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Letters
Below is an example of why Environment and Human Health,
Inc.is asking for regulations that would require "No
Burning" on air quality alert days and days of extreme
heat. These regulations should extend into the evening hours
- just as the alert and the heat does.
Sent to me from Nancy Alderman, President, Environment and
Human Health, Inc.
www.ehhi.org
ehhijournal.org
Friday, July 22, 2011
Dear Mrs. Alderman,
Today was another state of CT air quality alert. The
temperature in Niantic registered at103 degrees at 2 PM. The
air is unhealthy and ozone levels are unhealthy.
I had my ceiling and oscillating fans on tonight and the
windows
open. Approximately 10:45pm I smelled wood smoke. I could
barely make it outside into my car to drive down the street
to see who was burning a recreational fire since the smell
of smoke was so strong on my front porch and driveway.
On this excessively hot day and very hot evening, the air I
am breathing is filled with smoke. Sure enough the people
one street over were sitting around their firepit in the far
corner of their yard and then when they are finished they
can go into their smoke free house.
I am so upset that these people would pick a night like
tonight to burn a fire with record temperatures. From my
drive in the neighborhood only these people had a fire.
I called the fire department and they had me call the police
department dispatch to send a cruiser to the address and let
them know about their smoke traveling to my house.
Unfortunately, even if they extinguish the fire, the damage
is already done. The smoke engulfing all sides of my house
will never dissipate all night long with this heat. The
symptoms I now have after breathing this smoke combined with
the unhealthy air quality and heat of the night are really
bad. The particulates get into my house through the cracks
and walls, etc. I will suffer this eveningfrom this smoke.
Sincerely,
xxxxxxxx, Niantic, CT
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A letter from a Salmon Arm, BC victim
of residential wood smoke
(This letter was sent to both
Health & Environment)
Hello Mr. xxxxx, thank you for
your email a few days ago. I must say I am somewhat
disappointed. I had hoped some assistance might be
forth-coming.
I am having great difficulty in
expressing to all concerned that dense smoke from the
OWB is only a portion of the issues of hazardous
emissions. I am sending along two pictures taken by Mr.
xxxxx and sent to Dr. xxxxx. The emissions as you see
them are emitting 24 hours a day, except when the burner
is in start up mode, at which time the smoke is
extremely dense; this start up mode can, and does,
happen several times a day, all depending on temperature
and amount of heat extracted from the unit.
Mr. xxxxx's unit is very well
hidden and is not visible from any angle other than
inside his driveway and very near his house,
consequently viewing and photos of these emissions is
near impossible without trespass. A drive-by, except
when the unit is in start up will reveal very little in
the way of evidence of actual contamination. This is why
an air quality monitor is so important.
When you and your colleagues are
on your frequent visits to Salmon Arm, at which time you
have advised you will drive by, please also observe the
units operating at xxxxxxx. ( also very well hidden so
only start up emissions will be noticeable, you will
recognize this property by the stacks of old wood
pallets and used timbers, I suspect fuel for the OWB,).
The other unit is located at xxxxxx, this unit I
understand is servicing three homes and is presently
under renovation to provide heat to a butcher shop
located on the same property, thus even more wood smoke
and pollution will be added to the environment. This
unit is very visible and is a prime example of the
menace of these uncontrolled machines.
Thank you again for your time,
xxxxxxx
_______________________
Hello xxxxx.....I note you have
chosen not to respond to my previous email; perhaps I am
mistaken and the email has somehow been misplaced (or
forgotten) thus I am sending it to you once more.
Hopefully I will hear from you shortly. Could you please
advise me the name of your colleague with whom you sat
and observed the boiler a few weeks ago, also, I would
like to know the vantage point from which you made these
observations as I am yet unable to find a clear site
line.
Thank you in advance,
xxxxxxx
______________________
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A letter from a person in
Pierrefonds and
Dollard des Ormeaux, Quebec
[I have enclosed a video of my neighbour’s wood burning
unit. I hope you take note of the black soot surrounding the
chimney. Unfortunately the video doesn’t do justice to the
smell that goes along with the smoke.
http://74.54.41.98/~boobnewb/video/smokingvideo2.avi
-While filming this footage, my neighbour began to verbally
harass me and consequently a police report was filed after
the incident].
