Council formally asking for their help. Include attachments from the burningissues web site for support.

5...Send a letter to the local newspaper explaining the negative health effects of wood burning. Ask others to write too.

6...Record all doctor visits. Have your doctor write the Mayor and Town Council supporting your request to ban wood burning/toxic burning because it is causing harm to your health..

7...Contact your local legal aid or ACLU for help. They might take your case pro bono.

8...The law known as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may be violated. Check with the legal people, Town Council, or Town Health Department official.

9...Call 911 and report that you are being assaulted from the woodsmoke/toxic smoke that is entering your home without your permission..

10..Call your local/county health department and file a formal complaint about the air pollution in your home from an outdoor source.

11...File an official complaint with the state pollution control board or local/state EPA. You need to have an official record of the pollution.

12...File a police report because wood smoke/toxic smoke is a private and public nuisance and is against the law.

Don't give up. It will not be easy. But, the alternative is that you are letting someone harm you and your family if you do nothing. What is more important than your family's health and life?

++++++++++++

The following is great general information for you....

New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
Website
April 20, 2008

What's In That Smoke?

For many the smell of wood smoke from a fireplace elicits fond memories of hearth and home. There is a lack of awareness, however, that wood smoke has become a major source of air pollution in the United States. Combustion of organic matter such as wood and yard debris releases a variety of harmful substances, including particulates, carcinogens, carbon monoxide, respiratory irritants and toxins. Many people--infants and children, pregnant women, senior citizens, and those suffering from allergies, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, pneumonia, or other heart or lung diseases--are at risk from the pollution released by wood smoke.

Compounds released during the combustion process interfere with normal lung development and function. Indoor and outdoor air quality can be degraded significantly by the use of poorly designed, non-certified wood stoves. Poor burning processes, lack of maintenance, improper stove installation, and burning wet wood create excessive amounts of pollution. Fires left smoldering to keep a house warm during the night can also be particularly harmful. Smoldering wood burns slower and incompletely, thereby releasing more smoke and gas into the air.

Wood smoke contains tiny particles of creosote, soot, and ash that can remain airborne for up to three weeks. Small particles of solid and liquid matter suspended in the air are called particulate matter, or "PM." PM10 are those particles 10 microns or less in diameter. (In comparison, a human hair is approximately 70 microns in diameter.) PM2.5, or "fine" particulate matter, are those particles 2.5 microns or less in diameter. Inhaling fine PM causes coughing, irritation, and permanent scaring of the lungs. This type of damage decreases lung function, increases the potential for respiratory illness, and may contribute to cancer, heart disease, and changes in DNA, leading to auto-immune diseases. Because of the health threats associated with particulate air pollution, the federal government regulates all particulate matter as one of the six major air pollutants.

Particulate pollution from wood stoves is primarily produced in the winter when stagnant air and temperature inversions limit air movement. At this time smoke is unable to rise and disperse, and this pollution becomes trapped close to the ground in our breathing space. Areas with valleys and poor air circulation can be strongly affected. The small size of these particles allows them to seep into houses through closed doors and windows.

Many of the small particles from wood smoke are too small to be filtered by the nose or upper respiratory system. Therefore, they are able to penetrate deep within the lungs, and they collect in the most remote portions of the lungs called the alveoli, which are tiny air sacs where oxygen enters the blood stream. Due to their ability to evade the defenses of the body, these particles are efficient vehicles for transporting toxic gases, bacteria, and viruses into the lungs, and ultimately the blood stream. Some toxic compounds are cancer-causing and can attach to the smallest smoke particles and enter the lungs at the same time. Particulate matter can clump together, blocking tiny veins as well as invoking harmful structural and chemical changes in the lungs.

A report released by the Washington State Department of Ecology based on research conducted by the University of Washington in Seattle and the EPA in Boise, Idaho, found that indoor PM10 levels from wood smoke in homes without woodstoves can reach 50-70 percent of the outdoor PM levels. The PM released from wood heating can also cause biological mutations (chromosome defects and genetic damage) in cells of the lungs. Mutagens and carcinogens are not exactly the same and not all mutagenic substances cause cancer. Mutations brought about by wood smoke, however, potentially lead to cancer formation. In 1988 an EPA study found that biological mutations in bacteria exposed to winter air samples increased with higher concentrations of fine particulate matter and were most numerous at the times of coldest temperatures, weekends, and holidays when wood stoves were used the most.

The cancer threat from air pollution is another serious public heath concern. In 1985 the EPA started a research program to clarify the sources of air pollution and to estimate their future cancer risk (Washington State Department of Ecology 1997). Their research determined that motor vehicles and wood stoves were the major sources of particulate air pollution and associated cancer risk in the urban airsheds studied. According to the EPA, many of the substances identified in wood smoke are suspected human carcinogens or co-carcinogens. These compounds include many polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), such as benzo(a)pyrene, and various aldehydes, alkenes, and semi-volatile organic compounds.
[For information about the health risks from exposure to air toxics. See EPA's Health Risk Assessment brochure
(see http://www.epa.gov/ttnatw01/3_90_022.html)]

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that is also produced when wood is burned. Once in the blood stream, it reduces the ability of blood to carry oxygen to body tissues. Respiratory toxins and irritants, including nitrogen dioxide, are also released during wood combustion. These compounds impair the respiratory system and reduce its ability to fight infection.

Wood Smoke vs. Cigarette Smoke
Although many people associate tobacco smoke with certain health risks, research indicates that second hand wood smoke has potentially even greater ability to damage health. A comparison between tobacco smoke and wood smoke using electron spin resonance revealed quite startling results (Rozenberg 2001, Wood Smoke is More Damaging than Tobacco Smoke). Tobacco smoke causes damage in the body for approximately 30 seconds after it is inhaled. Wood smoke, however, continues to be chemically active and cause damage to cells in the body for up to 20 minutes, or 40 times longer.

Some of the components in wood smoke are free radicals, which steal electrons from the body, leaving cells unstable or injured. Some of these cells may die, while others may be altered and take on different functions. These changes lead to inflammation, which causes stress on the body. EPA researchers suggest that the lifetime cancer risk from wood stove emissions may be 12 times greater than the lifetime cancer risk from exposure to an equal amount of cigarette smoke. (Rozenberg 2001, What's in Wood Smoke and Other Emissions).

What You Can Do
In order to mitigate the negative impacts caused by wood smoke, homeowners should consider converting their wood fireplaces to gas stoves. This type of heating is not only healthier for household members and the community, but it is a more efficient way to heat a home. Wood stoves often draw warm air from a room up the chimney along with smoke, resulting in less heat in a room. Gas stoves, on the other hand, provide a better, more efficient heating effect, with virtually no emissions.
+++++++++++++++++++++++

Don't give up!!!!

Fight like your life depends on it....because it does! Being Mr. Nice Guy or Ms. Nice Lady does/will not work. Get angry. Take action NOW!

Keep in touch.

Breathe Healthy Air Coalition

That Backyard Fire Pit and Dinosaurs

2011-06-24T05:40:00.000-07:00

That Backyard Fire Pit and Dinosaurs

Letter to the Editor

If your neighbour is lighting that backyard fire pit, it means that you are living in a city that has not taken pro-active action to prohibit all outdoor open air burning. It means you are living in a community where the Public Health Issue of Woodsmoke Pollution is not being acknowledged or addressed as a grave health threat to all residents. Lighting up a fire pit, fire ring, fire bowl, chimenea, Wood fuelled BBq, Wood smoker, back yard bonfire, outdoor fire place or any Woodburning device means that your neighbour (or if you are the person lighting the device) is responsible for polluting the air with cancer causing toxins throughout entire neighbourhoods.

Lighting up any fire pit comes at the high price of others suffering, even the possibility of illness and death for many who suffer from Asthma, COPD, respiratory, pre-existing cardiopulmonary, cardiovascular, Stroke and other diseases that are associated with Woodburning and the inhalation of toxic Woodsmoke emissions.

Lighting up fire pits comes at the cost to our struggling health care system, when people become ill from breathing residential Woodsmoke and require emergency hospital care. It comes at the expense of the physical suffering of others who spend endless hours being exposed to the deadly chemicals found in Woodsmoke. It comes at a cost to our fragile environment.

For those unaware, Woodsmoke is a Public and Private Nuisance. When residential Woodsmoke is present in your community, do not suffer in silence. Take immediate pro- active action by calling 9-1-1 and report any and all Woodburning as a Nuisance and a threat to your health and life. Call your city hall and inform your Mayor and city council members that all biomass burning in residential neighbourhoods is not acceptable, necessary or wanted.

Take the upcoming July lst-Canada Day-to become informed about the dangers of back yard fire pits and all outdoor open air burning. Demand that by-laws be adopted to ban all outdoor open air burning in your city and Province. We all deserve the right and common decency to breathe healthy-Woodsmoke-free.

That backyard fire pit and all Woodburning should become extinct…like dinosaurs.

Linda Baker Beaudin, Air Is Precious

Source: The Daily Observer Pembroke, Ontario
(Serving the Upper Ottawa Valley)
Posted...June 22, 2011

Biomass Bandwagon (Get off it--editor)

2011-06-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

Biomass Bandwagon

British Columbia seems politically directed towards burning biomass, obviously because of resources and beetle kill. Someone gets the idea that as long as burning is efficient that it is OK. It seems reasonable and more of us jump on this bandwagon as we hear about it.

But burning is a two-edged sword and is bad both ways. With more oxygen and so-called efficient burning, the products go mostly to gases and leads to global warming. With less oxygen and so-called inefficient burning, the products go mostly to small particles and leads to health issues. That sword cuts both ways so get rid of the sword!

In my opinion the best solution is to stop burning. Individuals should stop burning biomass anywhere and at anytime. Communities should also stop burning and rely only on natural gas for the immediate future and ultimately only on electricity in the future. Use of electricity prevents local health problems.

Let any wood waste slowly rot into soil and thus slow down the carbon dioxide problem. Get off the biomass burning bandwagon and resist those who promote it.

Vic Steblin is a retired science teacher from Prince George, BC who is concerned about air quality.

Source: The Wood Smoke Activist Network
July 2011 Newsletter
Web site: http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net

Ban wood smoke-Edina, Minnesota--USA

2011-06-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

Ban wood smoke
Published: Thursday, May 12, 2011

To the editor:

What happened to property rights?

My husband and I live in Edina and enjoy our yard, deck and porch. We also enjoy having our windows open. Like everyone else, we pay property taxes for the ability to use and enjoy our property. But the past few years haven't been so enjoyable because wood smoke from outdoor fireplaces and pits in our immediate neighborhood is polluting our air.

The smell is nauseating, and it angers us to have to go inside and close up the house. We have recently learned how dangerous wood smoke is to breathe, alerting us that is not just a nuisance, but also a very real health hazard.

If people cannot smoke outside in Edina Parks, why do we have to breathe secondhand smoke on our own property? Edina grants free permits to anyone for recreational fires giving them "the right" to have a fire. It seems like Edina is permitting pollution. Shouldn't citizens also be able to get a "smoke free" permit for their property? We would like to see a ban on backyard wood fires so that Edina residents are not allowed to pollute for entertainment in this age of concern about pollution.

Catherine Reeves
Edina (Minnesota---USA)

Source: http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2011/05/12/edina/opinion/ed12reeves.txt

The Wood Smoke Activist Network

2011-05-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

The Wood Smoke Activist Network
June 2011 Newsletter
Educating the world about the health and climate impacts of wood smoke and combustion aerosols.
Editor: Shirley Brandie
Ontario Director of Canadian Clean Air Alliance http://canadiancleanairalliance.ca

Web site: http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net

Co-editor: Julie Mellum
Web site: Take Back the Air

Mission Statement
Our mission is to educate public officials, government and all citizens about wood smoke as a major form of hazardous air pollution that affects our health, use of our property, water, crops, livestock, the environment and climate change. We urge citizens everywhere to press for legislative changes to call wood smoke a public nuisance under state health codes and to ban all wood burning.”

Welcome!
We hope that this newsletter will give you the information and inspiration you need. Regain clean air to breathe and eliminate the wood burning that is affecting your health and your home environment. (http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net)

Please pass this issue on to others in need of help and suggest that they send an email to s.brandie@sympatico.ca to be added to the mailing list.

Webmaster----Check out this great organization for help, advice, and information on how to ban/end deadly woodsmoke in your community. You can also receive (via e-mail) a free monthly newsletter filled with great facts, successes, and assistance.

http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net
s.brandie@sympatico.ca

Smoke-Related Chemical Discovered in the Atmosphere Could Have Health Implications

2011-05-17T20:10:00.000-07:00

Smoke-Related Chemical Discovered in the Atmosphere Could Have Health Implications

ScienceDaily (May 17, 2011) — Cigarette smoking, forest fires and woodburning can release a chemical that may be at least partly responsible for human health problems related to smoke exposure, according to a new study by NOAA researchers and their colleagues.

Using a custom mass spectrometer designed by the researchers, the NOAA-led team was able get the first look at levels of the chemical, isocyanic acid, in the atmosphere. Isocyanic acid has been difficult to detect with conventional measurement techniques.

"We found isocyanic acid in a number of places, from air in downtown Los Angeles and air downwind of a Colorado wildfire, to cigarette smoke," said Jim Roberts, lead author of the new paper and a chemist with NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. "We also demonstrated that it dissolves readily in water, which means that humans can be exposed directly if it gets into eyes or lungs."

The health effects of such exposure are not fully known. In the body isocyanic acid, described by the chemical formula HNCO, is part of a biochemical pathway linked with cataracts and inflammation that can trigger cardiovascular disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Until now, the acid had not been measured in air outdoors or in tobacco smoke.

The research team made four separate measurements of HNCO: in the air in urban Los Angeles; in the air in Boulder downwind of the fall 2010 Fourmile Canyon wildfire; in laboratory burning experiments at high concentrations; and in cigarette smoke. The team also made the first measurements of the acid's ability to dissolve in water, which determines the chemical's tendency to dissolve into moist tissues in the body.

"There are literally billions of people in the world who burn biomass for cooking and heating," Roberts said. "If these indoor fires release similar levels of isocyanic acid as the fires we studied in the laboratory, families could be exposed to high levels of the chemical."

Roberts and colleagues from NOAA and University of Colorado at Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, the, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and the University of Montana published their paper in the May 17 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The research project started in the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, where scientists burned brush, tree branches and other vegetation, to better understand the air quality effects of wildfires. They used a new, specialized instrument -- a mass spectrometer built by Roberts and several colleagues -- to measure the amounts of a suite of organic acids, which are emitted by burning vegetation. Such acids are involved in chemistry that can degrade air quality.

During simulated wildfires in the Montana laboratory, levels of HNCO approached 600 parts per billion volume (ppbv). The HNCO was a few thousand times less concentrated in both the air in Los Angeles during a time without recent fires, and in the air in Boulder when the Fourmile Canyon fire was burning upwind.

At about 1 ppbv, the research team calculated that enough HNCO would dissolve into exposed tissues -- lungs and eyes -- that those tissues could be vulnerable to "carbamylation," part of the chemical process triggering inflammation and cataract development. People could experience higher exposure to HNCO near wildfires or in indoor environments where coal, wood or other biomass is burned for heating or cooking. The health effects of chronic exposure to lower-level amounts isocyanic acid, such as those found in the California and Colorado air are not known.

The extreme sensitivity of the new instrument to low concentrations of HNCO made it impossible to quantify the very high levels of isocyanic acid in cigarette smoke.

"We conclude that tobacco-derived HNCO needs to be measured more extensively and potential exposure to it quantified," the scientists wrote, adding that the acid is not currently listed as a "harmful" or "potentially harmful" constituent in tobacco products or smoke.

In their paper, researchers noted other sources of atmospheric HNCO, including pollution-control equipment that is being introduced in California and Europe to reduce emissions by diesel trucks. The systems are designed to reduce nitrogen oxides, which contribute to air quality problems, but they emit HNCO as a by-product. This new source could increase human exposure to the chemical in urban areas.

Moreover, climate change is expected to bring hotter temperatures and drier conditions to some regions of the world, with accompanying increases in biomass burning, including wildfire. "We may be facing a future of higher amounts of HNCO in the atmosphere," said Roberts. "It is fortunate that now we can measure it."

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110516161344.htm

Also...Smoke from the Fourmile Canyon wildfire west of Boulder, Colo. in fall 2010 flows toward the city to the right of the image. A new NOAA study found isocyanic acid in the smoke from that fire -- and in urban Los Angeles air, in cigarette smoke, and in laboratory-simulated wildfires. That acid has been linked with health effects from cataracts to cardiovascular disease. (Credit: Photograph courtesy of Daniel Lack, NOAA/CIRES)

Wood smoke is deadlier than tobacco smoke

2011-05-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

Thursday, May 05, 2011

Wood smoke is deadlier than tobacco smoke

We’re snuffing secondhand tobacco smoke in this country, while wood smoke, far more toxic and concentrated, has risen like the phoenix in its place. In most metro areas and neighborhoods where people live and breathe, wood burning has been condoned and promoted as fun, family-friendly, healthy to cook with, and good for the environment. Restaurant wood grills and back yard campfires churn out black carbon soot like it’s the best thing since sliced bread. But nothing could be farther from the truth.

Everything we know about tobacco smoke is true of wood smoke.

Wood smoke is comprised of miniscule particulates that are bundled with legions of the same hormone disrupting and cancer causing toxicants that are in tobacco smoke. They include lead, arsenic, mercury, formaldehyde, benzene, and dioxins, some of the most insidious chemicals known to man. They are also “bioaccumulative”, building up in the environment and human lungs over time, where they increasingly ravage our health and that of future generations.

A terrible public health hazard. While back yard campfires rage across America and the biomass industry pours trillions of daily pollutants into our air, more and more people are becoming chronically ill from wood smoke entering their lungs on a continuous basis. Wood smoke is a well- documented trigger for asthma attacks and premature death in people of all ages, as cited by the EPA and US Centers for Disease Control. Children, the elderly, and anyone with asthma, other lung diseases and heart disease are most at risk. Wood smoke is also implicated in cancer, reproductive birth defects, neurological diseases such as autism, and compromised immune systems, paving the way for other disorders.

Most states have inadequate regulations to help those who are chronically ill from wood smoke inhalation. There is nowhere people can go for help, although private lawsuits are on the rise.

Property rights, wood smoke and the ADA. The perils of wood smoke are not limited to health effects. Wood smoke violates most nuisance ordinances and the property rights of others to use and enjoy their property smoke free. Cities claim they cannot afford to enforce such ordinances, but it is time they pony up to their accessibility requirements, for one. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires cities to provide “access” to public spaces such as parks, streets and sidewalks to those with disabilities such as asthma. Public spaces should be free of severe respiratory irritants like wood smoke in order to accommodate this skyrocketing segment of the population. In a precedent-setting ADA case, an Iowa district court ordered the town of Mallard to ban outdoor wood burning, because the smoke prevented a child with severe asthma from accessing public spaces.

How to get involved. If you agree that wood smoke is the scourge of our cities and needs regulation, email info@takebacktheair.com or s.brandie@sympatico.ca and request to receive the monthly online Wood Smoke Activist Network newsletter for the US and Canada. We facilitate connections among people in various states for a larger “voice” toward wood smoke solutions in our local and national governments.

By Julie Mellum
Founder, Take Back the Air www.takebacktheair.com
Member, Clean Air Revival, www.burningissues.org
Co-Editor, The Wood Smoke Activist Network Newsletter s.brandie@sympatico.ca

Author’s “Bio”: Julie is a wood smoke activist in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with connections to others nation-wide who are also concerned with this emerging topic. A Realtor by trade, Julie has also researched wood smoke issues extensively for the past 10 years and founded Take Back the Air to help enlighten the public about the top most hazardous, yet vastly under-recognized air toxins in residential communities, starting in our own back yards.

Source: Blog for Clean Air
The official blog site for Clean Air Watch.
http://blogforcleanair.blogspot.com

Letter to Member of Parliament-Canada

2011-04-05T18:03:00.000-07:00

April 2nd, 2011

Mr. Guy Lauzon
Member of Parliament
621 Pitt Street
Cornwall, Ontario
K6J 3R8

Dear Mr. Lauzon,

Today, Saturday, you were campaigning in the neighbourhood where I live. You came by our house and asked for our support and also permission to place a campaign sign on our front lawn. I said no to the sign.

The reasons I declined your request are as follows:

Woodsmoke is a public and private nuisance that continues to harm our residential neighbourhood. You have not, and are not, addressing this very serious concern.

You have taken absolutely no pro-active action in the previous two years to assist the Air Is Precious Coalition in prohibiting Woodsmoke and Woodburning in the community via a by-law and regulations.

Fire pits, and all Woodburning devices, continue to saturate our neighbourhood air doing grave harm to our health and our quality of life. You have taken no action to support ending this air pollution.

Many city residents are suffering, becoming ill and dying from Woodsmoke-related diseases. You have done nothing to assist ill and suffering residents who are subjected to endless hours breathing Woodsmoke.

Since you have shown no concern, regard, compassion or support and no hope of future support, I see no need to support you by way of placing a sign on my property. Unless you publicly support before the election, action to end Woodburning, my husband and my vote will not be cast for you and other members of your political party. Other members of the Air Is Precious Coalition will also join me in not voting for you.

Woodsmoke must be addressed and supported by each community leader and by all elected officials and parties. Sadly, that has not happened. This is not my opinion. This opinion is echoed by many residents who suffer in Cornwall from Woodsmoke Pollution.

It is deeply disappointing and deplorable to think that our leaders have pathetically failed their fiduciary duty to protect us from harm, yet expect us to offer them support!

Woodsmoke must be given the same respect and laws that are rightfully given to Tobacco smoking. Tobacco smoke is a Public Health issue. Woodsmoke is also a Public Health issue. Woodsmoke is even worse for our health than tobacco smoke.

Any form of Woodburning from all Woodburning devices in Cornwall that pollutes our air, make us ill, destroys our environment and does grave harm to our quality of life is not acceptable. Woodburning in urban areas such as Cornwall, and all residential areas in our Nation where our homes are in such close proximity is unnecessary, unneeded and unwanted.

The goal of the Air Is Precious Coalition is to see that every Canadian Citizen has the right and common decency to breathe healthy air—woodsmoke-free. You have not and are not supporting this issue.

We are very disappointed. You and your political party have failed us on this issue. I am saddened that you may be remembered by many in our community as the Member of Parliament who remained silent, apathetic and uncaring regarding Woodsmoke Pollution in Cornwall.

The end of Woodsmoke and outdoor open air burning needed your support Mr. Lauzon. We need Province-wide by-laws adopted to ban Woodsmoke Pollution. By doing so would have saved the health and lives of millions, just as prohibiting Tobacco smoke did. But, sadly it was not on your agenda as the priority issue it should have been. You offered us nothing in support.

