To say don't use a wood burner if you have children in the house?

[MojoMoon]

AIBU to say anyone using a wood burning stove with children in the house when it is for cosy vibes and other forms of heating are available should be viewed the same way as someone smoking with children in the room or the car?

Particulate pollution has been linked to miscarriage, low birth weight, respiratory problems and a higher risk of developing dementia.

Why do wood burning defenders respond so vigorously to studies like this? Is it because they have spent money on a wood burning stove and don't want to accept that they should remove it? Is it because they have a feeling of guilt about having been using it with children for years and worry about the damage already done? Or do they simply not believe particulates to be dangerous despite all the scientific evidence to the contrary.

Study:

Children living in homes with wood burners could be exposed to over three times more particulate pollution than those in non-wood-burning homes. The results come from a study that looked at air pollution experienced by primary schoolchildren in Wales.

Fifty-three children from two primary schools in Anglesey (Ynys Môn) were given backpacks equipped with air pollution sensors. They took the packs home and carried them during their journeys to and from school.
Dr Hanbin Zhang, from the University of Exeter and part of the study team, said: “One thing that stood out was the home environment. This was the largest contributor to children’s daily particle pollution exposure – more than school or commuting. This was mainly due to indoor sources such as wood burning and indoor smoking.”

Short peaks in particle pollution were linked to home cooking and secondhand tobacco smoke. Home heating with a fire or stove was linked to longer exposures. In some cases, these persisted overnight in children’s bedrooms as fires remained lit or smouldering with poor ventilation.
Prof Zhiwen Luo from Cardiff University, who led the study said: “During home hours, the average particle pollution in non-smoking homes with wood burners was about 13 micrograms per cubic metre compared with 3.5 micrograms per cubic metre in non-smoking homes without wood burners.
“The study is small, but the contrast was consistent and supports the conclusion that wood burning can substantially increase indoor particle pollution.”
One school was in Holyhead, and the other was in a rural area. We often think of towns and cities are being the most polluted places, but on average, researchers found urban children experienced less particle pollution, compared with those at the rural school.
The study took place in winter, and researchers attributed these differences to contrasts in wood burning. This took place in 21% of homes for the urban schoolchildren and 53% in the rural school.

Cooking added to the measured air pollution, especially when the backpacks were left close to the kitchen in the children’s homes. Short pollution peaks were also measured when children walked past bakeries and restaurants on the high street.

Particle pollution inside the schools was much lower than during travel and at home.

Children who walked to and from school experienced less pollution compared with children who were driven. Parental smoking while driving produced the highest concentrations measured in the study.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/06/children-living-homes-wood-burners-exposed-pollution?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479725042677?via%3Dihub

Cooking added to the measured air pollution, especially when the backpacks were left close to the kitchen in the children’s homes. Short pollution peaks were also measured when children walked past bakeries and restaurants on the high street.

YANBU.

I am smashing up by oven as we speak, and no longer allow my children to walk past eateries of any kind.

In fact, I may just seal them in huge Ziplock bags with oxygen tank.

But OMG, the plastic in the bags!! We will move to a boat on the sea instead.

But oh FUCK, the CO2 in the ocean!!
Never mind, we’ll move to the middle of a large field in the country.

Oh but SHIT on it!! The methane from the fucking twatting cows!! This is hard!! Oh but I’ve got it! A nice sterile environment is needed - we’ll move to a hospital.

But oh my giddy aunt, the MRSA.

Fuck it, I’m staying home by the fire.

lol what’s your beef with wood burners? Why wood burners, specifically

What a weird retort? You could say that about every thread on MNs 😆

Not directly into the living room.

This is interesting. I’ve moved to a new house with a wood burner that isn’t safe to use so haven’t done so. But was going to replace it with a new one when we’d saved up enough money! Will definitely do some research on this.

Most of those particulates go straight up the chimney.

YABU, and should come clean about your agenda on this.

That’s the full particulate matter released. You th chimney.
if people have woodburners without chimneys, allowing all the smoke into the house then yes- it’s like a car in your living room.

Yes exactly. Unless your kid is sat on the roof, mouth wide over the chimney.

I read lots of academic studies and this extrapolation from results alone makes me think it’s biased.

People get hugely defensive about anything they want to carry on doing when science determines the negative effects.
Think of the huge push back against stopping smoking in public places, and of course more recently with climate change.

