Letter to the Editor (Feb. 24)

To the editor:

What can you do about air pollution and the spread of COVID? Many people believe that since wood smoke is a natural substance, it is not harmful. However, smoke from wood stoves and fireplaces is a major part of today's air pollution problem, worsened by increased wood burning with working and schooling from home during COVID.

Wood smoke contains tiny particles and gases that can have serious health effects when breathed. When people use wood stoves and fireplaces, chemicals are released into the air. Some of these chemicals are poisonous, some irritate the respiratory tract, and some may cause cancer. According to information posted on CDC's website, if you are recovering from COVID-19, you may be at increased risk of health effects from exposure to residential wood smoke due to compromised heart and/or lung function related to COVID-19. In addition, wood smoke in the home makes you more susceptible to COVID.

Wood smoke is more of a problem in the winter when cold, stagnant air prevents it from rising and dispersing. As pollution settles to lower elevation, Denver and Boulder pollution becomes Left Hand Valley pollution, and on to Longmont. During cold periods, the pollutants in the smoke are trapped near the ground. In neighborhoods where wood is burned, houses can have higher indoor smoke levels than houses in neighborhoods where wood is not burned. The smoke from your neighbor’s wood stove can seep into your house even when your doors and windows are closed; so even if you don’t use a wood stove or fireplace, you are breathing smoke.

Houses using wood heat have higher levels of fine particles, benzene, PAHs, and other chemicals. For example, a study showed that average fine particle levels were up to 26 percent higher in wood-burning houses compared to non-wood burning houses. Benzene levels were 29 percent higher. Average levels of cancer-causing PAHs were 300 to 500 percent higher.

Now what can you do about air pollution and COVID? Avoid indoor burning, except only as an emergency heat source! Thank you for your time.

Mary Kirker, MD, Niwot

Sources: airnow.gov, purpleair.com, epa.gov, cdc.gov