My sincere hope is that you Mr. Lauzon and your family members never are made ill by Woodsmoke or made to endure the suffering that so many sick and ill city residents are presently coping with and have been for years.

You will find enclosed a letter regarding The Black Rose, which has been adopted as the International Symbol of Woodsmoke Pollution. Please take time to read it.

You, along with many other leaders are most deserving of this Black Rose that will explain in detail the suffering caused by Woodsmoke Pollution. The Black Rose can be placed in water and will live for a while. We, the Victims of Woodsmoke Pollution sadly may not have a long life expectancy due to the deadly, noxious, poisonous, toxic air we are subjected to breathe each day.

We who suffer from residential Woodsmoke Pollution in Cornwall have lost our belief in the political process that was supposed to represent each Canadian and be there for us. We, sadly, lost our belief when your support was not to be found..

But, I leave the door open to see if you will walk through it with us and support an end to Woodburning in our community. Will you join us or wait outside in the Woodsmoke?

Sincerely,

Linda Baker Beaudin
Founder, Air Is Precious
Cornwall, Ontario, Canada

Note...A Black Rose was delivered to Mr. Guy Lauzon's office on April 5, 2011.

Webmaster...The above is a copy of a letter delivered to a Member of Parliament-Canada. The frustration from this writer due to the apathy by this elected official (and other elected officials) is very sad. Let's hope action is taken soon to end woodsmoke emissions in Cornwall, and all other Canadian cities.

Wood Burning--Major source of black carbon soot

2011-04-03T09:01:00.000-07:00

Wood-Burning Is Another Cause Of Pollution
Letter to the Editor

The March 30 front page article, "Air pollution down sharply," brought good tidings that industrial pollution has plunged to lower levels. That is great news for asthmatics, the environment and for community health and livability.

Yet for every industrial smokestack that is shut down by the flailing economy, residential pollution seems sharply on the rise.

Recreational wood-burning and the proliferation of restaurant wood grills are blanketing our city streets, parks and neighborhoods with the caustic fumes of wood smoke more than ever before.

Isn't it time that restaurants and residents also help control air pollution by not burning wood for food and for fun? Our health and our planet cannot sustain these behaviors. We must spread the word that wood smoke is a major source of black carbon soot.

It is far more concentrated than tobacco smoke, while containing legions of the same toxins. It travels farther and remains chemically active in the body up to 40 hours longer.

Wood smoke that drifts onto the property of others deprives them of using and enjoying their own property. Please don't burn.

Julie Mellum, Boca Raton

Source:
Sun Sentinel (Florida)
April 2, 2011

Where there's smoke, there's trouble

2011-03-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

Where there's smoke, there's trouble

Excerpted from: Burlington County Times February 13, 2011
By: JO CIAVAGLIA

Where there is wood smoke, there is fire - as well as invisible toxins you could be inhaling.

A little soot exposure probably isn't harmful to most people, pulmonologists say, but a new Danish-led study suggests regular exposure could damage DNA.
Local doctors call the findings interesting, though the implications in the United States are unclear since wood-burning stoves and fireplaces are generally used only a few months of the year.

Short-term health effects of wood-smoke particles on people with airway problems are well-known, the doctors said, as are other potential health hazards such as carbon-monoxide gas buildup, which is also invisible and dangerous.

A decade ago, Dr. Ira Horowitz, a pulmonologist with Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, treated six patients whose respiratory illness was triggered by a major forest fire in Florida. A few drove through the area where the fire occurred, but others were bothered when winds carried the smoke hundreds of miles into South Jersey, Horowitz said.

"There is clearly a hazard with this," said Dr. Sandeep Dhand, chief pulmonologist at Holy Redeemer Medical Center in Abington, Pa. "It's a problem all around."
Wood-smoke particles are the fine powder containing mostly carbon, left after wood is burned.

Long-term exposure increases the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to equal that of a cigarette smoker, Dhand said. Recent medical literature has found that smoke from burning solid fuels like wood worsens respiratory diseases.
But since fireplaces and wood-burning stoves are used mostly during the fall and winter in most parts of the U.S., Dhand said wood-smoke particle exposure is more limited so it likely presents a lower lung cancer risk.

But some doctors said the latest study appearing last week in the American Chemical Society's journal, Chemical Research in Toxicology, raises new questions about potential long-term exposure. The study found the particles may cause negative health effects.

Considerable scientific evidence has linked inhaling fine particles of air pollution from car exhausts and coal-fired electric power plants and other sources to respiratory problems, cancer and heart disease, but little information exists about the same fine particles associated with burning wood.

In the study, scientists analyzed and compared airborne wood-smoke particles from the center of a Denmark village, where most residents used wood stoves, with a neighboring rural area with few wood stoves, as well as to pure wood-smoke particles collected from a wood stove.

Airborne particles in the village and pure wood-smoke particles tended to be the most potentially dangerous size - small enough to be inhaled into the deepest part of the lungs, where they could cause disease. Scientists also showed that the tiny particles damaged DNA when tested on human cells.

The scientists further found that wood-smoke particle matter contained higher levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which include "probable" human carcinogens. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are chemicals formed during the incomplete burning of coal, oil, gas, wood, garbage or other substances, such as tobacco and charbroiled meat.

The wood-smoke particles were found to be as harmful as the small particles created by car exhaust and coal-burning plants, the study found.
About half of the world uses solid biomass fuels such as wood and coal for indoor heating and cooking. A number of studies have associated indoor solid fuel combustion with health problems, including low infant birth weight, and lung and eye problems in adults.

The American Lung Association warns that burning wood emits harmful toxins, such as dioxin, arsenic and formaldehyde, and fine particulates into the air that can worsen breathing problems and lead to heart and lung disease.

In 2008, the lung organization recommended replacing wood stoves manufactured before 1995 with ones certified by the Environmental Protection Agency that meet stricter emission standards. Modern wood stoves also burn off less particulate matter than older stoves.

The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching a representative with the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association, the North American trade group for manufacturers, distributors and specialty retailers of all types of hearth appliances, fuels and accessories, including stoves and fireplace inserts.

But statistics on the group's website show a steady and, in some cases, dramatic decline in popularity of wood-burning equipment in the United States.
Shipments of fireplaces, free-standing wood stoves and inserts declined about 30 percent from a high of 795,767 in 1999 to 235,647 in 2009. Pellet stove and insert shipments showed a pattern of dramatic one-year increases and decreases over the last decade, but most recently experienced a 67 percent decrease between 2008 and 2009.

Air quality indoors can be worse than outdoors in the winter since people spend more time inside. Homes tend to be sealed up and, over time, pollutants can become concentrated, said Dr. Chris Christensen, a pulmonologist at Abington Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania. "Those conditions, where the airways are irritable on a good day, are made worse when it's indoors," Christensen said. "The idea that these could potentially be carcinogenic is something we never thought of being an issue. It's fascinating."

Currently there is no way to test for the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in wood-smoke particulate, so "it's a risk hanging out there," Christensen said. The potential long-term effects of hydrocarbons in wood-smoke particulate could possibly be the next asbestos situation, where the harmful health effects of exposure don't appear until decades later, Christensen said.
"I'm glad they are bringing attention to it," he added.

Source: The Wood Smoke Activist Network
April 2011 Newsletter
Web site: http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net

Earth Hour and Woodsmoke Awareness

2011-03-22T17:01:00.000-07:00

Earth Hour and Woodsmoke Awareness

Earth hour World-Wide begins in a few weeks on March 26th.. Communities celebrating earth hour will focus on ways that we as citizens of the earth can protect our fragile environment by becoming educated and informed about the part we play in making ours a better, healthier world in which to live. We, and our environment, can also be healthier if the air we breathe is Woodsmoke-free too.

We embrace with pride new ideas to revitalize, enhance and renew our communities. We wisely acknowledge the fact that every step we take toward healthier Woodsmoke –free neighbourhoods also reflects our desire to better not only our own community but those world-wide. By achieving those goals and becoming empowered we too can encourage others to do the same.

Turning out the lights for an hour symbolically represents our global connection with each other, linking us profoundly as a united force. Our hope is for a better world in which to live and raise our families. If we turn out the lights for an hour, only to light up a Woodburning back yard fire pit, chimenea, outdoor fireplace, fire ring or other Woodburning device, we are absolutely defeating the purpose of Earth Hour. We then are taking part in destroying our health, air, environment, earth and communities. By allowing Woodsmoke to harm and destroy our life we are not protecting Mother Earth. Woodsmoke is a deadly silent killer taking away our breath, health, our quality of life and harming our fragile environment.

Community leaders must immediately become informed and aware of the toxic dangers we face from all outdoor open air burning in our respective neighbourhoods. All biomass burning destroys our air, making us ill, suffer and die from Woodsmoke-related illness. Millions die world-wide from Woodsmoke-related diseases.

Globally, we are aware of the impact of Tobacco smoking. Millions of lives were lost due to Tobacco related diseases. Woodsmoke is even worse for our health than tobacco smoke. Many of the same cancer causing chemicals found in Tobacco are also in Woodsmoke. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) when inhaled goes deeply into our lungs causing irreparable damage.

Woodsmoke and Woodburning are destroying our world. Scientists and doctors concur that Woodsmoke is killing us. Honour the role you play as a good steward of our Earth. Speak- up and take pro-active action to see that all outdoor open air burning (via a by-law) is prohibited in every community. Demand that regulations be implemented to phase out the use of Woodburning stoves, pellet stoves, Woodburning fireplaces, OWBs (outdoor woodboilers) and all biomass burning. New homes codes must exclude all Woodburning devices.

Make every hour Earth Hour when it comes to ending Woodburning. Protect your earth, health, community and most of all, your global family from the horrors of Woodsmoke Pollution. Make your voice heard. Speak up and fight for your life. Everyone deserves the right and common decency to breathe healthy air Woodsmoke-free. End destruction of the air we breathe…by ending Woodsmoke in 2011.

Author-Linda Baker Beaudin

Wood Smoke and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

2011-03-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

Wood Smoke and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Wood smoke pollution is blanketing our nation with its caustic fumes, depriving citizens of their property rights to use and enjoy their property smoke-free. And it is not just a nuisance--it is a severe public health hazard. Asthma is epidemic and is the number one reason for school absenteeism. How can it be that while tobacco smoke is now banished from most bars and restaurants, nothing is being done about wood smoke? It is chemically similar to tobacco smoke, but is far more concentrated and travels farther. Yet despite indoor smoking bans, our public officials are not protecting public health. They are "selling out" to lobbyists from the wood burning industry, rather than upholding our basic right to breathe clean air.

Wood smoke is implicated not only in asthma attacks and heart attacks, but in premature death in people of all ages. It is especially harmful to children and those with heart or lung disease and other disabilities such as autism and diabetes. Wood smoke, in fact, when it interferes with the ability of citizens with disabilities to use public spaces, may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This civil rights legislation guarantees people with disabilities, such as asthma, "access" to public spaces, including city parks, streets and sidewalks. An Iowa District Court in 2003, in fact, ordered the town of Mallard to stop allowing wood burning, because wood smoke presented a "physical barrier" to a small child with severe asthma that prevented her from using public spaces.

Therefore it is up to us, who are the most bothered by wood smoke, to begin a bold new campaign based on why wood smoke violates ADA Guidelines. We must talk it up at every opportunity and let our city governments, mayors, state and national legislators, schools and local health departments know that:

1. Wood smoke presents a physical barrier to people with disabilities like asthma, because it prevents access to public spaces like city streets, parks and sidewalks.
2. That residential wood smoke from outdoor recreational fires, indoor fireplaces and restaurant wood grills are a substantial source of fine particle pollution, which is a health hazard for all citizens.
3. With increasing disabilities, especially in children, it is paramount that cities adopt ADA guidelines that remove wood smoke as a barrier to the use of public spaces by all citizens.
In addition, email the national "Access Board" about the need for eradicating wood smoke barriers for those with disabilities: http://www.access-board.gov/transit/)>http://www.access-board.gov/tran.

To join with others toward this goal, please contact info@takebacktheair.com.
Julie Mellum
President, Take Back the Air www.takebacktheair.com
Minneapolis, MN

Source: The Wood Smoke Activist
January 2011 Newsletter
web site: http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net

Black Rose......and an Obituary--R.I.P.

2011-02-08T18:43:00.000-08:00

Black Rose......and an Obituary-R.I.P.

The Black Rose……International Symbol of Woodsmoke Destruction

The Black Rose, the International symbol of Woodsmoke Destruction will bring attention to the eyes of the world the visual realization of the deadly impact of the suffering, death and destruction that Woodsmoke Pollution has made on our planet.

The Black Rose represents millions of lives world-wide that have died from Woodsmoke-related diseases. Adopt the Black Rose as your International symbol of suffering from World-Wide Woodsmoke pollution.

The Black Rose symbolizes the endless hours of relentless suffering endured by those who live in areas with OWBs (Outdoor Woodboilers), Woodburning fireplaces, Woodburning stoves, pellet stoves, outdoor open air burning and all biomass burning.

The Black Rose represents the black smoke from garbage, debris, painted wood, and other toxic material/wood that is burned in fire pits, fire rings, chimeneas, outdoor fireplaces and all Woodburning devices. Sadly, this continues to be sanctioned, condoned and enabled by our leaders and government everywhere.

The Black Rose symbolizes the black tires, toxic Railroad ties, C&D (construction and debris) and other deadly toxic materials that are burned in incinerators in many communities as biomass.

The Black Rose represents the toxic black soot that is found on Woodburning chimneys and the Black Carbon Soot that is destroying our precious, fragile environment.

Asthma, COPD, Cancer, Stroke, SIDs, Cardiovascular, Cardiopulmonary, respiratory and other related diseases are associated with Woodsmoke.

Demand that proactive action be taken to prohibit all Woodburning in every community. Advocate for the right and common decency for every human to be able to breathe healthy air-Woodsmoke-free.

Do not remain silent about a deadly poison that is killing you….Woodsmoke. There is no room for leaders who show complacency, apathy, uncaring, disrespect or disregard about a deadly, toxic issue such as Woodsmoke when your life is being assaulted and threatened.

Send a Black Rose to your city board members, trustees, council members, mayors, representatives, congressmen and women, President, Prime Minister, elected leaders, members of parliament, government and all others who have neglected to fulfil their fiduciary duty to protect all citizens from the deadly effects of Woodsmoke, and who have not yet taken immediate action to prohibit all Woodburning in every city and community.

Send a Black Rose on your letterhead by way of a stamp and ink pad, photo copy, fresh rose, a photo, a painting, a tinted black rose, an artificial black rose. Send IT! Share the story of the Black Rose with others world-wide. Make the Black Rose become your story!
Demand that immediate proactive action be taken by all leaders to ban all outdoor open air burning in every community. Demand that regulations be implemented to phase out the use of all Woodburning devices and biomass burning in every community.

Remember that negligent leaders are a deadly threat to your life and health. Give a Black Rose to show your disapproval of their lack of action, concern, compassion, regard, decency and moral obligation to end Woodsmoke in our world.

By: Anonymous

OBITUARY: DEATH FROM WOODSMOKE

They tried and tried to end the Woodsmoke

It ruined their life and it made them choke

It made them sad and made them weary

It left them broken and left them teary

For those who don’t believe this crime

Help for millions never came on time

Their death resulted in neglect

From the many leaders and their disrespect

They lived their dash and they lived it well

Warning others about the Woodsmoke Hell

Of Woodsmoke and its destructive tale

It’s waiting for you and will impale

Your life on its plume and toxic trail

So heed their warning and heed their call

End Woodsmoke soon for one and all

If not, you’ll end up dead of course

With great sadness and remorse

R.I.P. Death By Woodsmoke!

By: Anonymous

Webmaster comment:
We wish to thank Anonymous for allowing BHA to post this wonderful and sincere idea about sending a Black Rose to elected officials that have ignored common sense and our pleas to end woodsmoke in communities.

The "living" Obituary, written by Anonymous who is suffering and dying due to woodsmoke, should be a wake-up call to all elected officials who sit quietly, apathetically, and take no action to end woodsmoke. Elected officials who are doing nothing to end poisonous, deadly woodsmoke are leaving a legacy of inaction they should be ashamed of because they could have ended woodsmoke pollution with legislation...but, they did not!

Also, all people that are suffering from woodsmoke in their neighborhood and home should take action too, and inform their local elected officials to ban woodsmoke. Unless you take action now, many loved ones will continue to become sick, and die from woodsmoke emissions.

Fighting For Fresh Air

2011-01-30T18:24:00.000-08:00

Letter to the Editor
Tasmanian Times
1-31-11

Fighting For Fresh Air

Fighting for fresh air isn’t anything you would imagine millions would face each day in our Canadian communities. Yet, sadly that is what we do. Each day families face the toxic assault from Woodsmoke pollution in their community. Children and adults struggle daily to breathe air that is permeated and saturated with Woodsmoke emissions. The toxic cancer causing chemicals found in Woodsmoke are in the most minuscule of crevices in every home. You cannot keep Woodsmoke from entering your home. Millions suffer, many become ill and die from Woodsmoke.

In the past people also fought for their right and common decency to breathe healthy air-tobacco-smoke free. Proponents of the tobacco industry encouraged millions to smoke. The tragic results were that millions died. The legacy left behind were millions who suffered from Cancer, COPD and other tobacco related smoking diseases. We are greatly indebted to the caring souls who fought for the rights of others to see that tobacco smoking was prohibited in schools, restaurants, hospitals, planes, parks, playgrounds, and vehicles that had children in them and other venues. Millions of lives have been saved. But sadly, bans came too late for millions and millions who died.

A powerful quote from Mahatma Gandhi describes the strength it took for those who so valiantly fought for each of us to have the right to breathe air free of Tobacco smoke. “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win”. The wise words from Mahatma Gandhi are filled with truth, courage and inspiration. These words described what activists faced then fighting for Tobacco Bans and what people face now for Woodsmoke-free air to breathe and banning Woodsmoke.

World-renowned Scientists and Doctors concur that Woodsmoke Pollution is killing us and is linked to Asthma, Cancer, COPD, SIDS, Cardiovascular, Cardiopulmonary and other diseases. Those who know the daily struggle of trying to breathe Woodsmoke filled air know that we too are being ignored. We too are being ridiculed. We too are being attacked. But, what we know is that we too will win this battle, just as it was won with Tobacco smoke being banned everywhere.

Communities across Canada must become informed, educated and concerned about the grave danger of Toxic Woodsmoke Pollution. Our leaders must recognize that ridicule is borne from ignorance and intolerance. Our leaders must adopt by-laws to ban all outdoor open air burning in every Province. Regulations must be implemented to phase out the use of all Woodburning stoves, Woodburning fireplaces, OWBs (outdoor woodboilers) and pellet stoves. New home building codes must exclude all Woodburning devices.

Fighting for fresh air must become part of our past. Being able to breathe healthy air-Woodsmoke-free must become our future. Take action today to ban Woodsmoke. Speak up. Follow the wise words of Gandhi: We will be ignored…but not for long! We will be ridiculed…but not for long! We will be assaulted…but not for long! But then, we will win!

Linda Beaudin
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada

Source:
Tasmanian Times.com
1-31-11

Hearts and Hearth....A Deadly Combination

2011-01-26T17:04:00.000-08:00

Hearts and Hearth....A Deadly Combination

Letters to the Editor
Simcoe Reformer

Hearts and Hearth are a deadly combination. As we acknowledge the importance of February as Heart Month, we are made aware of the role that our environment plays in our heart health. Scientists and Doctors world wide concur that Wood smoke pollution has a grave impact in relationship to our heart health. Wood burning stoves, Wood burning fireplaces, OWBS, pellet stoves, all outdoor open air burning and biomass burning are a threat to our heart.

Millions in Canada suffer from heart disease. Breathing fine particulate matter (PM2.5) can very quickly affect the rhythm of our heart. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation “Short and long-term exposure to air pollution are estimated to have resulted in 21,000 premature deaths in Canada in 2008 as well as 11,000 hospital admissions.”

“Heart attacks, heart failure and stroke make up an estimated 42 to 69% of deaths and 60% of the hospital admissions linked to poor air quality.”

“When we breathe, we inhale air pollution particles that are carried to the lungs where, says Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher Dr. Stephan van Eeden, they induce inflammation in the lung tissues. This inflammation spills over into the bloodstream and inflames blood vessels, which allows cholesterol and other substances to easily build up, a condition known as atherosclerosis—one of the main causes of heart attacks and stroke”

Wood smoke emissions from residential chimneys and all Wood burning contribute to the polluted air that gravely affects our heart health making millions suffer, become ill and die from Wood smoke related heart disease. Everyone suffers from breathing Wood smoke

Make this February the month you become informed about the deadly toxins found in Wood smoke. Make this the month that you wisely take action to inform and educate others about the grave dangers that Wood smoke pollution plays in your community.

We only have one heart. Why allow Wood smoke Pollution to destroy its perfect performance? We should not. By prohibiting all Wood burning in our communities we can assure that we will live longer, have healthier hearts and enjoy a better quality of life.

Hearts and Hearth are a deadly combination. Protect your heart by breathing healthy air—Wood smoke-free. What better time to take action to ban all Wood smoke than the month of February…Heart Month.

By Linda Baker Beaudin
Air Is Precious

Source: Simcoe Reformer
50 Gilbertson Drive
Simcoe
N3Y 4L2

Webmaster: Ban all woodsmoke. Do that for yourself...and for your heart!

City has responsibility to protect residents

2011-01-24T19:12:00.000-08:00

City has responsibility to protect residents

Letter to the Editor

Sunday, 23 January 2011
Lethbridge Herald

Regarding the Jan. 16 letter, "Base wood smoke argument on local numbers" as with issues like second-hand tobacco smoke and food allergies, perhaps Mr. Forster might consider, with some compassion, people who are at risk.

Wood burning does present a threat to the environment and public health, and wood smoke impacts individuals nearby directly, as smoking does in public spaces. Information on the health effects of wood smoke is available from the Lung Association, the Washington State Dept. of Ecology, and similar authorities.

From the first time I heard my daughter coughing late at night because of a wood fire pit, I knew that should not be part of urban life. My children have each had allergic reactions triggered by neighbourhood smoke, and last winter it gave them burning eyes, irritated, stuffy sinuses, frequent sore throats and coughs and me, a pained chest and terrible, chronic cough. Sometimes two or more neighbourhood chimneys were smoking at once.

We've so appreciated how much better neighbourhood air has been this winter. But on this Monday morning (Jan. 17), we awoke to find smoke blowing in through our registers.

In response to my Nov. 11 letter, a resident phoned to tell me about smoke in their neighbourhood, and said at that time that informing the city had not helped.
No one should ever be forced to breathe neighbourhood wood smoke: not one adult, young or elderly; not one vulnerable growing child. I believe that locally this is not an issue of numbers or of lengthy data collection, but of the city's responsibility to protect residents from harm.