In 2009, there were 29 smog alert warnings on the
island of Montreal – the most of any year on record. An
estimate in 2000 by the Montreal Public Health Department
put the number of households with fireplaces or wood stoves
on the island at 100,000. The study noted that pollution
from fireplaces and wood-burning stoves was worse in six
areas, including Pierrefonds and Dollard des Ormeaux.
Cigarette smoke has been dealt with and yet wood smoke,
which is far more dangerous, remains in our air with little
that can be done without the help of our municipalities.
There is no excuse to continue to burn wood as one’s primary
source of heat when many more environmentally-friendly
alternatives are available such as electric, natural gas,
oil and geo-thermal heat.
Based on personal experience, I can tell you that wood smoke
creates a smell that stays on your clothes, your hair and on
your pet when you want to take them for a walk. The health
effects that my family has had to endure include symptoms
such as dry throat, coughing, irritation of the eyes,
irritation of the nose and headaches.
Wood smoke can’t be kept out of one’s home. The
particulate matter is so tiny that it can manage to get
through windows, doors, and ventilation systems. There is
plenty of evidence to support that replacing existing
windows with newer windows will do nothing to help change
the issue of wood smoke entering one’s home. No resident
should have to beg to have fresh air to breath inside their
home.
The neighbour in question who is smoking wood has
continued to use wood heating as their primary source of
heat from the months of September-April. My family has made
formal complaints to public security officials and the urban
planner of the municipality. The public security officials
were unaware of what they could do to help with the
complaint and said that they would take down the complaint
but couldn’t do anything to help since there is no official
by-law concerning wood smoke.
We have spoken to the urban planner who has discussed the
by-laws with us and mentioned the use of no-burn days in the
municipality. The urban planner met with our neighbour and
discussed the by-laws and the issue of no-burn days with our
neighbour. As soon as the urban planner left, the wood
burning continued the very next day.
Furthermore, we have made several complaints on smog
alert days to the urban planner of the municipality and have
seen no direct action taken. The urban planner’s response
has been that it would take several visits on his behalf
before any official fine or action can be taken for wood
burning.
Our neighbour will continue to do this to us and
others as long as he knows that he can get away with it. As
long as he abuses the system without getting caught; he will
continue to do so. Another issue is that the individuals who
are causing the nuisance don’t want to be told that they are
causing a disturbance. They become defensive and belligerent
and show it by increasing their smoke load.
Many other individuals who have dealt with the same issue
have recommended that we ask the municipality to look into
whether the wood burning stove meets regulatory requirements
but we have seen several instances where neighbours have
managed to get the municipality to do this only to find out
that it did meet regulatory standards and that the city
couldn’t stop the individual from using their wood burning
device.
Most municipalities are undecided about how to handle
wood smoke and keep everyone happy. It’s the burners that
continue to abuse their neighbours with smoke. This has
spoiled all of their enjoyment of their own home and
property and often has made them sick. There are many people
currently dealing with wood burners that won’t stop their
burning until they are taken to court. This is a lengthy and
expensive procedure that further punishes the innocent
victim of the wood smoke who has been suffering for some
time already with the loss of the enjoyment of their
property and the health effects of the smoke that filters
into their home.
Recently, there have been published news articles that might
lead one to believe that wood burning is safe. This is
simply hype by a manufacturing industry that wants to
persuade the public into purchasing newer wood smoking
devices and getting them to believe that these newer
“Greener” models are much better for the environment and
safer than traditional wood smoking devices. Some mayors
recommend that EPA 2 wood stoves be used. There is little
evidence to suggest that these newer models (which many
municipalities are trying to transition to) are any safer
than the previous wood smoking devices that are currently
being used by homeowners right now.
Wood burning appliances are not like most other
heating systems because the quality of the outcome is so
much in the hands of the user. People who don’t care about
the impacts of their actions on neighbours and are content
to remain ignorant of how to burn wood effectively will make
a lot of smoke, regardless of the emissions rating of the
appliance they choose. There is no such thing as “good
smoke”. You can’t escape the wood smoke that makes its way
into your home through ventilation systems and small spaces
in between doors and windows. No air cleaner will help to
improve the air and make it safer for you to breathe.
It’s unrealistic to believe that all wood smoking devices
will be banned in the near future. Many municipalities are
offering switch out programs that range from 5-7 years to
either permanently ban wood stoves or replace them with
newer EPA2 certified stoves. 5-7 years of wood burning smoke
for a program that shows little evidence of improvement over
the previous devices is hard to imagine. In addition, there
is a by-law that bans outdoor smokers in the summertime in
your municipality so why is there no by-law for indoor wood
smoking devices? I don’t see how two devices which are
similar in nature can have two distinct regulations or lack
thereof depending on what time of the year it is when they
both present the same dangers to one’s own personal health.
