Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association Searches
March 8, 2007
Health Concerns
A burning issue
The Suburban - Montreal, Quebec
March 8, 2007
Irene Chwalkowski
Burn Bans
Outdoor burning fires up some residents
Amador Ledger-Dispatch - Jackson, CA
March 7, 2007
Jenifer Gee
A burning issue
The Suburban - Montreal, Quebec
March 8, 2007
Irene Chwalkowski
Pointe Claire resident Stella Hayley says that jogging, running and walking outdoors in
the wintertime are high risk activities when there is a high concentration of wood smoke
in the air.
Joan Doiron is convinced the air inside her Beaconsfield home is polluted by the smoke
from her neighbours’ wood stoves, and is bad for her and her husband’s health.
Both women are actively working to educate the public about the dangers of residential
wood burning, citing several studies that indicate toxins in wood smoke may increase
cancer risk, particularly in women and children, and aggravate asthma and heart disease.
One study conducted in Montreal from 1996-2001 stated that major sources of indoor air
pollution are combustion by-products from heating and cooking.
The study concluded that there might be an increased risk of lung cancer for women
exposed to traditional heating or cooking fuels, and calls for more research on the
connection.
Another area of study is the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),
which are a group of more than 200 different chemicals formed when coal, wood,
gasoline, oil, tobacco or other organic materials are burned.
Studies conducted at Cornell University show that exposure to mixtures of PAHs and
other chemicals increase the risk of lung cancer.
A Review of Wood Smoke on Health, a report written by Health Canada last year, states:
“... wood burning stoves and fireplaces emit significant quantities of known healthdamaging pollutants, including several carcinogenic compounds.”
And in a 2000 report issued by Environment Canada, 47 percent of fine particulates
present in the air that are man-made come from wood burning in residential areas, 33
percent from industrial sources, 17 percent from transport and three percent from other
sources.
“Being surrounded by smoke bothers my throat, my eyes. My daughter is asthmatic. I’m
very concerned about the children,” said Doiron, who as a senior, moved to Beaconsfield
from Toronto because she and her husband thought the air was less polluted here.
“We are being forced to smoke,” said Hayley, who said she can smell wood smoke near
certain cities’ recreation centres — smoke that permeates people’s clothing.
“We are exposed to carcinogens — that is unethical, immoral. There’s a law that gives us
the right to safety in our home. Yet we are exposed to [something] which is high risk and
leads to eventual death,” she said.
Dorion said that only 10 percent of the population uses wood burning stoves.
“But the smoke gets everywhere. We know that second-hand smoke is the worst kind,”
she said.
Baie d’Urfé resident Ron Rose is a big fan of clean burning.
“The ideal stove is a pellet stove. They are the most energy efficient. They use pellets
made of sawdust and recycled wood. Pellets are great to store. They give off very little
particulate matter into the air,” Rose said, adding that they are EPA (U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency) approved.
But even then Rose said you have to maintain a high enough temperature in the double
chamber stove and not let the fire smolder.
Rose is planning to install a pellet stove next year in Café Aurora — the coffee shop he
just opened in Beaconsfield.
He says he’s choosing a pellet stove “out of concern for my neighbours.
“I like the heat a stove gives off. It’s very warm and inviting. It’s also very efficient,”
Rose said, who heats his home with a wood stove.
Electric heating cost Rose $700 every two months. At winter’s peak, he is now paying
$400 for two months heating with a woodstove.
“It’s a $450 a year saving,” he said.
Doiron is not impressed with EPA approved stoves. She wants a total ban on residential
wood stoves.
“It’s the only answer. We got people to stop smoking, didn’t we? The time for action has
come. Human beings have enough toxic stuff they have to get away from without adding
to it,” she said.
Doiron presented a letter at a Beaconsfield council meeting last month asking Mayor Bob
Benedetti to study the issue and try to find a solution.
Benedetti said the problem has to be dealt with at the provincial or federal level.
Doiron has already caught the attention of Lac Saint Louis MP Francis Scarpaleggia.
“Our MP Scarpaleggia has said he is very concerned and is alarmed. He’s going to bring
it up at the federal level,” Doiron said.
Hayley has started a petition requesting a ban on residential woodburning and is working
on an educational website.
She is also considering launching a class action suit.
Outdoor burning fires up some residents
Amador Ledger-Dispatch - Jackson, CA
March 7, 2007
Jenifer Gee
Some formal complaints about outdoor burning were discussed at the Amador Air
District board meeting Tuesday.
The Amador Air District said that when complaints of that nature are made, the office
contacts the residents with the possible violation and reminds them of proper burning
techniques, according to Amador Air District Air Pollution Control Officer James Harris.
The district aims to educate people on how to control the amount of smoke their fires can
emit and is also working toward developing a green waste recycling program in the
county to further limit the amount of burns.
But Harris pointed out that it is also important for some residents to burn to develop the
defensible space necessary around their home to protect it in the event of a fire.
The district encourages residents to chip or mulch their green waste and to use the
material as ground cover.
"We encourage (people to) compost grass and weeds and small vegetation so they can
actually return the material to the soil and enrich the soil," Harris said.
It is important, Harris said, that county residents don't sweep up wet vegetation like pine
needles, cover them up and then burn them later. He said the pile remains wet and when
it comes time to burn the pile even a month later, it can still cause a large amount of
smoke.
Harris suggests leaving the pine needles on the ground until after three to four days of dry
weather and sunshine.
The district tries to limit the amount of natural vegetation that has to be burned by placing
dumpsters in three locations, including one at Mace Meadow Golf Course, one at Pioneer
Park on Buckhorn Ridge Road and one at Pine Acres.
But because the cost of placing the dumpsters out a few days a year for a limited time
adds up to $20,000 to $30,000 a year, the district is working with the county's waste
management and public works departments to come up with a green waste recycling
program.
One idea would give residents a special container that would be taken by a trash hauler to
a recycling place. This option would be at an additional charge to the resident if they
wanted to take part.
Harris said another possibility is establishing one collection point to collect plants and
branches people burn.
"I'm sure perhaps many people that have lived here a long time have just gotten into the
habit of burning vegetation around their homes without thinking about alternatives,"
Harris said.
Harris suggests residents looking for ways to reuse plants and other vegetation should
contact the Master Gardeners to find out different ways to reuse instead of burning.
If residents still have to burn, Harris recommends that they constantly monitor the burn to
make sure it doesn't smolder. The burn will be more efficient and less smoke will be
emitted if there is always a visible flame.
Harris also recommends the residents who use wood burning stoves check the smoke
coming out of the chimney. After the fire has been burning, only heat waves should be
seen from outside, he said.
"We need a balanced effort," Harris said. "We reduce the need to burn vegetation by
providing some alternative disposal methods and then of course burn responsibly when
we have to."