Wood smoke contains harmful compounds and gases, and large amounts of particulate matter. The fine particles cannot be kept outside. Once inhaled, they penetrate deeply into the lungs, where they can injure cells, worsen heart or breathing problems, and may cause permanent damage to lungs. Those are not opinions; they are documented facts.

Cities already have enough pollution, and less-polluting alternatives to wood fires are available. I sincerely hope there is at least one present or future city council member who would advocate protecting clean air, by helping Lethbridge to become wood-smoke free.

Cathy Baiton
Lethbridge

Source:
Lethbridge Herald
Alberta, Canada
Sunday, 23 January 2011

Webmaster: Yes. A by-law to prohibit/ban all wood burning is needed...and soon.

Grief of Time Lost----Poem----Anonymous

2011-01-20T15:59:00.000-08:00

Grief of Time Lost

Heavy hearted and filled with toxic Woodsmoke

The small weakened child began to choke

The days grew long and the sky was grey

The weakened child could not play

He watched from inside looking out

He could not call, he could not shout

His lungs were filled with the heavy smoke

His lungs were filled as he began to choke

The darkened sky and the Mothers tears

Confirmed the worst of any Mothers fears

Her child was dying from smothering smoke

Her child had suffered from deadly Woodsmoke

It filled all the cities and it filled all the towns

It filled all the rooms and amused all the clowns

Who doubted and laughed and mocked and denied

The horror, the sorrow of all the sad cries

That echoed so deeply from mountain to vale

That left all the people dead in its trail

Of the deadly dark plumes and the toxins that filled

All the suffering and sorrow and all those it killed

Grief of time lost never again to be found

Not in life, not in death, not in tears, and not on the mound

Of the child that was buried on the sorrow filled day

Oh the child, sweet child that died in that May

And the trees bowed in reverence to pay their respect

For the child that died from the leaders neglect

But the Woodsmoke continued to cover the towns

The Woodsmoke brought death and sorrow and frowns

More children were buried and more parents did weep

They mourned in the daytime and they mourned in their sleep

But the Woodsmoke continued and the clowns they did dance

Till the Reverend came forth from his home in the Manse

And pleaded with leaders to end all the hell

So children could laugh and so children could yell

So children could play and love and live life

Free of suffering from Woodsmoke and all the strife

Oh think of the children and his eyes filled with tears

And he raged with anger and his soul filled with fear

If you do not stop this and end all of this smoke

More children will die and more children will choke

The clowns hung their heads and considered his thought

But we want the money and we can be bought

For a price and a slice of the cake or the pie

Then they turned their backs and avoided his eyes

And the raven stood silent and bluebird did weep

No Robin called and no sweet sparrow cheeped.

The rain fell from the sky like a soul in despair

And the Reverend was saddened by the smoke in the air

That had killed all the children and taken their life

While the clowns neglected Father, Child and wife

And the silence was deafening without the bird call

No children did skip, or play with a ball

Their bodies were weakened and filled with such pain

While the clowns counted money and added their gains

Oh the sorrow and grief of time lost now becomes clear

That life has no value to the clowns and their peers

The greed filled their pockets and their laugher was heard

No sorrow, no sadness, no repentance or word

And the tall willows did weep and the wings did not flutter

No joy filled the hearts and no sweet songs were uttered

The birds flocked at the graves and bowed their sweet heads

To honor the living but pay respect to the dead

The world became silent without the sound of birdcall

The world became silent as each child did fall

To their death from the Woodsmoke and such sad neglect

No sorrow, no protection and not even respect

But in time the clowns toppled each one by one

And the gains they had made were burned by the sun

The fires that raged all out of control, no trees could be found

No birds and no souls

The greed and the sorrow and grief of time lost

All mankind did pay and oh what a cost.

Anonymous

Webmaster...The writer of the above sincere, caring, and oh so true poem wishes to remain anonymous. We thank the writer for this heartfelt and beautiful poem.

Elected officials and leaders in our towns and communities need to adopt laws to ban woodsmoke to save our children, and ourself too. We also should speak-up and take action to end the horror and death caused by woodsmoke where we live. If not, the legacy we leave will be that we let others harm and kill our children, and we did nothing. Is that the legacy you want? Don't be passive about ending woodsmoke. If we do nothing, as the poem above says...."All mankind did pay and oh what a cost".......our children!

Outdoor wood-burning stoves are unhealthy to public

2011-01-15T10:53:00.000-08:00

Outdoor wood-burning stoves are unhealthy to public

By By NANCY ALDERMAN
Norwich Bulletin

Posted Jan 12, 2011

Although New York has tried to get outdoor wood furnaces under control, its new regulations will not protect people who live in the vicinity of one.

The newer phase II units have not gone through field testing, and only the industry is claiming that they burn 90 percent cleaner. Environment and Human Health Inc., a nonprofit organization that receives no funding from business or corporations, has monitored the inside air of homes near outdoor wood furnaces and found that homes as far away as 850 feet have wood smoke levels way above Environmental Protection Agency standards.

So far, only Washington state has banned outdoor wood furnaces. It’s now time for other states, such as Connecticut, to follow. If people’s health and property values are to be protected, then a ban must be enacted.

The Farm Bureau fights regulations in every state so farmers can save a few thousand dollars on heating bills. But neighbors lose the entire value of their homes and their health. Outdoor wood furnaces emit as much smoke as 22 indoor wood stoves. Outdoor wood furnaces are not certified by EPA. Indoor wood stoves are.

New York’s new regulations require that units be 90 percent cleaner, but that does not apply to those already in existence. So, 90 percent clearner than what?

The industry claims phase II units are 90 percent cleaner than the old ones, but these newer units have never been tested in the field and people living near them say they’re almost as polluting as the old ones. The technology is the same — and it’s flawed.

Exposures of two hours or more — peak exposure — is enough to cause serious health effects. The 90-percent-cleaner claim is based on a 24-hour average, not peak exposure, which causes the greatest harm. The industry’s 90-percent-cleaner claim will not bring those peak exposures down to levels that will protect health or home values.

Not enough

New York requires only a 100-foot setback. Smoke from these furnaces, whether new or old, forms in a plume up to 1,000 feet — and sometimes a half mile. One hundred feet will in no way protect neighbors.

New York established stack-height requirements, but it doesn’t matter how high because the wood smoke that comes out of the stack falls toward the ground.

New York mandates “only good wood” can be used. Burning even the best and driest wood in the world will still give off toxic emissions. This is like saying when you smoke a cigarette, be sure to use “only good, dry and clean tobacco” as if that would keep the cigarette smoke from being toxic.

When an agency tries to regulate a product that is harmful, the agency often tries to please both the industry and the public. When this happens, too often, the public good is sacrificed.

These devices do not lend themselves to regulation. They must be banned until better technologies are found — and they have not yet been found.

Nancy Alderman is president of Environment and Human Health Inc. in North Haven.
Copyright 2011 Norwich Bulletin. Some rights reserved

Clean Air: Just What the Dr. Ordered

2011-01-14T17:57:00.000-08:00

Clean Air: Just What the Dr. Ordered
What is the U.S government doing to stop air pollution?

Post by Woodnyet » Fri Dec 10, 2010
Source: BurningIssues.org

Public health and medical organizations are urging Congress to support the experts at the US Environmental Protection Agency who are working to update the safeguards that protect public health from pollution, and to resist pressure from polluters trying to stop them.

Visit NRDCs Switchboard BlogA letter signed by the American Lung Association, the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and nearly 300 other organizations outlined that while the EPA has been successful at protecting Americans' health, there is more to do:

Forty years ago, Congressional leaders from both parties wrote and passed the Clean Air Act. This law directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect public health and the environment. Since then this wise congressional legacy has saved lives and improved the quality of life for millions of Americans.

But the job is not yet done. Far too many of our communities still suffer from poor air quality. Too many families, particularly those of lower income, face the impacts of toxic air pollution every day. And far too many of our nation’s children, elderly, and people with asthma, cardiovascular and lung diseases and diabetes live under added threats to their health from breathing polluted air and the impacts of global warming.

And continues:

Over the coming years the EPA will be fulfilling its duty to reduce the smog and soot pollution, air toxics, and global warming pollution that are the cause of these public health threats. We urge you to fully support the EPA in fulfilling this responsibility. Doing so is quite literally a matter of life and death for tens of thousands of people and will mean the difference between chronic debilitating illness or a healthy life for hundreds of thousands more.

The groups also rolled out a new ad campaign for hill publications, reinforcing the central message of the letter. You can see the ad here. The pressure from health groups is in response to polluter efforts to halt creation of new air pollution safeguards.

As Charles D. Connor, President and CEO of the American Lung Association said, “We urge members of Congress to reject the pleas from polluters and continue to support the Act and the EPA’s ability to protect the air we breathe.”

Now, what exactly are the polluters trying to do? Persuade Congress that this is all just expensive, pointless rule-making that will cost the government money and kill jobs. The Edison Electric Institute has been presenting the new safeguards as a complicated and frightening parade of regulatory over-reach; but the World Resources Institute blew that to pieces with a powerful analysis that you can find here.

And the US Chamber of Commerce went the way of kindergartners with a knock-off of the game Candyland to show how awful protecting public health would be for business. And I've blogged on some of the other efforts by polluters to hold back the EPA.

Fortunately, our nation’s leading health organizations are reminding us what's at stake. As Cynthia Bearer, MD, PhD, Board Chair of the Children's Environmental Health Network says

"Children are especially vulnerable to harm from polluted air. Air pollutants have been linked to asthma attacks, infant mortality, and even DNA damage to the fetus. Dirty air can be, quite literally, a killer."

What's the bottom line? As O. Marion Burton, MD, FAAP and president of the American Academy of Pediatrics put it,

"There is a compelling need to move forward, not back, on efforts to ensure clean air for all."

There you have it, Congress: Uphold the Clean Air Act. Doctors' orders.

source
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pete-altm ... 94168.html
The Surgeon General has determined that there is no safe level of ambient smoke.

If you smell even a subtle odor of smoke, you are being exposed to poisonous and carcinogenic compounds.

Join us in the fight for smoke-free neighborhoods. Your family's health and safety are at stake!

Source: BurningIssues.org
http://burningissues.org/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=4019#p9983

Webmaster: Readers----Please go to the BurningIssues website for more information. This website is great.

Let's ban all woodsmoke!

Other cities taking action against wood smoke

2011-01-10T18:14:00.000-08:00

OTHER CITIES TAKING ACTION AGAINST WOOD SMOKE

Saturday, 08 January 2011

Letter to the Editor
Lethbridge Herald
Alberta, Canada

Mr. Pushor (Nov. 24) and Mr. Forster (Dec. 18), have criticized the idea that the city should ensure everyone's right to breathe fresh, wood smoke-free air, in and around their own homes. But as Robert Smith's Dec. 4 letter points out, "It is a public health issue, just like smoking."

Dr. Mark Miller of Chico, Calif., in a news article on residential wood smoke, suggests that people should care about air quality, "because this is what a community does. They consider the health of everyone." ("Doctor knows firsthand the effects of smoke on lungs," www.centerforhealthreporting.org)

Numerous government, health, and air-quality organizations, including the Lung Association, explain that wood smoke contains harmful pollutants like fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins and furans, formaldehyde and acrolein. Even with air filters and closed windows, it can make the air seriously unhealthy, in the backyards, living rooms, and children's bedrooms, of nearby tobacco smoke-free homes.

An Internet search can also explain why some places have begun taking action. In the Wood Burning section of its official website, the City of Fort Collins, Colo., informs citizens: "The city recommends that you avoid using your fireplace or wood stove to protect the health of yourself and your neighbors." The city of Elmira, New York, is an example of places that protect the health and safety of residents, by prohibiting fire pits that are wood burning.

Residents of some California counties were asked to avoid burning wood this past Christmas, in order "to give the gift of clean air." ("Please don't burn wood this weekend, Bay Area air quality officials advise," www.mercurynews.com)

In 2009, Montreal banned new installations of wood stoves. I'd like to suggest that a bylaw like this could be, along with a ban on the recreational pollution of outdoor burning, an achievable way for our own city to prevent added smoke emissions, while aiming further to provide equally full protection, for all Lethbridge residents.

Hampstead, Que., set a high standard in 2008, with a strong bylaw banning wood-burning appliances. The town's mayor, William Steinberg, has expressed confidence that other communities will follow Hampstead's lead. ("Hampstead ban a burning issue--and a good call," www.themonitor.ca)

I remain hopeful that Lethbridge will become a leader on this issue, too.

Cathy Baiton
Lethbridge

Mother Earth------Woodsmoke Poem

2011-01-08T16:30:00.000-08:00

Mother Earth

She looks down upon the Earth in disbelief

Saddened by the horror and by the grief

Barren land and gritty sand

Instead of soil turned over by the hand of man

Forests stripped revealing hell

Burning fires and the lone church bell

Ring out against the haze filled sky

Children with Asthma and tears in their eye

Suffering from Woodsmoke polluting the Earth

Illness and death oh what a curse

Mankind and his desire to burn everywhere

On hillside, in cities and what do they care

But the innocent children still pay the price

With their health and suffering and yes with their life

Death from Woodsmoke is heartless, is cruel and relentless

It is horror, it is sadness, it is illness and senseless

Pain and the suffering of children can be found everywhere

It weighs heavy on parents who truly do care

But Woodsmoke continues to swallow up life

It shows no mercy to children, to husband or wife

Families grieve, families weep, families cry in despair

When will mankind stop burning wood and polluting the air?

Webmaster comment...The above beautiful and sincere poem was written by an individual that wishes to remain anonymous. Thank you for your submission.

January 2011

Where there's smoke, there's pollution!!!!

2011-01-04T16:17:00.000-08:00

Source:
bclocalnews.com
Canada)
Published: October 31, 2010 6:00 AM

The Editor,

Port Coquitlam residents are invited to participate in molding a greener, futuristic view of our city.

Improving neighbourhood air quality would be a vital step to going green.

Air quality differs from one residential area to another. Poor neighbourhood air quality is noted in areas where wood-burning fireplaces exist. Fireplaces are a very uncontrolled source of air pollution, according to a professor in UBC's School of Environmental Health.

Wood smoke poses a health threat to wood stove and fireplace users and to their neighbours, states Washington State Department of Ecology. Emissions from one chimney can foul the air of all the surrounding neighbours and present health hazards.

How informed people are about these health hazards contained in wood smoke emissions is a guess. Many individuals do not relate a scratchy throat (or the "not quite feeling right") to wood-smoke. Are people aware that these symptoms could be the beginning of a serious condition related to wood-smoke emissions?

BCLA has a list of these conditions and claims that wood-smoke is linked to asthma, respiratory conditions, lung and heart problems, including cancer.

Government wants to improve air quality but has no jurisdiction over communities as far as a ban on wood-burning fireplaces is concerned; that power lies in the hands of municipal leaders.

For council and environment enhancement committee to implement a no-burning bylaw should not depend on how many people are complaining but needs to be based on the fact that too many people’s health will be affected if a ban does not take place.

Brie Oishi, Port Coquitlam

Note:Source:
bclocalnews.com
(Canada)
Published: October 31, 2010 6:00 AM

Dear Santa letter--from the children of the world

2010-11-30T07:12:00.000-08:00

Dear Santa letter--from the children of the world

Dear Santa:

I have been waiting for weeks to see you at the parade. I was so good, but now I am very sick with my asthma again. Mom and Dad said it would be better if I stayed home and watched the parade on TV instead.

Santa, I wrote a letter asking you for a special gift this year and I wanted to give you my letter at the parade, but, Mom and Dad said I have to mail it. I hope you will understand.

Santa, I don’t want any presents–like toys and games-this year. You can give them to some other boys and girls. I am hoping you will give me something very special that I need. I want clean air to breathe. Air that does not have Woodsmoke in it.

Right now, I cannot breathe inside my home. Many times I can’t make snow forts or play with Porschie, my dog, outdoors due to the Woodsmoke. My asthma makes me stay inside because I can’t breathe the bad woodsmoke air outside.

Santa, my wish is for you to drop off my letter-while you are delivering the gifts for the other kids-at every city hall in the world. My letter is asking that all leaders to please ban Woodsmoke in every city. People, and we kids, are getting sicker and sicker from breathing that bad woodsmoke.

That would be the best gift ever for millions of boys and girls and everyone. I cough all the time. Santa, do you cough too? You have to crawl through all those chimneys. It must be terrible for you. Do you wear a mask to breathe like the firemen do? No wonder you don’t stay very long anywhere with all that woodsmoke in the air.

Santa, if you can drop all those letters off, people would begin to understand and finally help us. All wood burning must be banned.

I will leave you extra cookies and vegetables for the reindeer. Vegetables are good for you! Please help all us children, Santa. More than toys, we must have clean air to breathe for our little lungs and even our Grandparents need that. Everyone needs clean air to breathe Woodsmoke-free. I hope you deliver all my letters so we can have the best gift anyone could ever receive…clean air…and no more Woodsmoke.

Santa, thank you.

Webmaster...The author wishes to remain anonymous, but dedicates the above letter to all the children of the world suffering from woodsmoke.

The webmaster joins in hoping that elected leaders in the world will do what they can to end woodsmoke in their community....and to ensure that children will be able to live a more healthier life by ending the destruction and horror of woodsmoke.

City Banning The Wrong Smoke

2010-11-21T09:44:00.000-08:00

City Banning The Wrong Smoke
Letter to the Editor

Ladysmith Chronicle.com - Letters
341 1st Avenue, Ladysmith, B.C., V9G 1A3
1-250-245-2277

Published: October 25, 2010

Editor:

It was no surprise when the annual Cowichan Valley light up started last Friday. Following a notice sent to my phone, I watched as the sky slowly filled to its familiar haze. In fact, one of my neighbours celebrates the first day of light up by lighting his wet leaf pile to share the smoke with my children gallivanting in their own back yard.

As I hustle my children indoors on the lovely autumn day, I am struck by the fact that Duncan council has spent so much energy on this politically correct bylaw to try and ban cigarette smoking downtown, but are seemingly oblivious to the billowing of wood smoke.

I very easily keep my children away from cigarette smoke; however, I find it rather difficult to shelter them from the smog that all the open burning creates over our lovely valley.

I am sure it is much more politically correct to try and ban smoking. I have born witness to the wall anti-open burning campaigners come up against with the city.

It is a shame that the easy way seems to be taken when it comes to banning the correct light up.

A. Richards

North Cowichan

Breathe At Your Own Risk!--Letter to the Editor

2010-11-19T21:05:00.000-08:00

Breathe At Your Own Risk!

Letter to the Editor
London Free Press Website
369 York Street, P.O. Box 2280
London, Ontario N6A 4G1
Posted November 19, 2010

Breathe At Your Own Risk!

It surrounds us. It is a life necessity. We cannot survive without it. AIR! Yet, the message being sent by our Canadian Government is to Breathe at your own risk!

Small Particulate pollution (PM2.5) is destroying our health, quality of life and fragile environment. People suffer and die from the toxic effects of Woodsmoke Pollution. Canada is a burning Nation. Today a most needed bill C-311 was killed by the Harper Government. Once again the message being delivered by the Conservative Government is that the health and well being of Canadians falls into the abyss. Sadly, we become the canary in the cage being subjected to breathing more cancer causing chemicals each day.

The facts are alarming. The statistics shocking! In October, 2010, a statement was issued from environment ministers "Air Pollution has a huge impact on the environment, human health and the economy" said the Honourable Charlene Johnson, Newfoundland and Labrador's Minister of Environment and Conservation, and CCME president.

A study released in 2008 calculated that the costs of illness caused by air pollution (exceeded) $8 billion (annually in Canada). "CCMC is the primary minister-led intergovernmental forum for collective action on environmental issues of national and international concern." The development of the major elements will begin in 2011. Implementation to improve air quality standards will begin in 2013. Meanwhile we become ill, suffer and die from particulate pollution in Canada.

Woodburning stoves, Woodburning fireplaces, pellet stoves, pellet plants, Biomass plants, all Woodburning devices, and all outdoor open air burning contribute to the toxic polluted air Canadians are breathing. All Woodburning must be banned, if not we continue to breathe at our own risk.

Scientific and medical evidence support the claim that Particulate Pollution and Woodsmoke Pollution are causing grave harm to our health and environment.

According to pediatrician, Dr. William Sammons, USA, biomass burning emits the most toxic chemicals known to science, including deadly dioxin, mercury, fine particulate matter and others. "These emissions cause asthma, heart disease, diabetes and other illness in children as well as adults, and should never qualify as the "cleanest" technology under our Clean Air Act," Dr. Sammons said. Over 77,000 doctors, the American Lung Association, Massachusetts Medical Society, North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians and others oppose burning biomass on health grounds.

Renowned global scientists and medical doctors concur and support the fact that biomass burning is contributing to our global warming. Biomass burning is a leading contributor to millions dying from the toxic cancer causing chemicals found in Woodsmoke.

It is long overdue that the Canadian Government becomes fully accountable for the mass suffering of millions of deaths each year from Woodsmoke related diseases, due to air quality and particulate pollution. Sadly the lack of efforts in leading our country toward cleaner air has become as toxic as the air we breathe.

We in Canada should not have to.....Breathe At Our Own Risk.

Written by....Linda Baker Beaudin, Air Is Precious, Cornwall, Ontario K6J 4P8

Press Release Source: Environment and Human Health, Inc.

2010-10-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

Press Release Source: Environment and Human Health, Inc.
Monday October 25, 2010, 12:00 pm EDT

WOODBRIDGE, Conn., Oct. 25, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Environment and Human Health, Inc.'s (EHHI) newly released report, The Dangers from Outdoor Wood Furnaces, shows that current regulations for outdoor wood furnaces (OWFs) are not sufficient to protect human health.

Wood smoke contains many of the same toxic compounds that are found in cigarette smoke. Just a few of them include benzene, formaldehyde, and 1,3-butadiene, all three of which are carcinogenic.

Currently, some states have OWF "set-back" regulations of 100 feet, others have "set-backs" of 200 feet and some states have no regulations at all.

EHHI measured two particle sizes found by EPA to be contained in wood smoke and designated to be the most dangerous to human health. These particles are PM 2.5 and PM 0.5.

The study showed that a house 100 feet from an OWF had 14 times the levels of PM 2.5 as houses not near an outdoor wood furnace and 9 times the levels of the EPA air standards.

A house 120 feet from an OWF had over 8 times the levels of PM 2.5 as the houses not near an outdoor wood furnace, and 6 times the levels of the EPA air standards.

A house 240 feet from OWF had 12 times the levels of PM 2.5 as the houses not near an outdoor wood furnace and 8 times the levels of the EPA air standards.