There are several individuals who believe that they are
saving money by using EPA certified wood burning stoves and
who believe that they are burning their wood safely and
don’t want to see their personal freedoms taken away by an
abusive municipality who they believe are overstepping their
boundaries when it comes to legislation. There are many
individuals who use their fireplace or wood burning stove
sparingly and don’t want to see them banned because of a
small minority who abuse their wood burning stove on a
consistent basis.
There must be an effective way to enforce a complaint
when it’s called in for neighbours who are being subjected
to the smoke from residential wood burning. I believe that a
public nuisance by-law regarding wood burning smoke is an
effective law to stop individuals from abusing their wood
burning stoves. There are by-laws in place that limit noise
such as loud music or dogs barking and a limit on wood smoke
wouldn’t be any different. This would allow individuals who
wish to continue to use their wood burning devices to do so
but would prevent individuals from using their wood burning
devices as a primary source of heat.
A person’s right to burn wood should stop when it interferes
with another’s right to breathe clean air on their property.
My suggestion is that the first complaint be dealt
with by a warning, the second complaint by a fine and each
successive complaint receives an escalating fine. This would
put the onus on the burner to either burn properly (keeping
the noxious smoke from invading surrounding neighbours) or
find that wood burning is too expensive to continue.
With strict enforcement of a bylaw such as this, it
would be a very inexpensive way for municipalities to spare
the air for their residents and show that they understand
that residents need to be protected from smoke invasion in
their homes and properties.
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Residential Wood Smoke Pollution is a burning issue...
Whether it is from a forest fire, agriculture burn, fire
pit, backyard burning or residential wood burning
appliance, old or new, they all have one thing in
common, they all emit toxic emissions. Like cigarette
smoke, residential wood smoke contains hundreds of
dangerous air pollutants, gases and fine particulates
that can cause cancer and other serious health problems
such as: blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, lung
disease like asthma, emphysema, pneumonia, and
bronchitis; irritation of the lungs, throat, sinuses and
eyes; headaches; allergenic reactions; increased
hospital admissions and even premature death.
The particles in wood smoke are too small to be filtered
by the nose and upper respiratory system, so they wind
up deep in the lungs and act as vectors for bacteria,
toxins and virus. Wood smoke is more than a nuisance,
wood smoke is chemically active in the body 40 times
longer than cigarette smoke.
Wood smoke contains hundreds of dangerous air pollutants
and gases such as:
Particulate Matter 2.5, Carbon monoxide, Sulfur
dioxide, Nitrogen oxides, PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic
Hydrocarbons) VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) Dioxins,
Furans, Benzene, Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic,and many other
harmful substances.
Most people do not report wood smoke pollution instead
they suffer in silence thinking that it is only a
nuisance not realizing that it is a severe health
hazard. Residential Wood Smoke Pollution (RWSP) makes
people sick and kills many.
The American Environment Protection Agency estimates
that the lifetime cancer risk from wood smoke is 12
times greater than that from an equal volume of
second hand cigarette smoke. (The Health Effects of Wood
Smoke, Washington
State Department of Ecology); Studies show that people
who heat their homes with wood have more respiratory
problems than those who don’t.
Smoke particles also invade neighbouring homes. Research
shows that children in wood burning neighbourhoods are
more likely to have lung and breathing problems. (From
Focus on Wood Smoke Pollution - Washington State
Department Of Ecology)
Is it not time to take this chronic, severe form of Air
Pollution seriously and protect the health of everyone?
Why is it that all levels of government have chosen not
to inform the public about this deadly form of Air
Pollution?
Burning is an option... breathing is not!
Vicki Morell Vancouver BC, Canada - Director of the
British Columbia Chapter of the Canadian Clean Air
Alliance
http://www.canadiancleanairalliance.ca
http://coalitionagainstwoodburning.com
"A breath of fresh air - for all generations"
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Dear Neighbor,
What would you think if one of your neighbors had a smoking habit of
six thousand cigarettes per hour or a habit that releases the
equivalent air pollution as 100 automobiles* endlessly circling the
neighborhood? What if you had several of these neighbors?
Unfortunately, many of us do, and any chance of fresh nighttime air
is frivolously absent.
