The professional body that represents environmental health professionals has shared its concerns about the harmful effects of pollution caused by wood burning.

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) supported Global Action Plan’s Clean Air Night (last Wednesday, 22 January) to spark a conversation about wood burning across the country and ensure everyone can make informed decisions about how to heat their homes.

Wood burning smoke contains fine particle air pollution (PM2.5), which is widely seen as the air pollutant that has the most devastating impact on human health.

Burning wood is the most polluting way to heat a home, with recent research revealing that even homes using newer ‘ecodesign’ wood burners are three times more polluted than those without.

Domestic wood burning is the largest emission source of PM2.5s in the UK and is trending upwards, CIEH says.

Although there are many properties, typically in more rural settings, that burn wood as a primary heating source most homes have alternative means of heating meaning there is a choice whether to burn or not.

Where there is a choice, CIEH advocates heating homes in the cleanest way possible to reduce the pollutants people and communities create, the health impacts they cause and the strain this creates on health services.

CIEH has previously called on the UK government to regulate the sale and use of domestic solid wood burners in urban areas where there are on-grid heating alternatives.

However, even when regulatory controls are implemented in full this would not prevent burning of certain fuels in certain appliances.

Mark Elliott, President of CIEH, said: “Clean Air Night is a great opportunity to spark meaningful conversations about the hidden dangers of wood burning, raise public awareness about the harmful effects on human health, challenge common misconceptions, and empower communities with the facts.

“Today is a chance for the public to find out more about the issues around wood burning and share what they’ve learned with friends, family and communities to ensure everyone can make informed decisions about how to heat their homes.

“The alarming trend of growing emissions of PM2.5 from domestic wood burning is extremely worrying and cannot continue if we are serious about protecting public health, the environment and are committed to safeguarding our future. I hope by raising awareness we can help reverse this trend as soon as possible.”