Having now come through the second year in a row with dense wood smoke from forest fires, it reminds us that it’s also hard to get away from wood smoke in the winter. I enjoy campfire smoke (in limited quantities), and for years enjoyed an indoor wood stove. Some years ago, I had the wood stove removed and replaced with propane, and of course, I have a primary heat source of a heat pump. I don’t need the propane stove but I like it and use it sparingly. Since the electricity from Jefferson PUD is primarily from hydropower, a heat pump not only reduces local emissions, but it also has a low carbon footprint. If you still have a wood stove, this summer’s smoke might be a good wake-up call that perhaps it might be time to reconsider using wood for heat. It’s good for your health, and for your neighbors’ health.

In the winter, air inversions that trap pollutants close to the ground are more common, often in December and January. Those of us at Local 20/20 have heard reports about people with compromised health having to deal with wood smoke when the inversions show up. They “deal” with it by staying indoors, and when a child’s health is at stake, perhaps with a bronchial problem, like asthma, it can be extremely debilitating.

Like coal, there is no “clean” wood smoke. While we can choose to ignore the hazards, they are very real.

There are many statistics that point to the extremely bad effects of wood smoke, at any scale. All combustion results in very fine micro-particulates and there is no safe level of this dangerous air pollutant. Solid fuels, such as pellets and especially wood, produce many orders of magnitude more smoke & fine particulate air pollutants than cleaner fuels. These particulates lodge in your lungs. They can cause lung cancer. When there is an inversion, or there is no wind, either you or your neighbors are going to be breathing wood smoke if you or they are burning wood.

The World Health Organization estimates that there are perhaps as many as 7 million deaths a year linked to air pollution. This is far more than die of AIDS, for example. Also, wood smoke is an important source of dioxins and PCBs.

The Washington State Smoke blogspot, called, wasmoke.blogspot.com has a list of health-related problems. These include: burning eyes, sore throat, headache, coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and worsening of heart and lung conditions.

Having spent two summers experiencing the real effects of wood smoke caused by forest fires, perhaps it’s a good time to explore how you can help all of us have cleaner air all year round. Heat pumps are about three to four times more energy efficient than baseboard and propane heaters. If you can, consider lowering your local emissions and your carbon footprint by replacing your wood stove with a heat pump.

Biography:

Al Bergstein has been a member of Local 20/20 for a few years, and chairs its Health and Wellness Action Group. He is a local environmental activist, editor of the Olympic Peninsula Environmental News and is on the board of Sound Action and the Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee.