ENVIRONMENT & HUMAN HEALTH, INC.

   

News and Updates

Studies and news reports that expand the scope of Environment & Human Health, Inc.'s (EHHI) research reports about health and the environment. Click here for full reports at www.ehhi.org.

The Dangers to Health from Outdoor Wood Furnaces

Some Connecticut towns ban outdoor wood furnaces
Known as the "new asbestos," fine particulate matter is a key component of smog, which can penetrate deep into the lungs. The Australian Lung Foundation reports air pollution from wood fire heaters now poses a bigger immediate health danger than cars or cigarettes. Connecticut towns that have banned OWFs so far include Granby, Tolland, Hebron, Woodbridge, South Windsor, Portland, Norfolk, Ridgefield, Haddam, Cheshire, West Hartford, Hamden, North Haven, New Fairfield, Rocky Hill, Avon, Simsbury and Bethel

Alaska Dispatch warns that OWFs are making Fairbanks' air quality "a dirty shame"
Fairbanks is facing a community health crisis caused by the proliferation of unregulated wood burning furnaces whose smoke has been linked to asthma, heart attack, strokes and premature death. Click here to read more.

Connecticut Department of Public Health Issues OWF Guidance for Health Directors
The Connecticut Department of Public Health had previously declared that wood smoke—under certain circumstances—can be considered a public nuisance. Click here to read more.

Study Shows Smoke from Wood-Burning Heaters Damages DNA
Environmental Health News cites a new study showing that airborne particles in wood smoke can trigger gene changes and DNA damage .Researchers at University of Copenhagen, Denmark, report that wood smoke particulates generate reactive oxidants known to injure cells and damage DNA. They say wood smoke particulates can cause potentially cancerous cellular changes to DNA and activate genes linked to inflammation and oxidative stress. Click here for pdf.

Wood Smoke Victims Ask Connecticut CEQ for Help
According to the Republican-American, the Fitzgerald family turned to the state Council on Environmental Quality for help in dealing with the toxic smoke from their neighbor's outdoor wood-burning furnace. EHHI President Nancy Alderman testified before the council, which is preparing to submit its annual environmental to-do list to the state.

Wood Smoke Is Linked to Severe Pneumonia and Cognitive Impairment
A new study published in The Lancet finds that reducing exposure to smoke from open fires and wood-burning cook stoves significantly reduces the incidence of pneumonia. Worldwide, pneumonia causes more child deaths than any other disease. Researchers in the western highlands of Guatemala found a one-third reduction in severe pneumonia diagnoses among children in homes with smoke-reducing chimneys. Annother study, in the journal NeuroToxicology linked prenatal maternal exposure to woodsmoke with lower performance in neurodevelopmental tests for school-aged children. Click here to read more.

Study Shows Smoke from Wood-Burning Heaters Damages DNA
Environmental Health News cites a new study showing that airborne particles in wood smoke can trigger gene changes and DNA damage .Researchers at University of Copenhagen, Denmark, report that wood smoke particulates generate reactive oxidants known to injure cells and damage DNA. They say wood smoke particulates can cause potentially cancerous cellular changes to DNA and activate genes linked to inflammation and oxidative stress. Click here for pdf.

Former Connecticut Attorney General, health advocates call for ban on outdoor furnaces
Former Attorney General Richard Blumenthal issued a press release asking Connecticut's General Assembly to ban outdoor wood-burning furnaces, which continuously emit toxic smoke that sickens neighbors and pollutes neighborhoods. The American Lung Association and Environment and Human Health, Inc. (EHHI), a nonprofit health advocacy group, joined Blumenthal in urging the legislature to impose a statewide prohibition on the furnaces. Click here for EHHI's press release.

EHHI's OpEd on the harmful health effects of wood smoke
The New Haven Register published Environment and Human Health, Inc.'s OpEd stating that homeowners have the right to be free of noxious wood smoke in their homes. Read the American Lung Association's position paper calling for a ban on outdoor furnaces. Environment and Human Health, Inc. has asked the Connecticut Legislature to help the many people in the state who are being made sick from breathing their neighbor's wood smoke on a continuous basis. Read more about wood smoke here.

San Joaquin Valley study shows bad air days raise children's ER visit rate
Children's asthma-related emergency room visits have been shown to rise with levels of fine particulates in the air — even on days where air quality is considered in the moderate range. The connection between asthma hospital visits and particulate pollution should give regulators pause — especially those who deal with diesel exhaust and wood smoke emissions — because both contain enormously high levels of particulate matter. Click here for story.

Wood smoke can be a nuisance, says Connecticut Department of Public Health
The Connecticut Department of Public Health has declared that wood smoke—under certain circumstances—can be considered a public nuisance. This constitutes major progress on an issue that has become a problem for many people in Connecticut, as well as across the country.

For further information about woodsmoke, download EHHI's report or click here for additional news articles.

News items are not independently verified by EHHI and inclusion on this site does not constitute an endorsement.


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