And a house as far away as 850 feet from OWF had 6 times the levels of PM 2.5 as the houses not near an outdoor wood furnace and 4 times the levels of the EPA air standards.

High levels were present in every 24-hour period tested inside homes neighboring outdoor wood furnaces. All houses tested had particulate exposures well above the EPA ambient air quality standard. Levels of PM 2.5 that exceed the EPA standards are associated with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) attacks and hospitalizations, and are also associated with increased risk of cardiac attacks.

Particles of wood smoke are so small that windows and doors cannot keep smoke out. A study by the University of Washington, Seattle, showed that 50 to 70 percent of outdoor wood smoke entered homes that were not burning wood.

Because wood smoke particles are so small, they are not filtered out by the nose or the upper respiratory system. Instead, these small particles end up deep in the lungs where they can cause structural damage and chemical changes. Carcinogenic chemicals and wood smoke irritants adhere to the small particles and enter the deep, sensitive regions of the lungs where toxic injury is high.

Public Health Toxicologist David Brown, Sc.D., an expert in wood smoke, says, "Some of the health effects reported to EHHI include awakening at night with coughing, headaches, inability to catch breath, continual sore throats, bronchitis and colds requiring children to stay home from school. In some cases the breathing difficulty has gone into asthma attacks requiring emergency-room treatment. Even episodes of short-term exposures to extreme levels of fine particulates from wood smoke and other sources, for periods as short as two hours, can produce significant adverse health effects."

Oncologist D. Barry Boyd, MD, says, "In addition to the fine particulate matter, wood smoke contains a number of organic compounds that are potential or recognized carcinogens. Exposure over time may raise the risk not only of chronic lung disease but also of lung cancer. As well, wood smoke interferes with normal lung development in infants and children. It increases children's risk of lower respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Wood smoke exposure can depress the immune system and damage the layer of cells in the lungs that protect and cleanse the airways."

Outdoor wood furnaces create emissions different from either fireplaces or indoor wood stoves. The Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) found that the average fine particle emissions from one OWF are equivalent to the emissions from 22 EPA-certified indoor wood stoves, 205 oil furnaces or as many as 8,000 natural gas furnaces.

The short-term health effects of wood smoke exposures are burning eyes and throat, sinusitis, bronchitis and pneumonia.

The long-term health effects are asthma, COPD, cancer, cardiovascular problems and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Dawn Mays-Hardy of the American Lung Association, New England, says, "Because wood smoke has many of the same components as cigarette smoke, and because wood smoke emissions from outdoor wood furnaces are so thick and pervasive for all those who live near them, American Lung sees them as dangerous to health."

President of Environment and Human Health, Inc. Nancy Alderman says, "EHHI has now shown that wood smoke from outdoor wood furnaces enters neighboring houses in high enough amounts to cause serious health impacts to these families. States can no longer ignore this science and should ban outdoor wood furnaces until safer technologies are found."

For seeing or downloading the full report go to http://ehhi.org

The Environment and Human Health, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=7516

Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield, MA.

2010-10-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield is a grassroots organization dedicated to stopping a proposed biomass incinerator in Springfield MA.

http://www.springfieldincinerator.info/

The following groups have joined Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield to oppose this incinerator: Massachusetts Medical Society, Hampden District Medical Society, American Lung Association, Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition, Toxics Action Center, Arise for Social Justice, Greater Springfield chapter of the Massachusetts Senior Action Council, Western Massachusetts American Friends Service Committee, Connecticut River Watershed Council, Conservation Law Foundation, Massachusetts Environmental Energy Alliance, The McKnight Neighborhood Youth Council, East Forest Park Civic Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility/Pioneer Valley.

October 19 2010 - Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield has just received notice that Epsilon Associates is planning to change its fuel from mostly construction and demolition debris to waste wood chips at its proposed Springfield facility! Although PRE's change is a testament to our hard work, this change requires immediate action on all of our parts at the state and local levels. Below is the link to the developer's Notice of Project Change document for your review:
http://www.springfieldincinerator.info/content_downloads/Submittal%209-30-2010%20Notice%20of%20Project%20Change.pdf

Our Position

No incineration in Springfield! Springfield does not need another polluting plant. The state and the city should abandon all incineration and support clean, safe alternatives and industry in order to protect public health. Springfield is an environmental justice community and a health-impaired community with asthma and respiratory illness rates nearly double those of the rest of the state. The switch to wood waste is still dirty and a danger to public health. Emissions from this incinerator will include the same amount of particulate matter 2.5 and 10, the same amount of VOC's, the same amount of SO2, same amount of NP3 and almost the same amount of HAPs. The plant will still emit arsenic, mercury and lead. There will be more truck trips - 140 per day - using heavier trucks to accomodate a larger amount of fuel - now 1,184 tons per day. No burning! Not this either!

We Need to Act Now

After giving Palmer unlimited time to craft their application to change fuel, the state gives the public only 20 days to comment on a more than 300 page document. We need more time to ensure that everyone’s voices are heard! Comment deadline is October 26. This project does not require a Beneficial Use Determination by the state, it does not require an Environmental Impact Report unless MEPA decides on this step, and it does not require a public hearing for an air permit from Department of Environmental Protection unless DEP decides on one. We need you and your members to comment on this proposal to ensure that an Environmental Impact Report for the region is required and to ensure that the DEP holds public hearings on this project. Without your comments by 10/26, we could lose our chance to stop this project.

Why The Rush? Can We Trust This Developer?

Epsilon openly states in its Notice of Change that is needs to start building by July 2011 to avoid new EPA clean air regulations:

3.1.2 Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD)
PSD review is a federally mandated program for review of new major sources of criteria pollutants or major modifications to existing sources. For PSD purposes, a biomass fired boiler facility is a major source if emissions of any regulated pollutant are greater than 250 tpy. The Facility will not emit greater than 250 tpy of the criteria pollutants NOx, SO2, VOC, CO, and PM10 and therefore is not subject to PSD review. According to the PSD and Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule, issued May 13, 2010, PSD would apply to new construction projects emitting more than 100,000 tpy of GHG emissions started after July 1, 2011. PRE plans to begin construction before July 1, 2011, so PSD would not apply.

What they are saying here is, although EPA is going to start regulating CO2 as a pollutant, and even biogenic CO2, they are going to evade this because they plan on starting construction before the implementation date. Obviously Epsilon Associates needs to fast-track their incineration proposal to make it happen. Palmer has already proven they are untrustworthy; last month, the state fined them $27,000 for violating provisions in their air quality permits and hazardous waste management requirements at its paving operation. Palmer was also caught dumping waste water into the ground.

In addition, their proposal claims this incinerator will be carbon-neutral because it will use nonforest wood material. This woody biomass, however, is already claimed by other users. If they take away this woody biomass from current users, more trees will have to be cut to ensure the current supply. So how can this incinerator call itself carbon-neutral if it will harm our forest resources and landscape by ultimately requiring the cutting of forest land, as the Manomet Study has already made clear. And what happens when there is no longer enough woody biomass? Biomass plants in NH are now suing each other over dwindling wood reserves, and most "wood chip" biomass plants in Maine have converted to construction and demolition incinerators because of low fuel stock. Should we expect the same to happen in Springfield with another simple permit change?

================================

The Project: Palmer Renewable Energy proposes to build a 35-megawatt power-generating incinerator at 1000 Page Boulevard, Springfield. Each day, over 1000 tons of the wood will be burned, generating only 1/3 of 1% of Massachusetts' total power production.

Health Issues: In an unexpected and unusual move, The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) has responded to a request by members of Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield (STIS) and issued a letter of comment relating to the Springfield wood waste incinerator's Beneficial Use Determination (BUD) permit. This permit reclassifies the wood waste, declaring it suitable for fuel. The focus of the DPH letter is the lack of a health impact assessment (HIA), something the DPH feels is called for by the BUD regulations.

The Massachusetts Medical Society, an organization representing 20,000 Massachusetts physicians, has voiced their opposition to biomass incineration in general. In the first paragraph of their press release they state: "On the grounds that biomass power plants pose an unacceptable risk to the public's health by increasing air pollution, the Massachusetts Medical Society has adopted a policy opposing three currently proposed large-scale biomass power plants in Massachusetts and urging state government to adopt policies to minimize the approval and construction of new biomass plants."

The Hampden District Medical Society voted unanimously to formally oppose this plant because it presents "an unacceptable public health risk."

The Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition is also formally opposed to this plant as stated in their letter: "The Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition (MBCC) is the largest breast cancer organization in the state representing over 10,000 members. MBCC is dedicated to challenging all obstacles to the eradication of breast cancer. In particular, MBCC is concerned about the link between environmental toxins and the extremely high rate of breast cancer in the state and as a result, is in opposition to the burning of construction and demolition debris at the proposed Palmer Renewable Energy biomass plant."

The Physicians for Social Responsibility/Pioneer Valley oppose construction of incinerators in the valley. "It is the finding of the Physicians for Social Responsibility that the biomass power plants being proposed for several Pioneer Valley locations would contribute to particulate air pollution emissions in a region that already has pollution problems, and therefore we oppose the construction and operation of such plants."

Springfield air quality already receives a failing grade from the American Lung Association on many days of the year. American Lung Association of Massachusetts opposes this incinerator and explains why in a recent press release: "For years, the ALAMA has viewed biomass burning as a significant source of air pollution. We believe that the plants proposed in Massachusetts will create an unnecessary risk to both our state's health and air quality and are particularly concerned by inefficient and dirty sources of power located in communities that already suffer from poor air quality and high asthma rates."

Hampden County is already overburdened with lead pollution. According to the latest EPA figures, Hampden County sources emit 10,461 pounds of lead per year, which is 25% of the state's total.

EPA lead chart:

Effects on Our Children: The children of Hampden County are already suffering from this level of lead exposure with blood lead levels nearly double the state average. Lead can accumulate in bone and cause neurological impairment, developmental problems for children including loss of IQ, hearing impairment, delayed growth and behavior disorders. Researchers for the first time have linked air-pollution exposure before birth with lower IQ scores in childhood, bolstering evidence that smog may harm the developing brain.

The state asthma rate for children continues to climb and is now at 10%, but the Springfield rate is more than 16%! In addition to the emissions from the incinerator, there would be the added exhaust fumes from upwards of 140 truck trips a day. There are 55 schools within a five mile radius of the proposed toxic incinerator. A new study shows that children who breathe traffic-related air pollution at school are more likely to develop asthma, even after taking into account levels of air pollution at their homes.

Schools within a five mile radius of the proposed PRE incinerator

Fallout region with area schools-see website.

Environmental Issues: Burning wood releases 50% more carbon dioxide per unit of energy produced than a coal fired plant.

Carbon dioxide emissions from this incinerator are exempt from regulations.

"The science is clear: global warming is happening faster than ever and humans are responsible. Global warming is caused by releasing what are called greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The most common greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide. Many of the activities we do every day like turn the lights on, cook food, or heat or cool our homes rely on energy sources like coal and oil and that emit carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases. This is a major problem because global warming destabilizes the delicate balance that makes life on this planet possible. Just a few degrees in temperature can completely change the world as we know it, and threaten the lives of millions of people around the world."

Click here to view the source on 350.org and to learn more about how adding more corbon dioxide to the atmosphere could be disastrous!-see website

http://www.springfieldincinerator.info/

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Webmaster: Please go to the Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield website for more details, charts, and graphs. Please support the effort by this organization.

An Innocent Victim of a Fire Pit--Remembering Aliaa

2010-09-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

An Innocent Victim of a Fire Pit

Remembering Aliaa

When we hear or read about a tragedy of a person violently dying, we are shocked and saddened. We ask why and how could this have happened. Could it have been prevented? Aliaa did not have to die so young, but, she did and did so horribly. Aliaa was the young girl that was so severely burned by her father’s action with an outdoor fire pit that she died.

When a child dies because of another person's habit to burn in a fire pit, we are left in absolute disbelief that this could even be possible. But, sadly it is possible because towns and elected officials have been apathetic, unwise, or indifferent not to Ban all outdoor open fires and Woodburning fire pits, fire pots, fireplaces and chimeneas, etc.

We must see this tragedy revealed for what it is—unneeded, unnecessary and preventable. This week in Lenox Township, Michigan, USA, a little 6 year old girl was seriously injured in a needless action with a fire pit. According to the Detroit newspapers, after suffering burns to 90 percent of her body, Aliaa Al-Shara died in the hospital.

This tragic death of Aliaa will be forever etched in our memory. What child should have to pay the price with their life because of being exposed to the grave dangers and use of fire pits, fire rings, bon fires, chimineas, outdoor fire places and all outdoor open air burning? Our cities must take immediate action to end all outdoor open air burning, no exceptions. Aliaa could be your daughter, granddaughter or a friend. The harsh reality is that people are reckless, and the need to burn overshadows the beauty and value of a human life.

Aliaa’s death should bring attention to the world that outdoor open air fires are not safe. They can be deadly weapons. They do grave harm to children. They do take life. They destroy entire families. Other children have suffered extensive and severe burns from fire pits and outdoor open air burning. Breathing Woodsmoke will harm and even kill you. Now is the time to demand that your city take action to BAN all outdoor open air burns. Your efforts will save many, many lives. Take action to make sure that never again will another child die from the use of a fire pit. Keep the memory of a 6 year old girl, Aliaa, alive.

Recently, in Boulder, Colorado, USA, the fire that destroyed 159 homes was started by an outdoor fire pit. How many more homes and lives must be destroyed by these and other outdoor Wood Burning devices of deaths before they are banned?

Aliaa’s life will not have been in vain if we Ban all Outdoor open burning in every city, community, village and town. We must all reach out and do everything possible to save the lives of other children. Do it for your children. Do it to honour and remember Aliaa.

By---Linda Baker Beaudin
Founder, Air is Precious
Cornwall, Ontario, Canada

Web master note---Aliaa Al-Shara's body was burned 90-100% per Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel. Aliaa died on Wednesday, September 22, 2010. This sad and unnecessary death happened in Lenox Township, Michigan, USA. Let's ban fire pits and all other outdoor wood burning. As stated in the letter above, let's do it to honour the memory of Aliaa.

Would energy council address smoke issue?----Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

2010-08-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

Would energy council address smoke issue?
Written by Cathy Baiton

Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Friday, August 27 2010

Regarding the energy-environmental council proposed in the Aug. 7 guest column, it may be helpful to have some concrete examples of specific issues and ideas the group would hope to advance for our community. As the column indicates, this council would desire complete independence in promoting its perspective, reinforced by what it would deem the best information.

If granted the privilege and public trust of a council like this, would it be fully receptive to information and suggestions from all citizens? As I’ve written before, one problem deserving attention is air pollution from the use of wood for heating and cooking, and wood-burning fire pit emissions. What sort of position or advocacy might the proposed council seek to provide on this issue?

Internationally, a movement supported by concerned citizens as well as environmentalists, researchers, scientists and physicians is opposing biomass burning on an industrial scale, and the use of wood as a residential energy source. Some experts are challenging the claim that wood burning is carbon-neutral, and science confirms what a lot of people have discovered through experience: the combustion of wood — even in new, “certified” wood stoves — is considerably more polluting, and far less kind to human lungs, than cleaner energy alternatives.
At times my children have coughed in their beds at night, while toxic second-hand wood smoke, from which our current bylaws offer no protection, seeped into their rooms. Should people really have to tolerate any needless wood smoke in our urban environment, where everyone is sharing the air? I think cleaner and more socially compassionate energy options can and should be encouraged, with the most polluting and harmful practices best left behind. Would the existence of an energy-environmental council help to ensure clean, smoke-free air for better community health?

Perhaps our local officials may become willing to provide informed and caring leadership on the wood smoke problem. It may help if more residents voice concerns about the importance of fresh, clean air.

Whether or not a council like the one proposed will be formed over the long term, wood smoke pollution is affecting parts of our city now. With outdoor wood burning occurring often in some neighbourhoods, and another season of harmful wood stove and wood fireplace emissions on the way, I’m sure many share my hope that positive change on this specific energy and environmental issue can come soon.

Cathy Baiton
Lethbridge

From:Lethbridge Herald
Box 670 T1J 3Z7
504 - 7th Street South
Lethbridge, Alberta
Canada

Ban Wood Burning Fire Pits! Calgary, Alberta

2010-08-27T21:33:00.000-07:00

Firepits writ large

By Heather Berestiansky, Calgary Herald August 27, 2010

Re: "B. C. wildfire haze stirs health fears in Alberta," Aug. 20.

The smoke from the B.C. fires has shown to all Calgarians why those of us who are sensitive to wood smoke want to see firepits outlawed. With healthy people feeling the effects of the smoke, imagine what it is like if you suffer from asthma, or other respiratory conditions. We live in a dense urban environment and wood-burning firepits should not be allowed, especially when clean burning alternatives such as propane or natural gas fire pits exist.

Heather Berestiansky, Calgary
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Coalition Against Wood Burning

2010-08-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

Coalition Against Wood Burning

(***This site is a work in progress as there is so much more to add!***)

New organization helping us to fight woodsmoke.

The International Coalition Against Wood Burning

Some excerpts from this new website are:

A site dedicated to ending wood burning and the health and environmental effects it causes.

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THE ONLY WISE BURNING IS NO BURNING

Much has been published by wood burning appliance makers and forestry that might lead one to believe that wood burning is safe. Not so!

There is no such thing as 'good' smoke. All smoke carries particulate matter that can be drawn deep into the lungs to cause severe damage. If you can smell smoke then you are inhaling these particulates and the damage has begun. You cannot escape the wood smoke that makes its way into your home through ventilation systems and even minute spaces in doors and windows. No air cleaner will clear the air and make it safe to breathe.

We all need to work on this important issue and we need to do it now!

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Wood smoke pollution and your health

For those that think that doctors are lax in speaking out on the wood smoke issue and its harmful effects on our health and environment, here are 3 prominent doctors who tell it like it is.

Please pass this on to your municipalities and governmental agencies, many of which have no idea of the seriousness of living next to someone who burns and releases the toxins into our air.

With gratitude to:

Dr. Jim Markos, medical lung specialist (Australian Lung Foundation)

Dr. Sverre Vedal of the University of Washington

Dr. Michael Aizen from the Australian Medical Association

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaxSgglRpLY
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Effects of Wood Smoke

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons are produced in abundance when you burn wood.
"They are primarily formed by incomplete combustion of carbon-containing fuels such as wood, coal, diesel, fat, or tobacco. Tar also contains PAHs. Since human civilization relies so heavily on combustion, PAHs are inevitably linked to our energy production. In this sense, PAH can be thought of as marker molecules as their abundance can be directly proportional to combustion processes in the region and therefore directly related to air quality. Different types of combustion yield different distributions of PAHs."� Wikipedia�

The EPA estimates that the lifetime cancer risk from wood stove smoke is twelve times greater than that from an equal volume of second hand tobacco smoke. (The Health Effects of Wood Smoke, Washington State Department of Ecology)

"Burning two cords of wood produces the same amount of mutagenic particles as: Driving 13 gasoline powered cars 10,000 miles each at 20 miles/gallon. These figures indicate that the worst contribution that an individual is likely to make to the mutagenicity of the air is using a wood stove for heating, followed by driving a diesel car." ( Dr. Joellen Lewtas, Contribution of Source Emissions of the Mutagenicity of Ambient Urban Air Particles, U.S. EPA, #91-131.6, 1991 )
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This site is a gathering place for people around the world to come together to help clear our planet of wood smoke pollution.

To join us, send a comment or suggestion, please send an email to Shirley.

E-mail---s.brandie@sympatico.ca---for more information.

http://CoalitionAgainstWoodBurning.com
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Webmaster comment: Congrats on your new website and we welcome your organization.

No room for apathy this summer--Canada

2010-08-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

Letter to the Editor
July 28, 2010
Philly.com website
CottageCountryNow.ca 1 week ago

No room for apathy this summer

Victims of woodsmoke pollution continue being assaulted from the toxic acrid woodsmoke filled air that permeates many communities.

Outdoor open-air burns are still permitted in urban areas in our nation. People continue becoming ill and thousands die each year in Canada from woodsmoke related illness. Asthma, COPD, cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary, cancer and other diseases have been linked with woodsmoke pollution.

Woodsmoke is a deadly silent killer. There is no longer room for apathy.
There is no longer room for the disregard and disrespect that is shown to the victims of woodsmoke pollution. Our health units, mayors, fire departments, council members and elected leaders are not acknowledging the pleas and petitions for help.
Woodsmoke pollution is a Canadian crisis that is affecting the life and health of every person in each city. Outdoor open-air burns must be banned in all Canadian urban areas. Our government is neglecting this ongoing, life threatening health crisis.

No longer is there room for apathy. This toxic woodsmoke pollution issue must be addressed in each community. We become sicker each day from being assaulted by outdoor open-air burns.

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from woodstoves, woodburning fireplaces and outdoor woodboilers when inhaled goes deeply into the lungs causing irreparable damage.
People are suffering. Our children live daily using asthma inhalers that provide them with easier breathing, while our officials and leaders show blatant disrespect and disregard to those demanding a ban on all outdoor open air burns.
The time has come and it is long overdue. We must see changes take place in our communities. We must see a ban on all outdoor open-air burns. Our health boards, elected leaders and governments must become accountable for their lack of action. In each Canadian province the outcry from the victims of woodsmoke pollution remains the same. Ban woodsmoke.

Ban it before we become even sicker and our families suffer even more.
People are dying in Canada from woodsmoke-related illness. People are dying worldwide from woodsmoke pollution.

Do not sit back apathetic and allow woodsmoke to destroy your life and health any longer. Demand change in your community. Do not accept woodburning as something you must live with. Our leaders can take action and ban all woodsmoke.
There no longer is room for apathy, but there is room for action. Take action in your community. Make becoming informed about woodsmoke your number one priority.
Your life and breath depend on it.

See the following Esteemed Websites for further information: Breathe healthy air http://breathehealthyair.blogspot.com Clean Air Revival http://burningissues.org/ Canadian Clean Air Alliance http://www.canadiancleanairalliance.ca Freedom of Air http://www.myspace.com/freedomofair

There is no room for apathy.

Linda Baker Beaudin
Cornwall

Webmaster: All Canadians should raise their voices and hearts and join others that want a ban on woodsmoke in Canada. Contacting this writer is a great way to begin.

Linda Baker Beaudin, Founder
Air is Precious
P O Box 22049
1236 Brookdale Avenue
Cornwall, Ontario, Canada
K6J 4P8
airisprecious@gmail.com

Woodsmoke victims caught in bureaucratic nightmare-Canada

2010-08-04T17:20:00.000-07:00

Woodsmoke victims caught in bureaucratic nightmare

Published on August 4th, 2010 in The Western Star
A Province on the East Coast of Canada

Dear editor: Trapped in clouds of heavy plumes of tainted acrid smelling woodsmoke and in a bureaucratic system wrapped in red tape and apathy, the Victims of Woodsmoke Pollution are left to cope with a nightmare in their lives all alone and with no help in sight.