I would like to share with you my desire and possibility that our
neighborhood could be a leader and role model in a “Smoke-Free
Neighborhood” campaign. It is quite simple actually.
In most metropolitan areas, especially during the winter months,
wood smoke is the largest or second-largest contributor to
night-time air degradation and pollution. It is time to convert wood
burning fireplaces to natural gas.
Our expanding knowledge of health issues, together with social and
political pressure has allowed Californians to enjoy many public
smoke-free environments in our places of work, restaurants, concert
halls and the airlines. It wasn’t long ago when attending public
venues resulted in your fresh clothes and shampooed hair smelling
like a musty ashtray (to say nothing about the additional burden and
insult to your eyes and lungs).
Unfortunately, of all places, it is our very own neighborhood that
is deficient and lagging behind in California's smoke-free trends.
We could be one of the first in the city, the state or possibly even
the country to recognize this straightforward opportunity and
healthy life style change.
I know many people may like the smell of smoke; some even like the
smell of cigarettes, glue or gasoline. That’s fine, but I feel that
our residents’ young and old alike, should not be forced nor be
subjected to any of these substances. Wood smoke is a nuisance, a
health concern, a contributor of soot, green house gas and a
superfluous insult to our already derogated quality of air.
Won't you join me leading the way applying this relatively simple,
painless and future-forward contribution to our quality of life and
health?
*(100 automobiles is a line of cars almost 1 mile long)
I live beside a home
that is using a wood burning furnace to heat their home here in
Vinton, Iowa. The smoke causes my eyes to burn almost
constantly and I have sneezing spells and when I go outside the
smell just hits me in the chest like a fist. The city council
here will do nothing and I have contacted the local DNR and
there is no regulations on wood burning furnaces here in Iowa.
I have some pictures taken on Feb 5th from inside our back door
as the smoke was so bad did not want to go outside. You can
see how close the wood burner is to our back door. They not
only have the wood burner furnace outside but have a wood
burning stove in their porch which is directly next to my
bedroom and one in the garage and when it is cold they have all
three going.
It started
last year when our neighbor replaced their woodstove by
themselves we also have an 8yr old and 20month old, same story
the city cannot help the region of health cannot help we are
stuck and I don’t think we can live like this for 3 to 4 yrs
like some of the stories I have read. If there is any help
please let us know. Brampton, Ontario see pictures attached we
have lots more and video. Two of the pictures were on a
beautiful day +3 and my wife and daughter could not even go
outside to play. It’s hard to believe in this “GREEN AGE”
nothing can be done..
Hello, just read
your article. We live in a neighbourhood with a beach where 6
years ago the regional district put in fire rings. our house is
engulfed with smoke on warm summer evenings. they burn driftwood
and construction waste and its just fine with the local
government, my taxes even go to help buy firewood. my lungs feel
like I've smoked a pkg of cigarettes each day. hard to believe
this is taking place in Canada. sounds like some country in the
developing world. I am very interested on your court case as our
neighbourhood could be in the same situation. I sympathize with
you and add my encouragement. education is the key..
Wood Smoke Trespass
by Julie Mellum,
Realtor
A Violation of
Property Rights
If a neighbour experimented with a new invention known to spew
arsenic, formaldehyde,
and other dangerous toxicants into your yard, surely your local air
regulators would be able to shut
down the operation immediately. Wouldn’t they? If these noxious
fumes entered your yard, home,
and lungs uninvited, it would be a clear violation of your property
rights as a taxpayer. What if your
neighborhood began using them by the droves? Imagine the
consequences of these compounded
toxic fumes, if allowed to continue unabated, magnifying the chances
of asthma attacks, heart attacks,
reproductive birth defects, and sudden infant death syndrome. Wood
burning fireplaces, outdoor
fire pits and their ilk, along with the proliferation of wood
burning restaurants, are the culprits. Their
smoke and carbon soot are polluting private property and entire
neighborhoods to an alarming degree
in urban areas across the nation.
More Than a
Nuisance
Wood smoke violates nuisance ordinances and air quality standards as
it fans out in capricious and
unpredictable plumes affecting property owners in entire urban areas
just like a massive invasion of
tobacco smoke, only more concentrated. Wood smoke is a mobile source
of fine particulate pollution
that spews many of the same cancer-causing toxicants into the air
that are in cigarette smoke. Even
low level exposures take their toll—especially on children and
others with asthma The American Lung
Association cites that wood smoke is a trigger for asthma attacks
and asthma can be life threatening.
