Letter to the Editor
Fence Post
Paddock Publications
Daily Herald Newspaper
Published: 1/10/2008
Wood smoke harms the air we breathe
We had to wait until 2008, but thank you, Illinois, for going smoke free.
What a pleasure it will be to go into any restaurant and enjoy a meal without inhaling that dreadful and harmful secondhand smoke.
Now, if only local communities and Illinois would stop another noxious and deadly source of secondhand emission that involuntarily enters our yards, homes and lungs. Outdoor wood burning fireplaces and fire pits and indoor wood burning fireplaces.
Scientific evidence and studies confirm that exposure to wood smoke emission particulates -- PM2.5 -- will trigger or aggravate respiratory and cardiovascular problems.
Symptoms include eye and nose irritation, breathing difficulty, wheezing, coughing, and headaches. People with asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and other respiratory diseases are vulnerable.
Smoke from outdoor fireplaces and fire pits can be especially harmful to pregnant women, babies, children and the elderly. Chronic exposure to this smoke can cause long-term health effects such as asthma, heart and lung disease and cancer.
Wood smoke from neighbors' fires will enter your home even with windows and doors closed. The pollution levels inside your closed home can be up to 70 percent of the levels outdoors. Do your nearby friends and neighbors' health mean anything to you?
This is an extremely serious health and air pollution issue for all of Illinois.
Please people, have a heart and stop thinking just about yourselves. Think about others, their children and families, their health and the air we all have to breathe.
Elk Grove Village, Illinois
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment