Today’s wood-burning stoves are the UK’s biggest source of the most dangerous type of air pollution known as PM2.5, new research shows.
Falling particulate pollution from road transport and heavy industries such as steel has meant that parts of the UK now have the cleanest air quality for decades.
But despite the slow decline, the use of wood-burning stoves is increasing, a report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned.
Air pollution is recognized as the most important air pollutant for public health, increasing respiratory and cardiovascular risks, and increasing hospital admissions.
Children who grow up are at risk of being polluted by many of the fine particles that make up the lungs and can develop asthma when the particles enter the lungs and enter the bloodstream.
The IFS said in its report: “The three biggest sources of PM2.5 in the UK are burning wood and other fuels (29 per cent of PM2.5 emissions in 2022), road transport (17.9 per cent of the total). PM2.5 emissions in 2022), and industrial processes and uses (16.5 percent of all PM2.5 emissions in 2022) such as construction and metal manufacturing.
‘The only source of PM2.5 emissions that has increased during this period is domestic combustion. A quarter of PM2.5 greenhouse gas emissions will come from burning wood in 2022.’
Only stoves with the ‘Ecodesign’ label are allowed to be sold in the UK and any wood sold must be certified ‘Ready to burn’.
The only source of PM2.5 emissions that has increased since 2003 is domestic combustion, according to a report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS).
Today’s wood-burning stoves are the UK’s biggest source of the most dangerous type of air pollution known as PM2.5, new research shows (stock image)
But in practice, councils are slowly cracking down on burning wood at home – with only one prosecution by the authorities in England in 2022, despite 10,600 complaints from residents, according to research by pressure group Mother Lung.
Overall, the report said that in many areas of the UK, PM2.5 pollution levels fell below the government’s 2040 targets, although not below the strict limits set by the World Health Organisation.
“The proportion of English people exposed to PM2.5 levels above England’s target levels in 2040 has fallen from 99% in 2003 to less than 0.1% in 2023,” it said.
Air pollution dropped significantly during the outbreak but has remained low since then.
Between 2003 and 2023, PM2.5 levels in England fell by 54 percent.
A 2022 study cited by Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, showed that even ‘Eco-design’ stoves produced 450 times more toxic air pollution than gas central heating, while old stoves that are now banned from sale produced 3,700 times more.
Bobbie Upton, Research Economist at the IFS and author of the report, said: ‘There is increasing evidence that air pollution is damaging to health, particularly for children and the elderly.
‘It is difficult to explain clearly the significant drop in air pollution that began in 2020, during the COVID pandemic.
‘New air quality measures in several major English cities and reductions in steel production may have all contributed.
‘It is important for the health of the country, and to reduce health disparities, that progress continues to reduce air pollution.’
The report also found that ethnic minorities are now less affected by pollution, up to 6 percent more than the white population in 2023, down from 13 percent in 2023.
The report stated that the fall in ‘racial decline’ was primarily for ethnic minorities moving to less polluted areas of the country (mostly from London to the suburbs), while the cities with the least population were mainly London and Birmingham. . they are also exposed to air pollution.
But the report found that low-income areas have higher levels of air pollution than wealthier areas.
In 2023, people in the 20 most deprived areas experienced 8 percent higher levels of PM2.5 than those in the bottom 20 percent.
* Do you like your wood burner? Please email: Aidan.Radnedge.MOL@mailonline.co.uk *
