Locals given incentive to ditch wood fireplaces

Redlands Daily Facts.com
Locals given incentive to ditch wood fireplaces

Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Posted:12/14/2008 10:02:04 PM PST

Southern California might not seem like a hotspot for fireplaces, but there are enough wood-burning types to do damage to the air and people's health.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District will provide Inland Empire residents with a $125 discount toward the conversion or purchase of a gas fireplace.
The discount is being offered through the district's Healthy Hearths program, AQMD spokesman Sam Atwood said.

"This is to reinforce that wood, as natural as it may be, is hazardous to their health," Atwood said. Despite its typically warm weather, Southern California has more than 1.4 million homes that use fireplaces, Atwood said.

Breathing in wood smoke and the tiny particles that escape when wood burns - called fine particulates - can cause respiratory problems or irritation in the nose and throat.

Several studies have shown that long-term exposure to fine particulates results in respiratory problems, said Jean Ospital, health-effects officer for AQMD.
Fireplaces contribute to the six tons of pollution a day that come from burning wood. That's four times the amount emitted by the region's power plants, Atwood said.

The numbers are a reason for why Southern California has the worst pollution in the country and has led AQMD to look at ways to reduce particulate-matter emissions, Atwood said.

In recent years, measures have been taken to clean up the air and meet Environmental Protection Agency standards, Atwood said.

In March, the district's governing board adopted a rule prohibiting the sale and installation of wood-burning devices in the region by 2011. When the governing board adopted the rule, it directed $500,000 to gas-fireplace companies to provide an incentive for buyers to make the switch.

The district has contracted with Rasmussen Companies and RJ Peters Company - which have 60 retailers in the region - to provide the instant rebates.
"Southern California has some of the highest levels of fine particulate matter, and the levels tend to be higher in San Bernardino and Riverside County areas," Ospital said.

Areas with elevated levels of fine-particulate matter have higher levels of premature deaths, said Atwood.

A study by the California Air Resources Board estimates there are annually about 6,000 deaths in Southern California from exposure to fine particulates, Atwood said.
The problem is that researchers don't know how much of an effect emissions from wood burning has on the levels of fine-particulate matter, Ospital said.
That is what has led AQMD to ask residents in the region to switch to gas fireplaces, which are 99 percent cleaner than wood fireplaces, Atwood said.
"Wood smoke is probably a small amount, but nonetheless it's a source that is significant and we can do something about," Atwood said.

To help spread the word about converting from wood to gas fireplaces, AQMD has set up a Healthy Hearths Web site.

REF: Redlands Daily Facts.com