Wood Smoke
Devalues Property
We can tell our house guests that smoking isn’t allowed in our
homes. We should be able to declare
our own property a smoke-free zone outdoors! A person’s right to
burn wood should stop when it
interferes with another’s right to breathe clean air on their
property. Wood smoke from a neighbor
or neighboring business could devalue your property because frequent
smoke is a “material fact”
that could negatively influence a buyer’s interest in your property.
Wood Smoke’s Fine
Particulates Contribute to Climate Change
New NASA satellite studies demonstrate that wood smoke’s fine
particulates and “black carbon soot”
are major contributors to global warming - even more than greenhouse
gases.
If this isn’t a wake-up call to quell polluting
for fun, what else would convince us to stop burning?
Don’t Put Up With
Wood Smoke Trespass!
We
have been having terrible trouble for years with a person next to us
who burns wood. He had burned painted and other wood at first, then
later on, cut wood was used, but the smoke has invaded our life and
our home. This person burns from fall to spring, and then he starts
outside burns in firepits and such.
I
have worked for years on this, as a personal goal, doing research. I
have contacted our Mp.s…Mpp…fire dept…..and it seems to fall between
the cracks of bylaw this and bylaw that.
Woodsmoke is killing us…my husband has congestive heart failure. We
are retired, non- smokers, non drinkers, we do not party and our
children are grown and gone. We want to live the rest of our time in
our home and enjoy our gardens.
We
now live like prisioners. We cannot open our windows at night; we
certainly can never open them in the winter. When my husband uses
the snow blower, the smoke is so heavy he can barely stand it. It
falls in plumes past our windows, day in and day out…..heavy,
reeking smoke giving us headaches and making our throats hurt.
We
had tried to get help, and did get some, but the person who is
burning knew just how far he could take it. The fire department
said the woodstove met code.
For
those who live with this, it leaves you with a feeling of true
desperation. When you cannot move, cannot open a window and cannot
sit outside for fear of smoke filling your lungs, then I ask, what
is left for us???
I
have just started up my cause again and the other day made contact
once again with our local Fire Prevention Officer who offered
amazing hope, at least for the back yard open burns.
We
never wanted to be calling 911, as we respect its use. But now we
are left with no choice. This man who is doing all the burning does
not care about us, our neighbourhood, nor anything that comes close
to being a good neighbour. We are worn and exhausted fighting this
issue.
We
are trying so hard to make some kind of impact so that in time
perhaps our city will see how terrible this situation really is to
all who are exposed to wood smoke.
We
no sooner have spring end and his inside woodsmoke stop, only to
pick up with the back yard burner now, which our city at present
allows. My hope would be to see this bylaw changed.
As
for the severe woodsmoke that comes from his chimney, each season
day and night, we are uncertain what help we can get as there has
been little so far. We stopped trying for a few years and gave up
hope. It seemed that no way could we make a dent in this issue and
we were exhausted from trying. And, when you have a sore throat from
woodsmoke and cough and cough, it puts you in a tired place of
coping.
Soon enough we will have to be ready to put up with the heavy smoke
once again. My fear is the harm all this is doing to us. On a bad
smog day, this man burns and burns, with no regard to a soul.
We
cannot use our back door as the smoke is so bad. We have new doors
and windows, yet the smoke seeps into the rooms. We avoid the use of
many rooms.
We
have massive piles of wood all in the back and side of our home, of
his stockpile.
We
are in the city, not the bush. We deserve the right to breathe clean
fresh air and to open our windows when we wish. We are tired of
being prisioners within our own home. We also pay taxes.
Smoked out….I never would have thought this could have happened to
us, but the more and more I read and the more and more I learn, I
know for fact that we are not alone. Many are suffering the same way
we are.
Now, I intend to speak up and speak out at every given opportunity.
We
sat back, trying not to provoke this man and make it worse, but we
see now that it does not matter. He will continue to do this to us
and others as long as he knows that he can get away with it. As long
as he abuses the system without getting caught, he will continue.
There was no fire outside tonight, but still at an early hour I had
to shut all the windows (in case) we live in this zone called IN
CASE…in case of fire...in case of smoke….We live with such an edge
all the time because we never know when they will light up.