While millions of Canadians are suffering from woodsmoke health-related issues, the Canadian government, elected leaders and municipalities have rebuffed their pleas for immediate or any action to ban woodsmoke.

Woodsmoke pollution has become a Canadian crisis of monumental proportion. The victims of woodsmoke are physically suffering from asthma, COPD, cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary, cancer and other woodsmoke-related diseases. Their quality of life has been diminished. They are receiving no help from their government.

Government has been informed and alerted by victims across the entire nation about this woodsmoke crisis and have done nothing.

Ongoing communication with many levels of government only send the suffering Victims of Woodsmoke Pollution in a circle of desperation without one single iota of help or hope.

They are left with weakened immune systems and an ongoing assault of health concerns and thoughts of their impending demise. One by one the Victims of Woodsmoke Pollution topple into the abyss, neglected by their government.

Too many continue to suffer health-related issues from breathing the toxic chemicals in woodsmoke. Woodsmoke victims will remain vigilant and determined to see that one day the citizens of Canada will have the right and common decency to breathe healthy air, woodsmoke-free. Urban areas must be protected from all woodsmoke pollution. We are protected from tobacco smoke, yet woodsmoke is even worse for our health than tobacco smoke. Both cause suffering, illness and death.

The proximity of our homes and lungs are in the direct line of woodsmoke from neighbours’ woodsmoke. Woodsmoke pollution comes from woodburning fire places, woodburning stoves, and all outdoor open air burns. There no longer exists a need to pollute, saturate, and smother lives in toxic woodsmoke, hazed-filled clouds. Many cleaner methods of heating are available within urban areas.

Our bureaucratic process has failed us. Our life hangs on the balance of impending doom and more continued suffering until our government takes action to ban all outdoor open air burns across our nation and until regulations are implemented to phase out the use of woodburning stoves and woodburning fireplaces in all urban areas. No exceptions.

Will the Victims of Woodsmoke Pollution continue to be lost and forgotten in this bureaucratic nightmare wrapped in red tape or will our government awaken to the suffering and needs of our nation and ban all outdoor open air burns?

Linda Baker Beaudin, Cornwall, Ont.

Webmaster comment: To All Canadians
Please contact and join with this dynamic writer and supporter of wood burning bans in Canada.

Linda Baker Beaudin
Founder, Air is Precious
P O Box 22049
1236 Brookdale Avenue
Cornwall, Ontario, Canada
K6J 4P8
airisprecious@gmail.com

Wood smoke violates the property rights-Letter

2010-07-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

Ubiquitous

By Julie Mellum,

The Calgary Herald July 24, 2010

Re: "Where there's smoke -- there should be a ban," Naomi Lakritz, Opinion, July 21.

Naomi Lakritz's column exemplifies the plight our cities are in because of wood smoke. It is everywhere. Wood smoke violates the property rights of other taxpayers by preventing them from using and enjoying their property when it is infused with smoke's caustic and deadly fumes. If people have a "right" to burn, shouldn't others who understand the severe health hazards of wood smoke have the "right" to clean air on their property? Wood smoke violates most nuisance ordinances, but enforcement is not supported by government. I urge Calgary citizens to rise up and refuse to pay property taxes on a per diem pro-rated basis for every day that wood smoke interferes with your enjoyment of your property outdoors and inside. Your and your family's health are at stake, as is the environment. Demand a ban. See www.canadiancleanairalliance.cato learn more.

Julie Mellum, Minneapolis, Minn. Julie Mellum is president of Take Back the Air.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Urban blight---Ban all open fires in city-Calgary, Canada

2010-07-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

Urban blight

By Anne Lyon
Calgary Herald July 23, 2010

Re: "Where there's smoke, there should be a ban," Naomi Lakritz, Opinion, July 21.

Three cheers for Naomi Lakritz for her great column about backyard firepits. I expect that despite what Bill Bruce says, she speaks for many more than the folks who actually put in bylaw complaints. Kudos especially for the research on the health risks of exposure to wood smoke. When council pays lip service to the concept of increased inner city density, why would bylaws allow behaviour that belongs in campgrounds, farms or acreages? Let's ban all open fires in the city.

Anne Lyon

Calgary
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Where there's smoke -- there should be a ban

2010-07-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

Summertime, and the breathin' ain't easy.

By Naomi Lakritz, Calgary Herald July 21, 2010 8:02 AM

At least, it's not easy for Calgarians like Janey Kinnley, who must spend her summer days and evenings closed up in her house whenever someone within a two-block radius is using a backyard firepit. Kinnley, 64, was diagnosed with asthma 10 years ago, and smoke from neighbouring firepits makes her ill.

"People think that you're just a crazy old lady who doesn't like the smell of the smoke. It's not like that. It's literally killing me," Kinnley says.

Her southeast Calgary home has two decks and a flower garden, but she can only enjoy them from behind closed windows when firepits are lit in her area.

"I have to come in, close my doors and windows, put on the furnace fan, and exist in here. My throat gets very raw and sore, I get short of breath, and if it's really bad, I can get dizzy and my heart pounds. I had that (Sunday) night; (Saturday and Sunday) nights they were burning. Thank God, it was only four, five or six hours. They started at 6 p.m. and by 12:30 a.m., it was pretty well clear. Smoke interferes with heart rhythms and my heart was still pounding when I got up (Monday) morning," she says.

A non-smoker, Kinnley used to love firepits and campfires, but since her diagnosis, she knows how people feel on both sides of the issue: "I used to enjoy the firepits. I can understand why people enjoy them, but if it was killing my neighbour, I wouldn't be burning one."

This is a city of one million people, living on mainly small lots. Firepits have no place on those lots. Besides asthma, people have smoke allergies and debilitative conditions such as chronic pulmonary obstructive disease.

Some letter writers to the Herald recently insisted upon their right to a fire in their backyards. They claimed it was a property rights issue and they don't want anyone dictating what they can do in their yard. One argued that fond memories are created sitting around summer evening fires out back.

A fire is hardly essential to creating fond memories of backyard get-togethers. As for property rights, what about the right of a neighbour to enjoy his or her property without being made ill? Since when is having a fire some sort of human right?

Kinnley, who has formed the group Fresh Air Calgary, part of the national Canadian Clean Air Alliance, says her lung function has dropped by 10 per cent in just two years: "I'm fighting for my life literally. Every day, my lungs are getting more and more sensitive to what's going on." Kinnley is grateful that her immediate next-door neighbour stopped using a firepit when she explained about her health problems, but smoke from other firepits in the area still gets to her.

If only more people would be considerate of others, instead of taking a bellicose stance on being dictated to about permissible activities in one's yard. There are plenty of things you can't do in your yard, such as collect rusted-out hulks of junked cars, or raise goats. Backyard firepits have been banned in Maple Ridge, Chilliwack, Langley and Abbotsford, B.C. -- and these smelly nuisances should be banned in Calgary.

Bill Bruce, director of animal and bylaw services, says a handful of complaints come in each year about health concerns. He and fire Chief Bruce Burrell both have the power to shut down a firepit that's affecting someone's health -- and there's a $5,000 fine for non-compliance. He can't speak directly to Kinnley's case, but says, "If the link is to a firepit next door, it's a piece of cake." Firepits within a two-block radius are dicier because they fall into a grey area which depend on wind direction and climate conditions. He'd also need to see a doctor's note from the suffering individual before taking action.

According to the Canadian Lung Association, "wood smoke exposure can disrupt the cellular membranes, depress immune system activity, damage the layer of cells that protect and cleanse the airways, and disrupt enzyme levels. The health effects of wood smoke exposure include increased respiratory symptoms, increased hospital admissions for lower respiratory infections, exacerbation of asthma, and decreased breathing ability."

Wood smoke gives off particulate matter, which the Environmental Protection Act says can lead "to serious respiratory problems, including excess mortality, especially among those with pre-existing cardiopulmonary illness."

Other ingredients in wood smoke include carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen which "can cause shortness of breath . . . in people with lung diseases," hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, which "can cause coughing, headaches, and eye irritation and act as a trigger for people with asthma," polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons -- a suspected carcinogen -- cancer-causing dioxins, and acrolein, which irritates the eyes and respiratory tract.

Healthy or ill, who wants to breathe in any of this junk wafting over from the neighbour's yard? If you want to sit around a fire, go camping, far away from the city.

By Naomi Lakritz, Calgary Herald July 21, 2010 8:02 AM

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald (Canada)

The Provence

Clear the air! Calgary Herald, Canada

2010-07-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

Clear the air!

By Anne Day

Letter to the Calgary Herald

Calgary Herald July 10, 2010

I am in total agreement with this letter. At the back of my villa are two single family dwellings that both have firepits. They are in use in summer, when everyone likes to have their windows open to enjoy the fresh spring and summer air. However, the smoke drifts into my place, affecting my chronic cough, and I have to close things up. My right to enjoy fresh air is equal to theirs.

I have written twice to my Ald. Ric McIver, and last year, contacted bylaw control. They checked it out but said these were nice people. Nothing was done. I don't know what being "nice" has to do with anything.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald Canada

Smoke signals-Canada

2010-07-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

Smoke signals

By Cathy Baiton, Calgary Herald July 11, 2010

Re: "Backyard burning. Ban firepits!," Letter, July 8.

It was good to see the recent letter supporting the wisdom of banning urban firepits. A growing number of communities in Canada -- and elsewhere -- have already banned wood-burning firepits, to prevent the unnecessary fire risk, and to help protect the air and residents' health. More people now recognize that wood smoke just doesn't belong in residential areas, where everyone is sharing the air.

There is simply no way to burn wood without creating pollution and smoke. Even the burning of clean, dry, seasoned hardwood, emits a considerable amount of pollution.

In cities across Alberta, people now have much more protection from secondhand cigarette smoke, but no protection from unwanted second-hand wood smoke, which is no less hazardous to health. If Calgary were to successfully pass a bylaw banning wood burning firepits, it would relieve the needless suffering from firepit smoke that many people are now having to endure in their homes, yards, and neighbourhoods. It would also set an excellent example of concern for public health and environmental stewardship that other Alberta communities would hopefully be encouraged to follow, for the good of their own air quality and community health.

Cathy Baiton, Lethbridge
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Backyard burning. Ban firepits! (Canada)

2010-07-08T15:54:00.000-07:00

Backyard burning. Ban firepits!

July 8, 2010

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald (Canada)

I believe it's time to reconsider the wisdom of allowing backyard firepits. It's approaching 11 p.m., on a weeknight, as I sit at my kitchen table and write.

The air is not too pleasant, either inside or outside my home on this night. You see, since around noon, I have been subjected to the incessant smoke from a neighbour's firepit, just one lot away from my own.

Surely it's not possible for this homeowner to be unaware of the impact such backyard activity creates in the neighbourhood. The relentless plumes of smoke wafting away from their property would suggest otherwise.

The smoke is both a nuisance and an obstruction to the enjoyment of my own backyard space.

This same smoke also means that I am compelled to close windows or permit something other than fresh air inside. The city of Calgary is congested and continuing to grow, which means we place our homes very close to one another.

Firepits are more suited to campground settings or acreages, where such an activity is expected and accepted in these more appropriate locales.

I don't have the monitoring equipment to measure the air quality around my property, but my nose can certainly conclude that almost 12 hours of backyard burning is too much for the neighbours and the neighbourhood.

Since common sense and community-minded attitudes cannot be realized, even with our existing, reasonable firepit bylaw; then I see a ban as the only clear solution.

Louise M. Stinson, Calgary

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Webmaster----Yes. Ban all outdoor open air buns and all wood burning.

Burning is an option.... Breathing is not!

2010-06-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

Burning is an option.... Breathing is not!

By Shirley Brandie (Canada)

With all the information that is now available to everyone, via the press and the Internet, regarding the health and environmental effects of wood burning in residential areas, one has to wonder when the powers that be will step in and create the laws needed to end this nightmare that so many are living through.

Municipalities rarely step in to help when a complaint is sent to them and prefer to regard it as a 'civil matter' in an attempt to avoid dealing with the problem, for reasons known only to them. There is no reason why a bylaw cannot be created and enforced so that those that are having their homes and properties deluged in smoke from a neighbor's wood burning can finally breathe in their own homes.

I would think that the municipalities would want to keep their residents safe and not put this on the back burner... pun intended.

I have a web site at: http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net and also publish monthly newsletters regarding wood smoke. I no longer worry about wood smoke as I did take the legal route to obtain an injunction. But, what about those that do not have the monies to do the same? My web site was created in an attempt to give some guidance, suggestions and most of all empathy for those who so badly need it. I receive emails daily from people all over the US and Canada with stories and photos that would break your heart. What are they to do when there is no help, not matter where they turn?

It is the usual case that, when the neighbor is told that the smoke is getting into their house, the burner increases the burning. This leads to further distress and the burner knows that the only recourse for the victim is to seek lengthy and expensive legal help. This is just not right!

Breathing wood smoke is a very real danger and one that the victims cannot escape. They try everything they can to attempt to keep out the smoke but nothing works as the particles are so very tiny that they seep in through any minute space available. Headaches, nausea, heart rhythm problems, sinus infections, nosebleeds and other physical symptoms are what these people are forced to live with.

Burners, on the other hand, carry on with the burning and tell them that it is their 'right' to burn. What about the rights of the neighbors to breathe clean air in their own homes?

Burners will not stop burning unless forced to. For those that have never experienced living next door to a burner, imagine yourself in your house with smoke so thick that you can see it. What would you do? Who would you turn to? And, believe me, it could happen to you almost overnight as it did to us!

We need municipalities to pull up their socks and get bylaws created for the sake of all that are suffering with wood smoke invasion. We also need governmental agencies to help to put some pressure on all municipalities to get this issue moving before another winter begins and the wood burning increases even more than it is at present.

Shirley Brandie
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada

Burning is an option....Breathing is not!

See---http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net

Natural, Yes, But Wood Smoke is Toxic, Too

2010-06-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

Natural, Yes, But Wood Smoke is Toxic, Too

By Deborah Schoch on June 14, 2010

Science is swiftly turning upside down the common notion that a fire built with wood is kinder to humans’ well-being than gas and other modern fuels.

From California to Sweden and China, researchers are reporting that wood smoke contains large amounts of harmful pollutants, including some of the same toxic chemicals found in cigarette smoke.

Those reports seem counter-intuitive. After all, wood is a natural substance, a heat source since prehistoric times and a seemingly safe alternative to dirty fossil fuels.

But natural does not necessarily mean harmless, and a growing number of published studies are associating wood smoke with asthma, other lung problems and heart disease — some of the same illnesses associated with smoking and with heavy exposure to car and truck pollution.

“Is it as toxic as something coming out of the tailpipe? We’re not sure yet,” said Robert Devlin, senior scientist in the environmental public health division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C.

But the new consciousness of wood smoke’s dangers is spurring scientific inquiries in communities across the West where wood heat is popular: in California, Montana, Idaho, Seattle and British Columbia.

Wood consists largely of two relatively harmless ingredients, cellulose and a strengthening substance called lignin.

If the wood burned completely, it would turn into simple water and carbon dioxide. But instead it forms what scientists call “products of incomplete combustion” — thousands of chemicals, including certain toxic and carcinogenic substances.

Many of the same chemicals form during the burning of other organic matter — whether waste from orchards and rice fields or tobacco leaves wrapped up in cigarettes.

That is why some scientists compare wood smoke to second-hand smoke and cigarette smoke.

“It’s not the nicotine in cigarette smoke that kills you. It’s the other stuff,” said Kirk R. Smith, a professor of global environmental health at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health who has studied smoke’s health effects around the world.

“The worst thing that you can do with this stuff is stick it in your mouth,” Smith said. “The next worst thing is to have it in your house. The next worst thing is to have it in your neighbor’s house.”

Researchers can rattle off long lists of dangers in wood smoke.

They often focus on the tiny particles — a mere fraction of the width of a human hair — that can lodge in tissue and blood vessels and disrupt lung and heart functions. Some are so small that they can pass right through the walls of blood vessels. Wood smoke also contains well-known cancer-causing chemicals such as benzene and formaldehyde.

Scientists have published dozens of studies on the human health effects of wood smoke. In 2007, a 40-page review of those studies in the journal Inhalation Toxicology concluded, “It is now well established … that wood-burning stoves and fireplaces as well as wildland and agricultural fires emit significant quantities of known health-damaging pollutants, including several carcinogenic compounds.”

Today, most U.S. regulators focus largely on the fine particles in wood smoke to measure its potential for harm, rather focusing on its cancer-causing ingredients as they did with tobacco smoke a generation ago.

The same is true in California.

“The main issue is that it has particulate matter. When it comes to particles, we treat all particles the same. We feel that all particulate matter is bad for you,” said Linda Smith, head of the health impacts section at the state Air Resources Board.

International public health officials have gone further. In 2006, wood smoke was labeled “probably carcinogenic in humans” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization.

But the 2007 journal review concluded that it was too early to formally link wood smoke and cancer, and that more research is needed.

An American Cancer Society advisory group recommended several years ago that the society not take a position on the issue, deciding “that the evidence linking wood burning smoke to cancer was much weaker than that for heart and lung disease,” the society’s statistics director, Kenneth M. Portier, wrote in an e-mail note.

Some activists believe California should act more aggressively and treat wood smoke just as it does second-hand smoke or fumes from diesel-burning trucks. The state has classified both “toxic air contaminants.”

Wood smoke deserves the same label, said Jenny Bard, regional air quality director for the American Lung Association in California.

“We’re going after tobacco smoke in all sorts of ways,” Bard said. “We’ve banned it from workplaces and restaurants. And the exposures to wood stove pollution can be so much more concentrated in localized situations.”

This story is a result of a partnership between the Center for Health Reporting and the Chico Enterprise-Record.

Posted in Airborne Hazards, Environmental Safety and Health

Credit to: Fair Warning wesite
http://www.fairwarning.org/2010/06/natural-yes-but-wood-smoke-is-toxic-too/

Neglecting air pollution could cripple health care-Canada

2010-06-17T19:04:00.000-07:00

Neglecting air pollution could cripple health care
May 19, 2010
Alberta, Canada

The neglect of air quality in our cities and the consequent cost of treating pollution-related diseases could cripple our already strained health care system.

In a health and environmentally-conscious world it is unusual to find cities, such as those in Alberta, that have not adopted a single effective clean air initiative.

Remarkably, in Alberta urban air quality monitoring does not identify the source of air pollutants and several studies have shown that residents are most concerned about industrial pollution. In reality, the most dangerous sources of pollution are closer to home - the fumes from vehicles or a neighbour’s wood burning stove or fireplace.

Indoor air quality studies in the U.S. and Europe have also identified high levels of cancer-causing compounds in homes with a wood burning stove or fireplace.

To date, the most dangerously polluted places in the province are campgrounds where smoke levels have been monitored at levels that can cause pollution-related sickness severe enough to require hospitalization or even cause death from smoke inhalation.

To create a healthier society, the Europeans have adopted a variety of measures to reduce vehicle pollution. The most significant are emission testing programs to ensure that emission-reduction features are actually working. When these tests were done in Red Deer, enough vehicles had the emission reduction features removed or neglected to double the level of vehicle pollution. This neglect impacts public health, placing an unnecessary burden on the health care system.

In Britain, deaths caused by fireplace smoke, particularly the deaths of 4,000 Londoners in only five days in 1952, were the catalyst for their smoke-free cities program. However, politicians were also aware that the cost of treating the diseases caused by wood and coal smoke would severely strain their recently-introduced “free” health care system. Paying homeowners to convert from burning dirty fuels to clean natural gas was expensive but the costs were soon recovered in terms of reduced health care costs.

In the United States, with Universal Health Care on the horizon, the cost of treating the smoke diseases has come into sharper focus. In the San Francisco Bay area alone, with only 10% of the homes burning wood, to some degree, the cost of treating the smoke diseases is estimated at one billion dollars annually. Breaking down the statistics even further, one fireplace burning wood for one evening costs the health care system $40.

There are similar concerns, around the world. Taking Christchurch, New Zealand as an example, each low emission wood or coal burning appliance is estimated to cost the health care system $2,700 annually.

It is essential to be pro-active, as once fouled by wood smoke no North American city has cleaned up the air and it will take a future generation that cares for the environment for these cities to become healthy places in which to live. Unfortunately, with researchers crying wolf over finding traces of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals almost everywhere, concerns about wood smoke, the oldest known cause of cancer, lung and heart disease, are often regarded as just another baseless health scare. Wood, like tobacco, is a cellulose based plant material and for an overview of the health implications of breathing wood smoke one only has to read the health warnings on cigarette packages, or log on to www.burningissues.com.

For a healthier urban environment that will reduce the strain on the health care system, all Alberta’s cities have ever needed to do is to borrow ideas from the world’s more environmentally conscious urban centres. Addressing pollution caused by vehicles and residential wood-burning needs to be a priority.

The worst route any city can take is to rely on Canada’s new Urban Environment Health Index, which measures only a few simple chemicals in widely separated locations........ but that is another issue.

Alan Smith

Red Deer

Alan Smith is a former member of the Urban Environment Study Group of the Environment Council of Alberta, Canada.

Credit to..Red Deer Express website
http://www.reddeerexpress.com/article/20100519/EXP0904/305199994/-1/EXP/neglecting-air-pollution-could-cripple-health-care

Biomass Busters-Newsletter

2010-06-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

Biomass Busters
June 2010

From the Editors:
Meg Sheehan & Josh Schlossberg

The ground has been shifting under the biomass industry since the publication of our first issue of Biomass Busters last month! A few significant developments include: the EPA’s decision not to exempt biomass emissions from its greenhouse gas regulations; a letter from ninety scientists to Congress urging our Legislature to close the “biomass loophole;” and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s suspension of the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, following pressure from forest advocates.

Scientists and medical doctors continue to be galvanized by the public health and climate change threats from biomass incinerators, communities across the country keep fighting against incinerators proposed for their towns, and a national grassroots campaign is bringing together biomass opponents from sea to shining sea. Read on to find out more!

For submissions and feedback contact us at stopspewingcarbon@gmail.com.
Biomass Busters is a project of the Biomass Accountability Project, Inc., Energy Justice Network, Biofuelwatch, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, and Save America’s Forests.

From: http://www.mce3.org/BiomassBustersJune2010.pdf
Biomass Busters
June 2010-Newsletter

More from newsletter below...

American Lung Association vs. Biomass

The American Lung Association is a leading voice on the health impacts of biomass incineration. In 2009, the Association wrote to Congress: The Lung Association urges that the legislation not promote the combustion of biomass. Burning biomass could lead to significant increases in emissions of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and sulfur dioxide and have severe impacts on the health of children, older adults, and people with lung diseases.

