Children’s exposure to home wood-burning could be as significant as traffic exhaust, study suggests
Children's exposure to home wood-burning could be as significant as exposure to traffic exhaust, according to new research across six European towns and cities.
Scientists measured air quality in schools, sports centers and homes across Athens, Barcelona, Colchester, Copenhagen, Helsinki and Lisbon, focusing on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) - pollutants released when fuels are burned.
The research found that urban areas with wood-burning practices, such as Colchester and Athens, had the highest PAH levels, while Barcelona and Lisbon, where wood-burning is not practiced, showed the lowest concentrations.
Health Concerns
Some PAH compounds are related to cancers after prolonged exposures, as recognized by the International Agency for Cancer Research, and evidence suggests they may delay cognitive development in children.
Understanding the pollutants in children's everyday surroundings is an important step towards protecting their health. Children are particularly important given their vulnerability to environmental pollutants and the potential health implications from exposure during childhood.
Seasonal Variations
Winter PAH concentrations were consistently higher than summer levels. In Colchester homes, high-molecular-weight PAH in winter were more than 10 times those in summer, while low-molecular-weight PAH were around three times greater.
In some Greek towns, wood-burning leads to PAH levels that are 100 times greater in winter compared with summer, a trend that began during the 2008 financial crisis when heating oil costs soared.
Regional Differences
Within the UK, Colchester ranked 120th out of 333 local councils for density of wood burners per square kilometer, with Worthing, Norwich and Reading all having around four times more.
A wintertime study of 53 children from Anglesey found those in homes with wood burners could be exposed to over three times more particle pollution than those in non-wood-burning homes, with homes showing more pollution than schools.
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