My
oldest son was put into hospital. They found out this Christmas that
he has a progressive fatal lung disease. It is called Idiopathic
Primary Pulmonary Hypertension. He is in the advanced stages. He
went from a young man of 42 that could do everyting, to a man now
who can never be without oxygen, who cannot run or walk fast, if at
all some days. Some days he cannot move from the couch. It, too, has
become a cause for me….I read and read as much possible to learn all
I could and to understand it all. He was on the Heart Telethon this
year. The television crew asked to follow his story and for the last
l5 minutes of the telethon he was on. Needless to say it has been a
difficult a time for us and for him. He is on medication now, but it
has not really helped. They have added more medication and next week
he meets with a research Dr. in Ottawa to see about possible help
with stem cell therapy. From the time they find out they have it,
they usually live about 2.5 years, if that. We were crushed and
beyond sad. We pray and hope, and if no help comes, then he may face
a transplant list….IF.
At
a time like this, we want the peace and comfort of our home. So,
while going through all of this, we also have been going through
this battle with woodsmoke that should not exist at all.
If
you had a dog barking….you know we have a bylaw.
If
you had noise after 11….you know we have a bylaw.
But
some person can smoke you out of existence….kill you with the
fumes….take away all your freedom…..devalue your property…….and the
list goes on……and what help do we get??
Linda Beaudin,
Cornwall, Ontario
I found your newsletter
online while researching how to deal with my wood smoke problem.
A neighbour of mine in Toronto burns a wood stove (his only means of
heat!) 24/7. His wood is wet, and the
amount of smoke in our neighbourhood is unreal. He loads up the
stove several times per day and chokes off the
air-intake to make the heat last for hours. As a result, everything
just smoulders and produces an incredible amount of smoke.
My house is about 200 feet away, and I sometimes get smoke inside
even with all the doors and windows closed. I can tell the air is
polluted inside my home now that heating season has started.
This is ridiculous, especially in Toronto. Everyone else here is on
natural gas.
Please help - I need to find out what recourse I have in dealing
with this. What steps should I take to try and fix this situation?
I'm scared of being exposed to this health hazard, but no one else
on my block wants any confrontation with this guy.
Any advice you could offer would be most appreciated, as this is no
way to live.
I would like to
be added to the list to receive your newsletter and if there are
any other things to sign or help to ban all smoke in New
Brunswick and Canada.
I live in
St. Andrews, New Brunswick and have an extreme allergy to smoke.
My voice disappears and my larynx swell, plus headaches and my
sinuses go crazy. I got your email from Barb MacKinnon at the
NB Lung. I have been fighting with the town who has a by-law
that states if a fire pit is causing a hazard to a person or
their properties then they must stop. But the town still is
letting them go. I am a non smoker was raised in a non smoking
home. Do not have a woodstove and when I was growing up never
had one either. I am only 30 years old with 3 little children
and plan to do everything in my power to make sure the
smoke from bonfires, wood stoves whatever stops. Not for just my
health but for the health of my children. I just read a little
bit of the newsletter so far. When reading Linda Beaudin of
Ontario's letter in the Wood Smoke Activist newsletter made
tears come from my eyes, because I can so relate to a lot of her
story. All thou I have lived in this community or just outside
of this community and know everyone no one seems to respect me
and my health enough to stop. When you can no longer go down the
street and around your community day & night or even in your
own yard and home without having fear of being sick it is pretty
sad. Most of the month of July I was in severe pain with
swollen larynx and no voice (not even a whisper) due to the town
of St. Andrews burning. All that could have been prevented if
the town of St. Andrews would just say no more. I am a
very healthy person and am never sick until the smoke comes a
knocking.
I am in
contact or have been with my MLA, the newspaper, the TV News,
Environmental Canada Federal & Provincial, NB Lung, and all of
the town officials. The Environmental Provincial government even
said with the by-law it should be ban that is the towns duty.
But the town council and mayor feels that they are obeying the
by-laws even thou it says Hazard right in it. Pretty sad when
the law is there to protect people with smoke related allergies
or health issues yet the town does not actually enforce it by
taking it away when it causing a hazard. Their thoughts were at
a meeting a couple weeks ago was for me to pick a time every day
that I would not be outside in town or home that they could tell
everyone to have their bonfires and what not. I was like how do
I pick a time everyday for the rest of my life when I would not
be home and why should I.
Wood Smoke a Health Hazard to be Aware of!
Posted in the
Lethbridge Herald
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Written by Cathy Baiton |
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Monday, 08 February 2010 |
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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. |
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