Using wood-burning stoves at home could accelerate the decline of lung function, according to new research presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Amsterdam.
The study, led by Dr Laura Horsfall of University College London’s Institute of Health Informatics, raises concerns as domestic wood use rises across Europe.
Marketed as renewable and affordable, wood has become increasingly popular during the energy crisis. Yet in the UK, household solid fuel now contributes 20% of PM2.5 pollution – five times higher than the share from road traffic exhaust. Emissions from domestic wood burning have nearly doubled since 2009, reaching 6,000 tonnes in 2023.
Dr Horsfall said: ‘Wood burning at home emits harmful air pollution both indoors and outdoors, including known carcinogens. Despite this, use has approximately doubled in the UK. Health impacts are harder to trace in wealthier countries, but our research highlights worrying patterns.’
The team used data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), linking self-reported stove use with repeated lung function tests over eight years. They measured FEV₁, the volume of air forcefully exhaled in one second – a key marker for conditions such as asthma and COPD.
Dr Horsfall said: ‘We know wood burning at home emits harmful air pollution both indoors and outdoors… however, the link with health outcomes in high-income countries is not well understood and residential areas with high emissions are hard to identify using existing air quality monitoring networks.’
The research noted that because stoves are generally being installing in more affluent areas, those households tend to be healthier to begin with: ‘We found that people using solid fuel had lower rates of smoking and lung disease, which can mask the true effects of solid fuel exposure,’ Dr Horsfall explained.
‘However, using repeated lung function measurements over an eight-year period, we found that lung function declined faster among solid fuel users compared to non-users, even after adjusting for socioeconomic and housing factors. This suggests an important link between solid fuel use and respiratory decline, despite the healthier baseline of the exposed group.
Our study suggests that high levels of particulate matter from stoves damage respiratory tissues, causing inflammation in a similar way to cigarette smoke.’
Future research will explore whether people living near clusters of wood stoves, such as in affluent parts of London, also face higher rates of inhaler use or hospitalisation for respiratory problems.
Professor Ane Johannessen of the University of Bergen, who was not involved in the study, said the findings mirror evidence from countries where wood burning is more traditional. ‘There is strong evidence linking indoor wood burning to asthma, COPD and lung cancer,” she noted. “Even newer, eco-design stoves may not be risk-free.
‘People should be aware that stoves could be harming them and their families. Doctors need to ask patients about stove use when assessing unexplained respiratory decline.’
Dr Horsfall will be talking about her research as part of a panel discussion focussing on the twin issues of domestic wood burning and cooking at our National Air Quality Conference in London on 4th November.
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