Doctor’s Orders

The Massachusetts Medical Society, publisher of the New England Journal of Medicine, insists that “biomass power plants pose an unacceptable risk to the public’s health by increasing air pollution.” Jefferson Dickey, M.D., internist at the Community Health Center of Franklin County, states that air pollution from biomass is associated with an increased risk of a broad range of medical problems, from asthma attacks and decreased lung growth in children to increased lung disease exacerbations, emergency room use, hospitalization rates, heart attacks, and death rates in adults.

Check out...http://www.mce3.org/BiomassBustersJune2010.pdf

The impact of wood smoke on children, neighborhoods

2010-05-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

The impact of wood smoke on children, neighborhoods

By David Pepper Excerpted from: Napa Valley Register (California, USA)
Posted: 05/30/2010

Though the recent freezing weather may seem like the worst time to call a wood-burning ban, the scientific evidence documenting the harm caused by wood smoke pollution justifies such restrictions.

As a physician, I know all too well the health impacts caused by toxic smoke. Breathing these particles can literally shorten life and send our most vulnerable residents to the emergency room. Wood smoke contains harmful microscopic particles that, when inhaled, enter directly into the lung and bloodstream. Once there, they damage cells, exacerbate asthma and cause lung and heart disease. For asthmatic children, breathing wood smoke can lead to immediate harm, including asthma attacks and respiratory distress.

A recent study by the California Air Resources Board reported that wood smoke can cause a 10 percent increase of hospital admissions for respiratory problems among children, who are at most risk since their lungs are still developing. Exposure to wood smoke may also reduce lung function and reduce the blood’s ability to clot properly. And it doesn’t take much; one fireplace or wood-burning stove can produce levels of smoke in a neighborhood that exceed federal air quality standards and affect all the neighbors. According to the California Air Resources Board, up to 70 percent of smoke from chimneys can re-enter neighboring residences, exposing neighbors to toxic smoke. While we have effectively banned tobacco smoke from most indoor places, there is no way to avoid an equally damaging smoke right at home. Unfortunately, without a stronger wood-burning regulation, community health suffers.

It is important to note that the current regulation allows an exemption for wood burning when no other source of heat is available.

While some may not see it this way, in actuality it is the wood smoke, not the wood burning regulation, that is invasive. There are an estimated 935,000 residents in the Bay Area who suffer from asthma, including 200,000 children and an additional 300,000 who struggle to breathe from emphysema, lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses. When these people have to breathe wood smoke pollution, they struggle even more.

The American Lung Association routinely receives calls from citizens all around the Bay Area who simply cannot get away from clouds of pollution in their own neighborhoods. Many have young children with asthma who need medical treatment due to this exposure. Some of these families have sold their houses and moved to areas with less wood smoke pollution.

Are these health impacts really worth the ambiance of a fire? Fireplaces are inefficient heaters, often taking out more warm air than they produce. Cleaner burning alternatives are available to enjoy the warmth and glow without the smoke, including gas, electric and pellet stoves, which are now designed to look just like their wood-burning brethren.

The American Lung Association repeatedly has given failing grades for air quality to several counties in the Bay Area due to high levels of particle pollution, of which wood smoke is a primary source. We know we can do better. Indeed, air districts such as Sacramento that have adopted wood-burning prohibitions have experienced a reduction in these harmful particles.

Hopefully, after understanding the harm caused by wood smoke pollution, local residents will think twice before lighting their fireplaces and wood stoves. Many already have. By choosing to hold off and use cleaner alternatives to heat our homes, we make it easier for our smallest and most vulnerable residents to breathe.
We’re trying to make our neighborhoods healthier and prevent disease. Won’t you help us?

Dr. Pepper is a family practice physician and American Lung Association volunteer who teaches family medicine

Credit to:
The Wood Smoke Activist
June 2010 Newsletter
Educating the world about the health and climate impacts of wood smoke and combustion aerosols.
Editor: Shirley Brandie
Ontario Director of Canadian Clean Air Alliance http://canadiancleanairalliance.ca
Web site: http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net

Let’s speak up for right to breathe clean air-Canada

2010-05-21T17:14:00.000-07:00

Let’s speak up for right to breathe clean air
Written by Cathy Baiton

"Lethbridge Herald" web site
Lethbridge, Alberta Canada

Thursday, 20 May 2010

Discussion about second-hand smoke in Alberta has been renewed amid a proposal to make shared outdoor spaces smoke-free, and a new local bylaw would ban smoking in or near city parks. But while it’s good that smoking has declined overall, smoke from residential wood burning has unfortunately become more common.

No less harmful than cigarette smoke, it’s also a form of air pollution that our city and province both need to start restricting. No jurisdiction can become mainly smoke-free if it allows non-essential wood-burning to go on, putting the health of those on the receiving end of drifting smoke at risk.

Recently, I heard from someone whose household has suffered from unwelcome wood smoke in the air, especially when frequent conditions like fog or cool, still air hold the pollution closer to the ground. They’ve had ongoing allergic responses and even episodes of respiratory distress because of the smoke that often comes into their own house.

To help preserve air quality and protect people from second-hand wood smoke, some places have made wood-burning fire pits illegal within municipal limits and also placed restrictions or bans on wood-burning appliances.

In our own city, although most public areas are now tobacco smoke-free, people in wood-burning neighbourhoods cannot avoid wood smoke right at home, if it’s travelling into their backyard or children’s outdoor play spaces, or seeping inside through furnace vents and even closed windows.

I’m sure many residents would consider the removal of unnecessary wood smoke pollution an essential part of helping to create a cleaner and greener Lethbridge — for the present and for future generations. Hopefully, we can look forward to living in a city and perhaps even a province where residents won’t have to breathe unwanted residential wood smoke, wherever they live, work, or are active outside.
It’s possible that if enough concerned citizens speak up for the right to breathe smoke-free air, it could help make a difference, for our health and for the air that belongs to all of us.

From: http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/content/view/194340/150/

World Asthma Day, May 4th--Canada Needs To Take Action...Now!

2010-04-29T17:32:00.000-07:00

World Asthma Day, May 4th

World Asthma day will happen on May 4th. Around the globe we will become more aware of those who suffer with Asthma.

One confirmed and definite known trigger of Asthma is Woodsmoke Pollution. Exposure to the toxic emissions from Woodsmoke can worsen or even cause a life threatening reaction. Over 5,900 Canadians die each year due to air pollution. Six million Canadians will experience some form of lung disease. One Canadian dies every 20 minutes due to lung disease. Childhood asthma rates continue to soar world-wide. Millions depend of the use of their puffers (or inhaled medications) which enables them to breathe freely. These statistics are alarming and soaring.

Sadly, even with scientific evidence available, documented research that validates the claims that Woodsmoke is a deadly silent killer, Woodsmoke pollution still continues in many urban areas to destroy health and the quality of life of millions.

A few Canadian cities are becoming informed and taking action to end all outdoor open air burns and Woodsmoke in their community. Most cities have done absolutely nothing to help those with Asthma. These cities and communities sit idly by and silent instead of taking action to end outdoor open air burns and Woodsmoke. These elected officials are neglecting the health and safety of all their residents. One outdoor open air burn can affect an entire neighbourhood and contribute to the suffering and severity of Asthma patients and those with other respiratory disease.

The Canadian Lung Association states: “Do your part to reduce air pollution and encourage others to keep the air clean” Now, if only our political leaders, City Mayors and Members of council would follow the wise words of our Lung Association, many would be able to breathe the fresh unadulterated air so needed in order to stay healthy.

The American Lung Association goes further in their advice stating: “Avoid burning wood. Avoid use of wood burning in indoor and outdoor fireplaces. Just like tobacco smoke, wood smoke pollution is harmful to your health. Wood burning comprises 33 percent of particle pollution during the winter in some areas. Cleaner burning alternatives such as natural gas and electric fireplaces are available for the glow without the smoke!”

Take the steps needed to end Woodsmoke Pollution in your community. Taking action will help those who suffer daily trying to breathe. We all deserve the right and common decency to breathe healthy air—woodsmoke-free. Become Informed about Asthma and Woodsmoke Pollution!

Make ending Woodsmoke Pollution Your Number One Priority! Your life and breath depend on it. Whether you have Asthma or not, we all need to breathe air that is not polluted with woodsmoke emissions. To take action to end Woodsmoke will be the best way to recognize and support World Asthma Day! Don’t sit idly by and silent like too many of our local and national leaders in Canada are doing right now. Tell them to Ban Outdoor Open Air Burns and Woodsmoke....Now!

Submitted by:
Linda Baker Beaudin
Founder, Air Is Precious
975 Brookdale Avenue
P.O. Box 22049
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
K6J 4P5
e-mail airisprecious@gmail.com

BARRIE CITY COUNCIL SAYS NO BAN-BUT PEOPLE SAY WE WANT BAN!

2010-04-15T16:14:00.000-07:00

Note...The city of Barrie, Ontario, Canada, recently said NO to banning outdoor open air burns. Mostly these outdoor open air burns were fueled by wood. Woodsmoke saturated air aimlessly drifts over all the residents of Barrie everyday. But, many Barrie residents are saying...enough is enough. Ban ALL outdoor open air burns..NOW!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From the Barrie Examiner:
April 15, 2010
LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Fires not fun for neighbours
Posted By
Posted 8 hours ago

(Re: "Shut your windows," in the April 10 edition of the Examiner)

Chimineas should have been banned two years ago when the first debate in council was held.

I lobbied my Ward 7 councillor (John Brassard) in this regard, to no avail.

Thank you to Alex Harvey and Jennifer Mills for their common sense approach to this nuisance and health concern.

Coun. Lynn Strachan, thank you for your concerns, as well. Keep it going.

What mentality needs to light a fire when the humidex is in the high 30s to 40s, the air quality is dangerously high and we are asked to keep our air conditioners at a minimum due to hydro consumption at a peak.

Not to mention sparks flying on top of neighbouring roofs.

To Sue Watson I say: "I may have to keep my windows closed, but I will never shut my mouth (as suggested by you in your letter) as long as my taxes are paid and the Canadian flag flies in my country."

If you want to pollute the air and cause your neighbours distress, then by all means move to the bush.

People living on 30-and 40- foot lots should not be allowed to light fires for any reason. Cook your hot dogs on the stove in your kitchen.

To Daryl Bradshaw, I am so thankful that I live in a city knowing there are firefighters at the ready if I need them. I have lived in Barrie for 48 years and have never seen fire trucks driving around aimlessly.

Hopefully, city councillors can make a decision for a change and ban these health hazards once and for all.

Why it has to go on for another two years is extremely poor judgment.

Doris Falkeisen Barrie

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Looking for relief from the smoke
Posted By
Posted 8 hours ago

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

(Re: "Chiminea group fighting for freedom," in the April 8 edition of the Examiner)

We have been all through this with cigarette smoking -- freedom to poison the air of others.

My wife and I, in our seventies, have spent many evenings the last three years unable to enjoy our backyard due to heavy smoke pollution from neighbours enjoying their campfires.

On the hottest, stillest nights, we have been forced to keep our windows shut, overheated from the day's sunshine, and still the smoke penetrates into our home.

My wife is on medication and puffers for lung congestion, and after spending eight hours from eight o'clock in the evening, to three o'clock in the morning breathing in the toxic fumes, she spends the next several days with a terrible cough and throat congestion.

The smoke bothers me as well, as both of us must use unscented soaps and cleaning fluids.

The provincial and federal governments have information related to wood-burning smoke that details particulates and cancer-causing chemicals released in the smoke. As well, burning wood produces tons of carbon dioxide that the experts tell us is causing global warming.

Breathing in this smoke is extremely unhealthy for yourselves, your children, and your neighbours.

This city has banned burning leaves in the fall due to pollution, banned smoking around others for health reasons, and should not allow wood smoke to be forced into our lungs.

We require the freedom to enjoy clean air, to be able to enjoy our backyard every summer night, and to be able to sleep comfortably at night with our windows wide open for clean, fresh air.

There is a better way to enjoy a backyard fire.

There are gas outdoor fire places available that do not harm the health of others, and are safe for all to use.

Gary Taylor Barrie Barrie
+++++++++++++++++

City should ban chimineas right now
Posted By
Posted 5 days ago
Letter to the Editor

(Re: "Chiminea ban the last straw" in April 3 edition of the Examiner)

Regarding Steve Chapman's letter concerning the ban of chiminea backyard appliances.

I just want to say that I wish the City of Barrie would ban them immediately instead of making me suffer two more seasons with those smelly, smoking firepits, until 2012. I wrote a previous letter concerning these backyard fire contraptions and the health issues associated with burning wood. Not only did I mention the health aspect, but also the cost to the taxpayers of Barrie to attend all the false fire calls. The City of Barrie issued 4,500 permits for these devices and every night in the spring, summer, or fall I have to suffer breathing thick smoke in my townhouse, or I have to shut every window in my house.

I am upset these chimineas were allowed to be used in Barrie in the first place.

At least towns like Newmarket were smart enough to ban them before the problem started.

If the people in Barrie want backyard cookouts over a wood fire, let them go rent a campsite and let us breathe clean air.

Alex Harvey Barrie
++++++++++++++++++

No chiminea ban means gas masks
Posted By
Posted 42 mins ago
April 16, 2010

I am very disappointed that Barrie City Council decided not to ban chimineas totally and forever. If my councillor voted to keep these smelly backyard chimineas, he will never get my vote again.

You reported that there were 202 calls for fire assistance for these chimineas in 2009 and that 10% of the calls were to the same address. Well, that makes at least 20 calls to the same address at $450 a visit. I would charge the homeowner of this property the $9,000 he owes the taxpayers of Barrie or put it on his next municipal tax bill. The fire chief of Barrie should stand up and demand that these chimineas be banned, now. Look at what these chimineas have done to our neighbourhood.

Now we have neighbours yelling and fighting with each other. With chimineas come the alcohol, loud music, cigarette and pot smoke, and loud voices. I'm moving to Newmarket if Barrie does not ban chimineas . The mayor of Barrie does not get my support either. Does anybody know where I can buy a good respirator or gas mask? I'm going to need one now that chimineas are not banned.

Margaret Swanson Barrie

Webmaster comment to above letter by Ms. Swanson. In addition to chimineas, you also want all outdoor open air burns banned. This includes outdoor wood boilers (OWB), wood burning fire pits, fireplaces, fire pots, fire rings, etc.
++++++++++++++

Webmaster---The City of Barrie needs to hear these pleas. It is time to ban all outdoor open air burns...NOW!

Air Quality Monitoring Is A Charade-Canada

2010-04-09T17:50:00.000-07:00

Air quality monitoring is a charade

Red Deer Advocate

By Advocate news services

Published: April 07, 2010 8:49 AM

No sophisticated air quality studies are needed to realize that Red Deer has a serious air pollution problem.

The air stinks of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals in acres of the city where residents are burning wood in their stoves and fireplaces.

The smoke and fumes are a threat to the health and lives of neighbours but dissipate before reaching an air quality monitor.

Even if emissions reach a monitoring unit, only a few simple chemicals are being monitored and the complex toxins and carcinogens produced by burning wood are not detected.

Surprisingly, only Toronto, which also relies on basic, Alberta-style monitoring, has checked to see if the Air Quality Index (AQI) is an effective indicator of the health impact of air pollution.

It is no surprise that 92 per cent of the pollution related illnesses and deaths are on days when, according to the air quality data, the air quality is “good” to “very good.”

Similarly about 12 years ago, the Suzuki Foundation identified the obvious: neglect of the Big Three sources of urban air pollution — domestic wood burning, automobiles and commercial trucks, was resulting in pollution-related deaths in Edmonton and Calgary (Red Deer was not included.)

Instead of seeing these findings as a need to start addressing urban air quality issues, the findings were rejected as there was no correlation between the AQI and the number of pollution-related deaths.

It is puzzling that so many people are prepared to believe that monitoring a few simple chemicals in a few locations will identify the health implications of urban air pollution.

Monitoring is even too basic to identify the source of pollutants and, in the absence of normal environmental data, several studies have shown that Albertans are most concerned about industrial pollution.

In reality, for urban residents, it is the pollution sources a few metres from your home that are the greatest threat to your family’s health — a busy road or a neighbour’s wood burning stove or fireplace.

The level of toxins and chemicals that cause cancer and birth defects was increasing rapidly in wood-burning areas.

There is nothing surprising about these findings as the emissions from wood or coal burning stoves and fireplaces are a world-wide concern and have been since historical times.

Unfortunately, most cities in the U.S. and Canada use basic Alberta-style monitoring which provides no protection from the most dangerous source of urban pollution — wood burning stoves and fireplaces.

In the seventies, when families found their health affected by the smoke and chemicals from a neighbour’s fireplace, politicians would point out that the data from the monitoring unit, possibly a kilometer away, “proved,” that the city had clean air.

Then as the number of wood burning appliances increased and finally air quality standards were being exceeded, politicians invariably decided that so many residents (voters) were burning wood, that it was now too political to do anything.

Several hundred North American urban centres have already followed this path and there are more every year.

Once fouled by woodsmoke, no city as been able to correct this situation and it will take a future generation that cares for the urban environment for cities to, once again, be healthy places in which to live.

Hopefully, city politicians will institute burning bans along the lines of U.S. cities when calm conditions are forecast and smoke is not expected to disperse.

In addition, the city needs to ban further installation of wood burning appliances and borrowing an idea from the British, all levels of government should cover the cost of converting existing dirty-fuel appliances to burn natural gas.

Allan Smith is a former member of the Urban Environmental Study Group of the Environmental Council of Alberta

From: Red Deer Advocate website
By Advocate news services
Published: April 07, 2010

North St. Paul, MN - The Most Polluted City In The World

2010-04-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

Recreational Fires Must Be Eliminated
WELCOME TO HELL ON EARTH
http://northsaintpaulresident.blogspot.com/

The air is smoky from burning wood in North St. Paul, MN, all the time. It is a nightmare. What used to be a nice place to live has become a living hell.

Fresh air is very rare around here. If you are considering moving to North St. Paul or buying a home here, I strongly recommend that you do not do it no matter how good of a price you get. The only way you will be happy in this town is if you love breathing smoky air almost every day.

The air was smoky 25 out of 31 evenings in July 2009. We had 37 hours of continuous wood smoke in the air Aug. 29th - 31st. There was wood smoke in the air 19 consecutive evenings from Aug. 21st to Sept. 8th. It rained heavily on Aug. 20th, providing the only relief we got from wood smoke for almost three weeks.

Is this a good way to live? No. It is a horrible way to live. Take it from someone who knows. Breathing smoky, polluted air every day is misery.

Every day in this city several people are having recreational fires. Every evening the air is filled with the stench of burning wood. I am one person sick and tired of breathing smoky air every day. Is it too much to ask to be able to breathe fresh air in your own home?

Who is responsible for this wood smoke nightmare? The four city council members are responsible. Council members Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Terry Furlong, and Dave Zick support wood smoke. They don't care if you have a child with asthma. They don't care if you have to live like a shut-in because the air is so polluted. They don't care if your sinuses burn because the wood smoke is so heavy.

Our four Council members have defended the rights of a small percentage of households to burn wood daily over the rights of all the rest of us to breathe.

You have no right to breathe under Walczak, Bruton, Furlong, and Zick. Burners have the right to burn wood 49 hours a week recreationally. The rest of us have no rights at all.

If you are considering purchasing real estate in the city of North Saint Paul, Minnesota (55109), factor this blog carefully into your decision. Buying a home in this city means that your kids will breathe smoky air while playing in the yard almost every day. Your baby will breathe smoky air in her crib should you leave the windows open around your house. If you leave your windows open you will wake up in the middle of the night choking on smoky air.

Perhaps worst of all, your utility rates will be high because you will have to run the air conditioner instead of leaving the windows open on a cool summer evening. You have no other choice because almost every night the air is too smoky to breathe in this city. Consider this blog your warning.

North St. Paul, Minnesota, is a wonderful community other than the wood smoke. If we could restore fresh air like we used to enjoy, life would be happy again.

Tell others about this blog!

http://northsaintpaulresident.blogspot.com/

Webmaster comment----Visit this great blogsite. Day after day woodsmoke terror is faced by these residents.

Clean Air Matters...In Alberta, Canada

2010-04-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

From: Clean Air Matters! In Alberta
Date: February 21, 2010 9:46:49 AM MST (CA)
To: enviroinfo@ec.gc.ca
Subject: Environment Canada Public Education Materials: Wood Smoke Needs to be a Major Focus

Hello,

It's good to see the increased focus on clean air for Canadians. However, it's concerning that residential wood burning, a growing cause of indoor and outdoor air pollution, is not directly addressed on the Clean Air Act brochure, and not more strongly discouraged on other pages of the Environment Canada web site.

Wood burning is becoming a problem in many Canadian communities, as wood smoke releases much more fine particle pollution than heating with cleaner burning, non-solid fuels like natural gas and propane. Wood smoke in our neighbourhood has affected the health of my children and me - smoke from outdoor burning this past spring, and neighbourhood wood smoke pollution over this past fall and winter, caused health issues for us that were at times quite serious.

"The time for talk is over. The time for action is now." This statement at the end of the Clean Air Act brochure is so true, but Canadians visiting the Clean Air Act brochure web page and other Environment Canada and government links need to see that it's time to take action immediately toward the elimination of wood smoke emissions in all residential areas where less polluting fuels are available. Many communities are already taking action through public education efforts, regulations and bans, to prevent wood smoke pollution, and protect residents from toxic wood smoke emissions.

Environment Canada needs to show strong leadership and direction in this area. In some US states, air quality has been so harmed by wood burning emissions that major efforts are now needed to turn the tide and actively encourage people to switch to cleaner burning fuels. The American Lung Association has officially stated that people need to choose cleaner burning fuels instead of wood whenever possible. In places like California, even the fireplace industry is making the shift toward gas burning fireplaces in response to the movement away from unnecessary residential wood burning.

The disproportionate emphasis on vehicle and fossil fuels emissions in recent years has obscured the increasingly urgent problem of wood burning emissions, which produce pollution in great amounts that directly impact entire neighbourhoods, and the air quality of whole communities. Environment Canada needs to step in and make a clear distinction between the relatively miniscule emissions from heating with natural gas, propane, or even fuel oil, compared with wood burning, which can produce hundreds of times more particle pollution. In all regions of Canada where cleaner burning fuels are available, Environment Canada should strongly encourage people to use those cleaner burning fuels instead of wood.

In all areas where protective local bylaws are not yet in place to restrict or eliminate wood burning, the need to make people see that burning wood is very harmful for the environment and for community health is urgent. I hope that Environment Canada will consider making wood smoke a major focus of its website, links, and publications. Thank you very much for your consideration of increased attention to this important environment and health issue.

