Why wood smoke may not be good for you
By Andy Soos
Some people enjoy the scent of a wood fire. Still smoke is full of particulate matter and exotic trace chemicals.
Two new studies led by University of California, Berkeley, researchers spotlight the human health effects of exposure to smoke from open fires and dirty cook stoves, the primary source of cooking and heating for 43 per cent, or some three billion members, of the world’s population.
Women and young children in poverty are particularly vulnerable. In the first study, the researchers found a dramatic one-third reduction in severe pneumonia diagnoses among children in homes with smoke-reducing chimneys on their cook stoves.
The second study uncovered a surprising link between prenatal maternal exposure to woodsmoke and poorer performance in markers for IQ among school-age children.
Smoke is a collection of airborne solid and liquid particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass.
It is commonly an unwanted by-product of fires (including stoves, candles, oil lamps, and fireplaces). Smoke may be used in rituals, when incense, sage, or resin is burned to produce a smell for spiritual purposes. Smoke is sometimes used as a flavoring agent, and preservative for various foodstuffs.
Many compounds of smoke from fires are highly toxic and/or irritating. The most dangerous is carbon monoxide leading to carbon monoxide poisoning, sometimes with the additive effects of hydrogen cyanide and phosgene. Smoke inhalation can therefore quickly lead to incapacitation and loss of consciousness.
The findings on wood smoke pneumonia, the chief cause of death for children five and under, will be published in the journal The Lancet on Thursday (Nov. 10).
While previous research has linked exposure to household cooking smoke to respiratory infections, the latest results come from the first-ever randomized controlled trial on air pollution.
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