"For the most part, wood burning produces significant amounts of particle air pollution, and a small but measurable fraction of this is a powerful neurotoxicant."
"Wood fuels have been a popular choice in much of the world. We were concerned that there were harmful elements that place the public at risk. It turns out that we were right."
"They looked for tiny particles of potassium that are given off when wood is burned and also particles containing lead. Samples from seven winters revealed associations between potassium and lead. When there were more wood burning particles in a daily sample, there was more lead in the air, with clear straight-line relationships in four of the five towns."
"The relationships between lead and potassium varied from place to place, being strongest in the Rocky Mountains. By factoring in the effects of temperature, moderate to strong associations in their analysis strengthened the conclusion that the extra lead came from wood burning. The lead concentrations were less than the US legal limits, but any exposure to the metal is harmful."
Wood heating can reintroduce lead into local air. Lead was banned as a petrol additive more than 25 years ago because of neurotoxicity. A study analyzed particle pollution samples from suburban and rural towns in the northeastern US, measuring potassium particles from wood combustion and particles containing lead. Across seven winters, higher daily wood-burning particle levels corresponded to higher lead levels, with clear linear relationships in most towns. The project expanded to additional towns, and associations varied by location, being strongest in the Rocky Mountains. Accounting for temperature strengthened evidence that the added lead came from wood burning. Lead levels were below US legal limits, but any exposure is harmful.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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