Sincerely,

Cathy Baiton
Lethbridge, Alberta

WOOD BURNING BIOMASS ENERGY-BAD!!!!

2010-03-24T21:25:00.000-07:00

WOOD BURNING BIOMASS ENERGY

The biggest carbon Dioxide Emitter

Wood fueled biomass energy worse for carbon dioxide emissions than fossil fuels. Massachusetts Forest Watch released a report today (www.maforests.org/MFWCarb.pdf) stating that contrary to the belief that wood fueled biomass burning would help lower carbon dioxide emissions, it would instead dramatically increase them.

According to the group, wood fueled biomass burning is typically touted as a carbon neutral fuel by biomass proponents, but the key assumption about carbon neutrality is unsubstantiated and impossible when using existing forests as fuel.
In the report, wood fueled biomass power plants are shown to be worse than all fossil fuel power plants, including coal, for carbon dioxide emissions per unit of energy produced. Calculations provided show wood fueled biomass power plants emit about 50% more CO2 per MWh than existing coal plants, 150% more than existing natural gas plants and 330% more than new power plants.

Forest Watch spokesperson Chris Matera said, “It really is crazy. Hundreds of millions of dollars in public so-called “green” energy subsidies are being wasted on dirty wood biomass burning of forests instead of going to genuinely clean energy sources such as solar, geothermal, appropriate wind and hydro and importantly conservation and efficiency. At a time when budgets are being slashed, we are throwing away scarce taxpayer money on a caveman technology that will worsen our problems, not help solve them.”

Last Wednesday, a hearing was held in Boston by the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy on House Bill 4458 that would create into law the citizen‟s referendum that recently collected over 78,000 certified signatures, which is enough to put the measure on the ballot in November. The ballot measure would put a limit on carbon dioxide emissions in order for renewable energy sources to be eligible to receive taxpayer subsidies and other benefits and would effectively ban taxpayer subsidies from being directed toward wood fueled biomass plants since their carbon dioxide emissions are so high.

"We find that people are willing to support truly clean energy but do not want to pay extra on their electricity bills and tax bills to build these dirty biomass incinerators," said Jana Chicoine of the Concerned Citizens of Russell, "Everyone knows that the proposed biomass incinerators would add to air pollution and make carbon emissions worse, yet the Patrick administration is still forcing us to pay for it. It's a tragic situation, but we have a chance to fix it in the legislature over the next couple of weeks."

Meg Sheehan, chair of the Stop Spewing Carbon ballot question committee commenting about the hearing added, “last week the Massachusetts legislature received un-rebutted testimony from medical professionals that particulate emissions from wood burning biomass plants increase human mortality. A broad coalition of medical and citizen groups are urging our elected officials to support House Bill 4458 to address this public health threat. Action is needed now," she added.

Contact:
Chris Matera
Massachusetts Forest Watch
christoforest@maforests.org
www.maforests.org
413-341-3878

CREDIT TO---The Wood Smoke Activist
April 2010 Newsletter
http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net

Woodsmoke is toxic and harmful

2010-03-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

Posted in the Lethbridge Herald
Written by Cathy Baiton
Monday, 08 February 2010

The adverse effects of cigarette smoke are well-known, but another source of second-hand smoke has become noticeable in parts of our city, as more chimneys are releasing wood smoke into the air. In Canada and elsewhere, a movement away from residential wood burning is beginning to emerge, in light of ongoing research about its harmful effects.

Wood smoke actually contains many toxins similar to those found in cigarette smoke, and components of both types of smoke are carcinogenic. The extremely fine particles in wood smoke can penetrate deep into the lungs, and remain active in the body up to 40 times longer than tobacco smoke. Even short exposures can trigger or aggravate allergy, asthma or other health issues, and research shows that children in wood-burning neighbourhoods have more lung and breathing problems. Because the particulate matter is so fine, up to 70 per cent of outdoor levels of smoke can enter homes nearby, as U.S. studies have shown.

Residential wood-burning emissions are also a main cause of fine particle pollution in many cities — in some areas, even more than emissions from industry or vehicles. More information on the air quality and health effects of residential wood burning can be found at the excellent Burning Issues website, at http://burningissues.org . A number of places, such as Montreal and Hampstead, Que., have brought in public awareness efforts, regulations and bans to help local air quality and protect residents from exposure to wood smoke. Wood burning can be an option in the country where homes are widely spaced and the smoke can dissipate, but it’s very different on residential streets where neighbours often bear the brunt of smoke or fumes produced by chimneys or fire pits nearby.

We’re fortunate to live in a region where cleaner-burning fuels are available, which the American Lung Association recommends using in place of wood whenever possible. As the Lung Association of Quebec says in an article about residential wood heating on its website: ―It is time to care about the air that we pollute because it is the air that we breathe. As a parent, I also hope people will consider the potential costs for the environment and health before burning wood in residential areas, to help the air stay healthier for everyone, in all seasons.

From----The Wood Smoke Activist
April 2010 Newsletter
http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net

EPA'S BURN WISE IS BAD NEWS FOR ALL!!!

2010-03-12T14:03:00.000-08:00

URGENT INFORMATION---ACTION NEEDED NOW

EPA'S BURN WISE IS BAD NEWS FOR ALL!!!

The EPA is about to begin a “Burn Wise” national campaign that promotes wood burning and advises people on how to burn cleaner with EPA certified wood stoves. This could result in more wood burning and more wood smoke. This campaign is a threat to children’s health and anyone with asthma or heart disease. Wood smoke is already ruining outdoor air in metro areas throughout our country. Outdoor wood boilers are being banned, due to the severe health effects of wood smoke. This is like the tobacco promotions in the past about “smoking cleaner” with filter cigarettes. We must use this opportunity to get our opposing voices heard. Now is the time to press our decision-makers nation-wide to restrict wood burning, before more wood smoke pollutes our air and further harms our families.

Pass this on and encourage all decision-makers in your community to disallow wood burning in your communities. This is “greenwashing” at its lowest level.

PLEASE all activists, put this on your web pages, Twitter, UTube, Facebook and other websites. If someone could add a no burn icon to this, please let me know.

THE ONLY WISE BURNING IS NO BURNING

The EPA begins a wood burning campaign this Friday to encourage people to “burn wise” by burning cleaner. They also promote EPA-certified wood burning appliances, which means more wood smoke.

At the same time, their promotion states that wood smoke is harmful to children and to human health, especially for kids and people with asthma or heart disease.

DON’T BE DUPED!

Wood burning is NEVER safe!

5 Reasons not to burn wood:

1. Wood smoke is implicated in asthma attacks, heart attacks, cancer, sudden infant death syndrome and premature death in people of all ages. (American Lung Association, EPA, MPCA websites).

2. Wood smoke is a major source of fine particle pollution, the worst kind. (MPCA and EPA websites)

3. Wood smoke carries fine particulates that can be drawn deep into the lungs, causing severe damage.

4. Wood smoke contains black carbon soot, which accelerates the melting of glaciers.

5. Wood smoke’s black carbon soot contributes heavily to global warming and climate change!

6. Wood smoke violates the property rights of others to enjoy their property smoke-free.

The only answer is to contact your city councils, legislators and other decision-makers and demand that they ban wood burning in residential areas. Outdoor wood boilers (OWBs) are being banned in many cities nation-wide. NO SMOKE IS GOOD SMOKE. If they have banned cigarette smoking in public areas, why are they forcing us to breathe wood smoke in our own home and property?

WOOD SMOKE IS MORE THAN A NUISANCE—it is a severe public health hazard!

We all need to work on this important issue and we need to do it now!

THE ONLY WISE BURNING IS NO BURNING

2010-03-11T20:09:00.000-08:00

THE ONLY WISE BURNING IS NO BURNING
(But, not in Canada per a Canadian Federal Minister of Environment)
http://woodburnersmoke.net/

Much has been published by wood burning appliance makers that might lead one to believe that wood burning is safe. Not so!

There is no such thing as 'good' smoke. All smoke carries particulate matter that can be drawn deep into the lungs to cause severe damage. If you can smell smoke then you are inhaling these particulates and the damage has begun. You cannot escape the wood smoke that makes its way into your home through ventilation systems and even minute spaces in doors and windows. No air cleaner will clear the air and make it safe to breathe. The only answer is for all of you to contact your municipal and governmental leaders and demand that they ban wood burning of any kind in residential areas. You might want to tell them that, if they have banned cigarette smoking in public areas, why are you forced to breathe wood smoke in your own home and property?

We all need to work on this important issue and we need to do it now!

Here is a response from a Canadian Federal Minister of Environment:
See----http://woodburnersmoke.net/

It tells us that money is more important than your health and that is why we need to raise our voices and our pens!

Please go to this website for more details------http://woodburnersmoke.net/
Wood Burner Smoke
Ontario, Canada

Wood Fueled Biomass Burning the Biggest Carbon Dioxide Emitter

2010-03-01T15:33:00.000-08:00

From: Chris Matera [mailto:christoforest@maforests.org]
Sent: March-01-10 12:33 PM

Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Wood Fueled Biomass Burning the Biggest Carbon Dioxide Emitter

Contact:

Chris Matera

Massachusetts Forest Watch

christoforest@maforests.org

www.maforests.org

413-341-3878

WOOD BURNING BIOMASS ENERGY –

THE BIGGEST CARBON DIOXIDE EMITTER

For Immediate Release

Wood fueled biomass energy worse for carbon dioxide emissions than fossil fuels

Massachusetts Forest Watch released a report today (www.maforests.org/MFWCarb.pdf) stating that contrary to the belief that wood fueled biomass burning would help lower carbon dioxide emissions, it would instead dramatically increase them.

According to the group, wood fueled biomass burning is typically touted as a carbon neutral fuel by biomass proponents, but the key assumption about carbon neutrality is unsubstantiated and impossible when using existing forests as fuel.

In the report, wood fueled biomass power plants are shown to be worse than all fossil fuel power plants, including coal, for carbon dioxide emissions per unit of energy produced. Calculations provided show wood fueled biomass power plants emit about 50% more CO2 per MWh than existing coal plants, 150% more than existing natural gas plants and 330% more than new power plants.

Forest Watch spokesperson Chris Matera said, “It really is crazy. Hundreds of millions of dollars in public so-called “green” energy subsidies are being wasted on dirty wood biomass burning of forests instead of going to genuinely clean energy sources such as solar, geothermal, appropriate wind and hydro and importantly conservation and efficiency. At a time when budgets are being slashed, we are throwing away scarce taxpayer money on a caveman technology that will worsen our problems, not help solve them.”

Last Wednesday, a hearing was held in Boston by the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy on House Bill 4458 that would create into law the citizen’s referendum that recently collected over 78,000 certified signatures, which is enough to put the measure on the ballot in November. The ballot measure would put a limit on carbon dioxide emissions in order for renewable energy sources to be eligible to receive taxpayer subsidies and other benefits and would effectively ban taxpayer subsidies from being directed toward wood fueled biomass plants since their carbon dioxide emissions are so high.

"We find that people are willing to support truly clean energy but do not want to pay extra on their electricity bills and tax bills to build these dirty biomass incinerators," said Jana Chicoine of the Concerned Citizens of Russell, "Everyone knows that the proposed biomass incinerators would add to air pollution and make carbon emissions worse, yet the Patrick administration is still forcing us to pay for it. It's a tragic situation, but we have a chance to fix it in the legislature over the next couple of weeks."

Meg Sheehan, chair of the Stop Spewing Carbon ballot question committee commenting about the hearing added, “last week the Massachusetts legislature received un-rebutted testimony from medical professionals that particulate emissions from wood burning biomass plants increase human mortality. A broad coalition of medical and citizen groups are urging our elected officials to support House Bill 4458 to address this public health threat. Action is needed now," she added.

Center for Biological Diversity--Biomass Burning-Bad for ALL

2010-02-16T15:20:00.000-08:00

Center for Biological Diversity Website

Dear Christopher,

One of the biggest new threats to forests in the United States is a modern take on a very old idea: burning wood for energy. Dozens of large, dirty, wood-burning electricity facilities -- staggeringly inefficient -- are now being planned across the country. A single such facility would require increased logging on tens of thousands of acres of forest each year.

Based on the flawed premise that any burning of wood is carbon neutral, electricity generated by burning trees and wood wastes -- referred to as "biomass" -- is counted as renewable energy by numerous state and federal programs intended to shift our reliance away from fossil fuels. Unfortunately, biomass burning is far from carbon neutral.

Carbon dioxide released from the smokestack of a biomass facility warms the planet just like CO2 from a coal plant. And while an area logged to fuel a biomass facility may ultimately grow back, it takes decades or even centuries for a forest to recapture as much carbon as is lost when it's logged. We don't have decades to waste if we are to reduce our emissions fast enough to save the polar bear, coral reefs, and much of the world's biodiversity from global warming.

Take action today and protect our forests. The Department of Agriculture has proposed regulations that would expand a massive, misguided subsidy program that encourages the harvest and burning of trees for energy. Please act now to let federal officials know that tax dollars should not go to the timber industry and power companies to subsidize actions that pollute the air, undermine climate solutions, and contribute to deforestation.

Go to http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2298.

Up in Smoke---(The Truth About Biomass)

2010-02-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

Up in Smoke

Credit to---http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/up-in-smoke/

Why Biomass Wood Energy is Not the Answer

By George Wuerthner | January 12, 2010

After the Smurfit-Stone Container Corp.’s linerboard plant in Missoula Montana announced that it was closing permanently, there have been many people including Montana Governor Switzer, Missoula mayor and Senator Jon Tester, among others who advocate turning the mill into a biomass energy plant. Northwestern Energy, a company which has expressed interest in using the plant for energy production has already indicated that it would expect more wood from national forests to make the plant economically viable.

The Smurfit Stone conversion to biomass is not alone. There have been a spate of new proposals for new wood burning biomass energy plants sprouting across the country like mushrooms after a rain. Currently there are plans and/or proposals for new biomass power plants in Maine, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Florida, California, Idaho, Oregon and elsewhere. In every instance, these plants are being promoted as “green” technology.

Part of the reason for this “boom” is that taxpayers are providing substantial financial incentives, including tax breaks, government grants, and loan guarantees. The rationale for these taxpayer subsidies is the presumption that biomass is “green” energy. But like other “quick fixes” there has been very little serious scrutiny of real costs and environmental impacts of biomass. Whether commercial biomass is a viable alternative to traditional fossil fuels can be questioned.

Before I get into this discussion, I want to state right up front, that coal and other fossil fuels that now provide much of our electrical energy need to be reduced and effectively replaced. But biomass energy is not the way to accomplish this end goal.

BIOMASS BURNING IS POLLUTION

First and foremost, biomass burning isn’t green. Burning wood produces huge amounts of pollution. Especially in valleys like Missoula where temperature inversions are common, pollution from a biomass burner will be the source of numerous health ailments. Because of the air pollution and human health concerns, the Oregon Chapter of the American Lung Association, the Massachusetts Medical Society and the Florida Medical Association, have all established policies opposing large-scale biomass plants.

The reason for this medical concern is that even with the best pollution control devises, biomass energy is extremely dirty. For instance, one of the biggest biomass burners now in operation, the McNeil biomass plant in Burlington, Vermont is the number one pollution source in the state, emitting 79 classified pollutants. Biomass releases dioxins, and as much particulates as coal burning, plus carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and contributes to ozone formation. [...]

BIOMASS ENERGY IS INEFFICIENT

Wood is not nearly as concentrated a heat source as coal, gas, oil, or any other fossil fuel. Most biomass energy operations are only able to capture 20-25% of the latent energy by burning wood. That means one needs to gather and burn more wood to get the same energy value as a more concentrated fuel like coal. That is not to suggest that coal is a good alternative, rather wood is a worse alternative. Especially when you consider the energy used to gather the rather dispersed source of wood and the energy costs of trucking it to a central energy plant. If the entire carbon footprint of wood is considered, biomass creates far more CO2 with far less energy output than other energy sources.

The McNeil Biomass Plant in Burlington Vermont seldom runs full time because wood, even with all the subsidies (and Vermonters made huge and repeated subsidies to the plant—not counting the “hidden subsidies” like air pollution) wood energy can’t compete with other energy sources, even in the Northeast where energy costs are among the highest in the nation. Even though the plant was also retrofitted so it could burn natural gas to increase its competitiveness with other energy sources, the plant still does not operate competitively. It generally is only used to off- set peak energy loads.

One could argue, of course, that other energy sources like coal are greatly subsidized as well, especially if all environmental costs were considered. But at the very least, all energy sources must be “standardized” so that consumers can make informed decisions about energy—and biomass energy appears to be no more green than other energy sources.

BIOMASS SANITIZES AND MINES OUR FORESTS

The dispersed nature of wood as a fuel source combined with its low energy value means any sizable energy plant must burn a lot of wood. For instance, the McNeil 50 megawatt biomass plant in Burlington, Vermont would require roughly 32,500 acres of forest each year if running at near full capacity and entirely on wood. Wood for the McNeil Plant is trucked and even shipped on trains from as far away as Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Quebec and Maine.

Biomass proponents often suggest that wood [which can be gathered] as a consequence of forest thinning to improve “forest health” (logging a forest to improve health of a forest ecosystem is an oxymoron.) will provide the fuel for plant operations. For instance, one of the assumptions of Senator Tester’s Montana Forest Jobs bill is that thinned forests will provide a ready source of biomass for energy production. But in many cases, there are limits on the economic viability of trucking wood any distance to a central energy plant. Again without huge subsidies, this simply does not make economic sense. Biomass forest harvesting is even worse for forest ecosystems than clearcutting. Biomass energy tends to utilize the entire tree, including the bole, crown, and branches. This robs a forest of nutrients, and disrupts energy cycles.

Worse yet, such biomass removal ignores the important role of dead trees to sustain the forest ecosystems. Dead trees are not a “wasted” resource. They provide home and food for thousands of species, including 45% of all bird species in the Nation. Dead trees that fall to the ground are used by insects, small mammals, amphibians and reptiles for shelter and even potentially food. Dead trees that fall into streams are important physical components of aquatic ecosystems and provide critical habitat for many fish and other aquatic species. Removal of dead wood is mining the forest. Keep in mind that logging activities are not benign. Logging typically requires some kind of access, often roads which are a major source of sedimentation in streams, and disrupt natural subsurface water flow. Logging can disturb sensitive wildlife like grizzly bear and even elk are known to abandon locations with active logging. Logging can spread weeds. And finally since large amounts of forest carbon are actually tied up in the soils, soil disturbance from logging is especially damaging, often releasing substantial additional amounts of carbon over and above what is released up a smoke stack.

BIOMASS ENERGY USES LARGE AMOUNTS OF WATER

A large-scale biomass plant (50 MW) uses close to a million gallons of water a day for cooling. Most of that water is lost from the watershed since approximately 85% is lost as steam. Water channeled back into a river or stream typically has a pollution cost as well, including higher water temperatures that negatively impact fisheries, especially trout. Since cooling need is greatest in warm weather, removal of water from rivers occurs just when flows are lowest, and fish are most susceptible to temperature stress.

BIOMASS ENERGY SAPS FUNDS FROM OTHER TRULY GREEN ENERGY SOURCES LIKE SOLAR

Since biomass energy is eligible for state renewable portfolio standards (RPS), it has captured the bulk of funding intended to move the country away from fossil fuels. For example, in Vermont, 90% of the RPS is from “smokestack” sources—mostly biomass incineration. This pattern holds throughout many other parts of the country. Biomass energy is thus burning up funds that could and should be going into other energy programs like energy conservation, solar and insulation of buildings.

PUBLIC FORESTS WILL BE LOGGED FOR BIOMASS ENERGY

Many of the climate bills now circulating in Congress, as well as Montana Senator Jon Tester’s Montana Jobs and Wilderness bill target public forests. Some of these proposals even include roadless lands and proposed wilderness as a source for wood biomass. One federal study suggests that 368 million tons of wood could be removed from our national forests every year—of course this study did not include the ecological costs that physical removal of this much would have on forest ecosystems.

The Biomass Crop Assistance Program, or BCAP, which was quietly put into the 2008 farm bill has so far given away more than a half billion dollars in a matching payment program for businesses that cut and collect biomass from national forests and Bureau of Land Management lands. And according to a recent Washington Post story, the Obama administration has already sent $23 million to biomass energy companies, and is poised to send another half billion.

And it is not only federal forests that are in jeopardy. Many states are eying their own state forests for biomass energy. For instance, Maine recently unveiled a new plan known as the Great Maine Forest Initiative which will pay timber companies to grow trees for biomass energy.

JOB LOSSES

Ironically one of the main justifications for biomass energy is the creation of jobs, yet the wood biomass rush is having unintended consequences for other forest products industries. Companies that rely upon surplus wood chips to produce fiberboard, cabinet makers, and furniture are scrambling to find wood fiber for their products. Considering that these industries are secondary producers of products, the biomass rush could threaten more jobs than it may create.

BOTTOM LINE

Large scale wood biomass energy is neither green, nor truly economical. It is also not ecologically sustainable and jeopardizes our forest ecosystems. It is a distraction that funnels funds and attention away from other more truly worthwhile energy options, in particular, the need for a massive energy conservation program, and changes in our lifestyles that will in the end provide truly green alternatives to coal and other fossil fuels.

George Wuerthner is a wildlife biologist and a former Montana hunting guide. His latest book is Plundering Appalachia.

Credit to---http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/up-in-smoke/

Responsible Burning?

2010-02-03T16:07:00.000-08:00

From----The Wood Smoke Activist
February 2010 Newsletter
Educating the world about the health and climate impacts of wood smoke and combustion aerosols.
Editor: Shirley Brandie
1/2/2010

Responsible Burning?

Some wood burners claim that they burn responsibly. They have been told that there is efficient burning with modern high heat units. Maybe they have a pellet stove which is supposed to be cleaner. But there are start-up problems like in any industrial process and home units are rarely monitored consistently. In my opinion we have been misled with the positives of burning and the negatives have been largely ignored.

Of course words depend on their definitions. Two common definitions of the word responsible are “answerable to somebody” or “being to blame for something”. Wood burners make smoke and should be “answerable to somebody” for the health consequences. Wood burners can also be “blamed for smoke”. We are told that fine particulate has no safe level and health depends on the level of exposure. Responsible people who live near others should not burn wood. There are wiser and cheaper methods of keeping warm.

In my opinion all burning below the level of natural gas could be considered irresponsible. If there is no safe level of PM2.5 and if one can smell smoke, then burning should stop. Knowledge of health effects on others should be enough for a responsible citizen to stop burning.