Oh, sorry, I confusingly mixed two things up - I didn't have a wood-burning stove, I lived in an urban area with shocking air quality and was unaware of it. But my point was that people expect dangerous air pollution to smell/taste/'feel' like bad air, like old-fashioned coal smog does. But modern air pollution isn't like that, and whether it feels unpleasant isn't actually a good test of how clean air is.

My point was that, I think, part of why people won't accept wood burning can be very bad for you is that is feels nice to most people to be in a room with a fire. It doesn't mean it isn't bad for you, but as you can see from the responses here, people resist that on a very deep and instinctive level. I found the same whenever I told other people about the link between air pollution and miscarriage - people just couldn't/wouldn't believe that living in my nice, affluent neighbourhood could have been unhealthy because it didn't 'feel' like an unhealthy place to be.

I don’t have a wood burner so don’t really care, but I do have an issue with people not full understanding scientific studies and then preaching about it.

do you understand @MojoMoon what particulate matter is? What cleaning products do you use? Do you use perfume? Do you use aerosol deodorant? Do you ever cook anything on the hob?

My agenda is that I believe the scientific evidence shows that wood burning even in a home with a eco design stove with seasoned wood exposes those in the home and their neighbours to a a level of particulates that bas serious negative health consequences including an increased rate of miscarriage, birth defects and low birth rates, respiratory diseases and dementia and that the risks are particularly serious for women and children.

And that in the UK, it is almost entirety an avoidable risk of harm as other forms of heating are widely available.

For the same reason, I believe diesel vehicles should be rapidly banned in cities and then later in all areas. Other forms of transport are widely available and the risk of harm is severe.

It's opening the door that releases the particulates isn't it? We have it on but often load it up so it goes a couple of hours rather than keep opening and closing the door.

We have an air purifier and the reading rarely go high when we use the burner- whereas it can freak out over burnt toast on a different floor of the house.

I think spray room fresheners are probably worse for kids- half of them are toxic to fish/animals which show how bad they are. I'd also argue that they mention nothing of what the families in studies were burning- massive difference between proper seasoned wood and old fences covered in paint.

Yes I am familiar with the science.

You cannot avoid all particulates, of course. But wood burning produces specific particulates which are particularly dangerous due to the fine nature.

And it is an avoidable risk given the other choices available.

And I have an electric induction hob.

I mean, seriously?

You call it severe, I call it acceptable.

Calling for a ban is over-reaching.

I disagree. It’s a very specific grievance and yet the OP seems very invested.

When the electric heating which is our only other source of warmth becomes cheaper than our properly installed and ventilated woodburner to use (we dont pay for our seasoned logs) then I will happily switch!

They should be banned.

We have friends with the most beautiful house, beautiful fire places in their sitting room and kids TV room - lovely roaring fires all the time... wood pilled up in their front door wood store... ticking all the insta boxes.

Kids have asthma and are constantly being shipped to a&e and given steroids and inhalers. duh.

People also don't acknowledge that the smoke goes out and poisons everyone else! Our neighbourhood stinks of woodburners in the winter... but it's fine because they are cosy and really middle class.

If log burners were seen as lower class / chavvy - suddenly we would all be aghast about them!

People have other entirely incorrect but deep-held beliefs around air pollution - e.g. that there is less pollution in a car than outside it, and so that cycling must expose you to more pollution than driving. This is absolutely scientifically proven to not be the case, but people just won't believe it because it 'feels' like you must be less exposed in the car.

What a bizarre take on the subject!

How did people cope up until at least the latter half of the twentieth century when central heating was uncommon and coal fires were the normal way to heat a room? Paraffin stoves were often an alternative. In addition to this, many adults were smokers so children were exposed to a lot of pollution in the house. I am not saying it was a good thing but I think a bit of perspective is needed here.

You’re correct about air fresheners etc. VOCs have been shown to cause serious issues with children especially (including cancer and neurological issues). They’re in all sorts of things which many households use a lot of (paints, cleaning products, new furniture, fabric with fire retardant, flooring, mattresses, clothing etc). Unfortunately we can’t remove all risk from modern life. We have to try to strike a balance.

They had much worse health outcomes and died younger? Clearly this wasn't the sole source of that, but it's bizarre to claim that the past provides evidence that it must have been just fine!

In what way?

Is it ok then, if they go up the chimney and out into the air so your neighbours breathe it instead?