Keeping the air clean-Letter to the Editor-ALA

Times-Herald
Serving Solano and Napa Counties since 1875

Keeping the air clean
Posted: 11/29/2008 07:05:48 AM PST

Thank you for the excellent article on the new wood burning regulation. The American Lung Association of California has been advocating for controls on harmful wood smoke pollution for more than a decade. Breathing particle pollution -- or soot -- can literally shorten life and send our most vulnerable residents to the emergency room. For asthmatic children, breathing wood smoke can lead to immediate harm, including asthma attacks and respiratory distress. Burning wood emits harmful toxins and fine particles in the air that can worsen breathing problems and lead to heart and lung disease and even early death and should be actively avoided by those with lung disease.

The American Lung Association strongly recommends using cleaner, less toxic sources of heat. Converting a wood-burning fireplace or stove to use either natural gas or propane will eliminate exposure to the dangerous toxins wood burning generates.

This new regulation will provide much needed protections to millions of Bay Area residents, particularly those people who have serious breathing problems.

For more information about the health effects of wood burning and cleaner burning alternatives to heating, please visit our Web site at www.lungusa.org or call 1-800-LUNG-USA. When you can't breathe, nothing else matters.

Jenny Bard

Regional Air Quality Director

American Lung Association of California

Santa Rosa