Vic Steblin vsteblin@sd57.bc.ca
BSc Honours Math, MA Math Education from UBC
Currently teaching math in a secondary school in Prince George,

From----The Wood Smoke Activist
February 2010 Newsletter
Educating the world about the health and climate impacts of wood smoke and combustion aerosols.
Editor: Shirley Brandie
1/2/2010

Risky Business: Burning Wood and other Biomass for Energy

2010-02-03T16:03:00.000-08:00

From----The Wood Smoke Activist
February 2010 Newsletter
Educating the world about the health and climate impacts of wood smoke and combustion aerosols.
Editor: Shirley Brandie
1/2/2010

Risky Business: Burning Wood and other Biomass for Energy

Though burning biomass is a source of renewable energy, the negative health consequences are so well documented that they far outweigh the benefits.
Wood smoke shares many common chemicals with tobacco smoke, including formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and carbon emissions. It is rich in dioxins, the most insidious family of toxins known to man, which accumulate in the environment and in mammalian lungs, building up over time, adding incrementally to health risks for every generation to come.

Smoke from biomass burning is implicated in skyrocketing birth defects, including reproductive defects in unborn babies, asthma attacks, heart attacks and even SIDS.

Morbidity and Mortality from Air Pollution—a Wake-Up Call
The American Thoracic Society, May 22, 2006, found that for an increase of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of particulates over two years, the risk of dying was increased by:
*32% for people with diabetes
*28% for people with COPD, asthma and pneumonia
*27% in people with congestive heart failure
*22% for people with inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus
A current American Lung Association brochure states that a majority of asthmatics cite smoke of all kinds as a trigger for asthma attacks.

“Particulate pollution has been linked to hospital admissions and emergency room visits for respiratory problems and to premature death.” Further, “The sulfur dioxide in wood smoke constricts air passages, making it a problem for people with asthma and for young children whose small lungs need to work harder than adult lungs. Even brief exposures to relatively low levels of sulfur dioxide can cause an asthma attack.”

The EPA, in “Health Effects of Particle Pollution,” March 8, 2006, states, “Many scientific studies have linked breathing particle pollution to a series of significant health problems, including chronic bronchitis, decreased lung function, and premature death.”
Do we need to hear more to rule out biomass burning in urban areas?
Biomass/Wood Smoke Particulates are Major Contributors to Climate Change
Smoke and other fine particulates influence cloud thinning by “choking” clouds, and absorb moisture from the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. For more detailed facts, see www.burningissues.org, a project of Clean Air Revival, a non-profit organization providing online scientific information on wood smoke and other fine particulates.

Julie Mellum
President, Take Back the Air
info@takebacktheair.com

Credit to----The Wood Smoke Activist
February 2010 Newsletter
Educating the world about the health and climate impacts of wood smoke and combustion aerosols.
Editor: Shirley Brandie
1/2/2010

The Wood Smoke Activist-January 2010 Newsletter-Editorial

2010-01-26T19:56:00.000-08:00

The Wood Smoke Activist
January 2010 Newsletter
Educating the world about the health and climate impacts of wood smoke and combustion aerosols.
Editor: Shirley Brandie
1/1/2010

Editorial

Now that winter is upon us many people are suffering greatly from the effects of wood smoke that is invading their homes. Instead of looking out the windows at glistening white snow instead they see dark speckles on the snow, those speckles being output from neighboring wood smoke. I remember it vividly as our snow was speckled also up until the burning was ended.

Not only that, what they see out their windows is clouds of wood smoke of varying colors , the colors depending on what is being burned at the time, surrounding the neighborhood.

Not a beautiful winter holiday scene at all. Can you imagine a Season’s Greetings card with a scene like that imprinted on it?
Now that their hopes for that beautiful special holiday scene are dashed, once again by the neighbor’s “need to burn”, they decide that the stench and irritating fumes are just too much to impose on their guests and give up the idea of a family get-together in their home again this year.

They busy themselves with trying to find something that will get the stench out of their house so that they can try to make the best of it. Nothing works and depression sets in.

In this day and age it is beyond belief that there are people that, even when they have been made aware of the discomfort they are causing with their wood burning, continue to stoke that burner and fumigate the neighbors.
For as many years as I have been researching the psyches of burners, I have not come up with why they have the need to hurt others. I know it is there but I can’t put my finger on it yet. Some have suggested pyromania, control issues, mental illnesses and even a wood fetish.

They say that you cannot help someone if they don’t think they need help. But we must not forget that we are the victims of their smoke. And, we don’t like to be thought of as victims. We are stronger than that! We will fight for our right to breathe fresh air in our own homes and yards!

This is a goal for all of us at the start of a brand new year. Let’s make 2010 the year we take back the air!

Shirley
The Wood Smoke Activist
January 2010 Newsletter
Educating the world about the health and climate impacts of wood smoke and combustion aerosols.
Editor: Shirley Brandie
1/1/2010

Shirley Brandie
http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net

Ontario Director of Canadian Clean Air Alliance
http://www.canadiancleanairalliance.ca

Ban sought on outdoor wood furnaces

2010-01-06T10:37:00.000-08:00

New Haven Register---Connecticut
Published: Wednesday, January 6, 2010

By Randall Beach, Register Staff

The president of a local environmental group is pressing state legislators to support her organization’s call for a law banning outdoor wood-burning furnaces and adding the words “wood smoke” to the state Public Health Nuisance Code.

Nancy Alderman of North Haven, who heads Environment and Human Health Inc., is optimistic both proposals will win passage during the legislative session that begins next month.

Alderman said adding “wood smoke” to the nuisance code would protect any residents receiving wood smoke in their homes from neighbors.

The sources would include outdoor pits or burners, indoor stoves or even outdoor brush-burning.

“It would cover anything that enters somebody’s house from a neighbor on a continual basis,” she said.

If such a law existed, she noted, local health departments could order the offending neighbor to stop burning.

Last April this legislative proposal passed the Public Health Committee by a large margin but was defeated in the Environment Committee.

Alderman said it failed because state health officials mistakenly believed a case in the Trumbull-Monroe health district made the proposed law unnecessary.

A health officer there had issued a cease and desist order against a burner and the order was upheld by the state Department of Public Health. But Alderman said state officials later learned the new legal precedent merely meant local health officials “may” issue such orders but don’t have to do so.

Alderman said if the proposal became law, local health officials would be mandated to issue such orders against burners who are affecting their neighbors.

Alderman plans to meet next Monday with the co-chairmen of the state Public Health Committee to encourage them to support the nuisance language for wood smoke.

“Wood smoke is harmful when breathed on a continual basis,” Alderman said in her group’s legislative agenda for 2010. “If exposures are long enough and high enough, they will cause bronchitis, pneumonia and in some cases even permanent lung damage.”

Alderman has already met with the co-chairmen of the state Environment Committee about the proposed ban on outdoor wood-burning furnaces and is “very hopeful” that it, too, will win passage.

She noted state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and the American Lung Association have called on the General Assembly to ban outdoor furnaces.

They already are prohibited in four Connecticut towns: Granby, Tolland, Hebron and Ridgefield.

In a recent New Haven Register Op-Ed, Alderman defined an outdoor wood-burning furnace as a small, insulated shed with a short smokestack. It burns wood that heats water that is sent through underground pipes to heat a home or building.

She noted they emit smoke 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Their dense smoke endangers the health of nearby neighbors, she said.

Her group has collected testimonials from families who have been harmed by wood smoke. One of the statements came from Robert G. Johnson of West Haven. He said he suffered asthma attacks and bronchial spasms as a result of wood-burning smoke that came from a chimney near Johnson’s home.

Johnson, who described himself as a 68-year-old asthmatic with hypertension, said his neighbor has stopped burning the wood “for now.”

Randall Beach can be reached at rbeach@nhregister.com or 203-789-5766.

Biomass Plants Are Not The Solution--Massachusetts

2010-01-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

Biomass Plants Are Not The Solution---Massachusetts
By Chris Matera

Special to the Worcester Business Journal
01/04/10

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We need to get serious about global warming and energy generation, but wood burning biomass plants are a false solution, which will worsen our problems, not help to solve them.

While the word “biomass” conjures up pleasant images, the promotion of this old caveman incinerator technology as “green” is a colossal “greenwash” by the timber and trash industries attempting to cash in on lucrative public clean energy subsidies.

One can become quite cynical to learn that our “green” energy subsidies are promoting the cutting of forests and burning them in dirty biomass plants instead of promoting the truly clean energy solutions such as solar, geothermal, appropriately scaled and located wind and hydro, and most importantly conservation and efficiency.

A Biomass Reality Check
Contrary to industry claims, biomass energy does not reduce carbon dioxide emissions, it increases them.

Biomass energy produces 50 percent more carbon dioxide per megawatt hour of energy than coal. That is not a typo, and is based on numbers from the proponents' own reports. Since burning wood is so inefficient, burning living trees is actually worse than burning coal. Biomass burning releases about 3,300 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt, while coal releases 2,100 pounds. Gas-fired plants release even less, about 1,300 pounds.

Not only is burning trees worse than coal for carbon dioxide emissions, but it produces similar levels of other pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, volatile organic compounds, sulfur dioxide and particulates. The McNeil biomass plant near Burlington, Vt., touted by biomass proponents, is the number one pollution source in the entire state, emitting 79 classified pollutants, according to planethazard.com.

Massachusetts’ current proposals would build 190 megawatts of biomass energy that would require burning 2.5 million tons of wood each year. This is massive considering that the average total timber harvest in Massachusetts is about 500,000 tons. This means that at a historical logging intensity of 19 tons per acre, 100,000 acres of forest would need to be logged every year in Massachusetts for biomass
alone. At this rate, all Western and Central Massachusetts forests could be logged in 16 years. Even our state public forests and parks are targeted for a 1,082 percent increase over historical logging levels to fuel the power plants.

Burning all this forest would only increase Massachusetts power generating capacity 1 percent, yet alternative, economic conservation and efficiency measures, which cost a third of new energy, could reduce our energy use by 30 percent.

At this time of ecological and economic crisis, there is no reasonable argument for forcing taxpayers to subsidize new pollution, carbon dioxide emissions, forest devastation, and carbon-based fuels for minimal amounts of power. These policies will worsen air pollution, increase greenhouse gas emissions, deplete forests and drain our public coffers, the exact opposite of what we need to be doing right now.

These taxpayer subsidies and other incentives should be redirected toward truly green technologies to produce clean, non-carbon emitting energy, and local jobs.

Chris Matera is the founder of Massachusetts Forest Watch, a citizen watchdog group formed to defend Massachusetts state forests against commercial exploitation. Learn more at www.maforests.org.

source http://www.wbjournal.com/news45341.html

Canadian Clean Air Alliance-website

2009-12-23T16:35:00.000-08:00

Canadian Clean Air Alliance

Who are we?

We are Canadians that have come together to fight for the right to
breathe clean air in our house, yard and neighbourhoods.
We are against residential wood smoke and odour from all wood burning appliances - stoves, fireplaces, furnaces and all outdoor burning. We are against all wood burning pollution!

Mission Statement

Our intention is to educate the public about the grave health hazards to human life and the severe effects that wood burning has on global warming. We strive to protect Canadians from the health hazards, pollution, nuisance and interruption to normal daily life from all residential wood burning smoke and odour both indoors and outside.

We are the voice that will stand up for Canadians and work towards getting bylaws and bans in place to protect all of us from this grave health hazard.
"A voice in the dark is never heard until someone listens"

http://www.canadiancleanairalliance.ca/index.html

Visit this great website!

A Mother's Plea

2009-12-17T19:18:00.000-08:00

A Mother’s Plea
March 10, 2009

Dear Environment Enhancement Committee Members,

Recently my daughter was diagnosed with cancer; the third episode within a decade.
She has an active life which includes plenty of fresh air and exercise, wholesome foods and she is not dependent on cigarettes or alcohol. She occupies an apartment in New Westminster and since she is a firm believer in fresh air, a window is always open.

During most of my visits during Fall, Winter or Spring, I was aware of a smoke smell which I compared to that of burning wood fireplaces so during my presence the windows would be closed because I had become sensitive to wood smoke.

About 7 months ago I decided to do research as to the harmful effects of fireplace smoke emissions on people’s health. Reading the information provided by UBC and BC Lung Association I learned that fireplace smoke does contain more than 100 chemicals and numerous toxic substances which are linked to many diseases including cancer.

Also, thickening of the blood vessels that are a risk factor to stroke and heart attacks. It also increases the rate of ear infection and even short term exposure shows increased incidence of cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heart rhythm).

A study on lab animals suggests that prolonged exposure to wood smoke may weaken the immune system and I ask ―Is that the reason for the multitude of allergy sufferers? And, in my daughter’s case, is she a cancer victim because of wood smoke exposure for 23 years from neighbouring fireplaces?

It is my understanding that these toxic substances do penetrate dwellings even with windows closed and put people at risk.

Upon contacting the Environmental Enhancement Committee of my municipality, Port Coquitlam, I was informed that a regional approach is preferred.

Up to now Metro Vancouver has not been successful in convincing the public of the harmful effects on people’s health from Wood Burning and is still trying to educate them. A stove exchange program is in force. I do understand this to be necessary for individuals who are dependent on wood as their only source of fuel. But, in our highly populated Metro Vancouver area where weather conditions are not exactly of a 5 star rating, I feel that it would be in the best interest of all living and breathing beings to simply ban the use of Wood Burning.

Authorities will just have to take a stand on this issue, and put their foot down, so to speak.

As I have been in contact with our federal and provincial Government on this issue, their reply to me was, that it falls under the jurisdiction of municipalities.
I am aware that toxins from wood burning are only part of the pollution problem, but it is that part which is easily cleared up. It will not have a negative effect on the economy either, and wood burning fireplaces can be easily replaced by a Gas burning one.

Banning Wood Burning Fireplaces should not be looked upon as taking away someone’s privilege to enjoy a roaring fire, but to be considered as an improvement of our air quality. That is, what all of us are striving to achieve, correct?

Will you therefore please join me and seriously consider the positive effect a ban on Wood Burning Fireplaces will have on people’s health and no longer will harm any ones child! A mother’s heart thanks you!

Brie Oishi
Port Coquitlam, B.C.

From----The Wood Smoke Activist
December Newsletter
Educating the world about the health and climate impacts of wood smoke and combustion aerosols.
Editor: Shirley Brandie
12/1/2009

Got Smoke?

2009-12-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

Got Smoke?

By Dan Stih
This month’s Bozo Award goes to the Forest Service for "controlled burns". The flames might be under control but the air quality sure isn't. Do they realize they are literally killing people?

I measured 4,000,000 particles 0.3 micron in size or larger in Santa Fe during the controlled burns, a record high for me since I started using the instrument almost 10 years ago, measuring particulate levels in several states and large cities like Phoenix. Most people's air purifiers are good enough to protect people from these small particles. Studies find more people go to the hospital (some die) when small particles pass through their lungs, enter the blood stream, reach their heart and reek havoc with their body. Some die, never realizing the culprit was poor air quality.

Are controlled burns worth it? In May 2000, citizens held their breath as raging fires encroached upon the town of Los Alamos. The fires were not the result of a cigarette butt or lightning - they were set by the National Park Service. The disaster burned 47,000 acres and hundreds of homes.
If we can't quit for our own health, do it for pets. Smoke from fires is 12x worse for our health than cigarette smoke. According to Ron Davis, president of the American Medical Association "Dogs whose owners smoke are more likely to get lung cancer and cats are more likely to get feline lymphoma". Cited in Indoor Environment Connections (http://www.ieconnections.com ).

Dan Stih Author, Healthy Living Spaces: Top 10 Hazards Affecting Your Health
President, Healthy Living Spaces LLC Council-certified Microbial Consultant
Council-certified Indoor Environmental Consultant
Board-awarded by the American Indoor Air Quality Council
Chapter Director, The Indoor Air Quality Association, Santa Fe
Healthy Living Spaces
369 Montezuma Ave #169 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
tel: 505.992.9904
fax: 505.992.9744 email: dan@healthylivingspaces.com website: www.HealthyLivingSpaces.com

From----The Wood Smoke Activist
December Newsletter
Educating the world about the health and climate impacts of wood smoke and combustion aerosols.
Editor: Shirley Brandie
12/1/2009

Flyer Distributed to Canadians-Cornwall, Ontario

2009-11-26T18:41:00.000-08:00

Webmaster note: The following is a flyer distributed to over 2000 people in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, and other nearby towns. We congratulate the Air is Precious grass-roots organization for its great effort on behalf of all Canadians that want woodsmoke-free air to breathe.

BREATHE HEALTHY AIR
Air Is Precious. So is every breathe we take.

ALL Canadians deserve the right to breathe healthy air woodsmoke free.

WE all should live without our air being polluted with woodsmoke.

CHILDHOOD asthma rates are soaring. We must protect them.

A quote from Deitrich Bonheffer says it all:
“The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children”

WE all deserve the right to protect our family from harm caused by woodsmoke emissions. Fine (PM2.5) is a silent killer!

LIVES are being destroyed across Canada daily because of toxic pollution from deadly Woodsmoke emissions (PM2.5). Your family is at risk.

WE all deserve to live in a woodsmoke free community.

WE should not have our property rights violated by wood burners.

LIVING beside a burner makes it difficult to sell your home.

YOU cannot stop toxic woodsmoke from entering your home by closing your windows and doors.

YOU cannot prevent toxic particulate matter from entering deeply into your lungs when you breathe it.

WE must join together across Canada to end toxic Woodsmoke pollution!

If you agree, contact: e-mail airisprecious@gmail.com
Air Is Precious Coalition
975 Brookdale Avenue
P.O. Box 22049
Cornwall, Ontario
K6J 4P5

SEE THESE WEBSITES:

Breathe Healthy Air http://breathehealthyair.blogspot.com/

Canadian Clean Air Alliance http://www.canadiancleanairalliance.ca

Clean Air Revival http://burningissues.org/

Legal:Wood Smoke and the Americans With Disabilities Act

2009-11-10T18:19:00.000-08:00

Successful ADA Complaint Leads to Permanent Open Burning Ban: Iowa: 1996

On Dec. 24, 1996 a permanent injunction was issued to ban all open burning in the City of Mallard, Iowa as a result of a federal Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II complaint. U.S. District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett, of the Northern District of Iowa, Central Division, issued the injunction after finding the rights of a 2 year old girl with severe respiratory and cardiac conditions were be violated by the city because of the city's allowance of open burning.

The smoke aggravated the child's condition and posed a threat to her health and therefore presented a physical barrier that did not allow her use of the public parks and streets. This is a precedent setting case of an ADA complaint due to leaf burning. Attorneys may contact Blake Parker, the successful attorney in this case at 515-955-2193 for more information.To date almost 200 ADA Title II complaints have been filed with the U.S. Dept. of the Interior against over 70 municipalities in Illinois and other Midwestern states.

What are ADA rules and regulations? Here is information published in the AARP Newspaper April, 2003 from the "Ask Our Experts" column.

Q. "Public places are required by law to be accessible to disabled people. As a disabled person, where can I lodge a complaint if I encounter a problem?"

A. The U.S. Department of Justice enforces the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires that public places be accessible to disabled people. The Justice Department accepts written complaints and has specific requirements about the information it needs. To learn more, call the ADA information line at (800) 514-0301 or go to www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/t3compfm.htm

Under Title III of the ADA, most businesses and service providers-everything from hotels and restaurants to office buildings, hospitals and schools-are considered public accommodations. Title III also permits individuals to enforce their rights in court."

From...http://burningissues.org/car-www/legal/ada.html

Judge prohibits outdoor wood boiler

2009-11-10T18:16:00.000-08:00

Judge prohibits outdoor wood boiler in Henrietta Township dispute
by Fredricka Paul | Jackson Citizen Patriot
Friday May 22, 2009, 11:23 PM

A lengthy dispute between Henrietta Township neighbors was resolved this week, resulting in one family not being allowed to use an outdoor wood boiler.

Circuit Court Judge Chad Schmucker ruled that Richard and Julia Cady cannot use the wood boiler, which he believes was a nuisance and health hazard to neighbors.

The Cadys represented themselves in the civil trial in which they were sued by the Jackson County Health Department.

Wood boilers, increasingly popular in rural areas as energy costs rise, transfer heat through water lines from an outside structure to a home for both space and water heating.

The judge also prohibited Cady from incinerating trash, debris and other materials in backyard burn barrels.

Schmucker said the Cadys did not break any laws and that the boiler was properly installed but produces smoke, which can be a nuisance to neighbors.

Richard Soldano, 53, testified he started having headaches in 2003, before Cady built his home, because Cady frequently burned garbage in barrels on his property.

Since then, he's had chest pain and trouble breathing after being outside when the wood boiler is operating.

Soldano's wife has had a chronic cough, and Soldano said he has asthma and a chronic lung condition. Doctors have attributed the conditions to smoke inhalation and warned against the dangers of breathing smoke.

"We are very pleased. It is what we asked the court to do," said Bob Grover, the lawyer for the health department. "I hope it finally resolves problems between neighbors that have been going on for five to six years. I am not optimistic, but hopeful."

— Reporter Danielle Quisenberry contributed to this report.

Outdoor Burning Banned-No Outdoor Woodburning-Elmira, New York!!

2009-10-09T18:16:00.000-07:00

City of Elmira New York
Fire Department

September 28,2009

Letter received by...Founder, Air is Precious Coalition

It was a pleasure speaking to you. Thank you for your kind words and encouragement.

Let me give you the history behind our open burning ordinance. In the 1980's, our county government banned open burning throughout our county. As years passed, their inability to enforce those regulations led them to abolish the law. At that time, our city created a local ordinance to continue the restrictions on open burning.

As with any law that is enacted, loopholes began to crop up. When I became the Fire Marshal in 1994, we rewrote the ordinance to close these loopholes and the ordinance was updated again in 2004 to include chimineas.

With the popularity of chimineas and fire pits, the need for enforcement was increased. The main issue isn't so much that people can't utilize these safely, but the fact that in a neighborhood setting, the emissions from these devices is an intrusion upon the right of others to enjoy their property. If you can't open windows in your home because of smoke entering your home in the heat of summer, then your health and safety is at risk.

As you will notice, part (B) of section 9-1 of our ordinance speaks directly to the pollution issue. We do allow the use of these devices if they are fueled by natural gas, propane or charcoal; fuels that produce no smoke issues for others.

We do not receive a lot of complaints now, but when we do, an engine company will respond. They notify the individual that they need to extinguish their fire and if they do not cooperate, our crew will extinguish it. A Fire Report is generated and if we receive another complaint, a violation notice is generated which caries a penalty of a $250 fine or 15 days in jail or both. I think we both agree that it does not matter where we live, the right to breathe clean air should be a right that is guaranteed to all of us. This tool is an effective way of ensuring this.

I have enclosed a copy of our ordinance and a business card should you need to contact me in the future.

Again, thank you for the kind words which makes it easier to do a difficult job.

Sincerely,

William R. Wheeler
Fire Marshal
WRW:hm
Enclosures