Wood Burning--Major source of black carbon soot

Wood-Burning Is Another Cause Of Pollution
Letter to the Editor

The March 30 front page article, "Air pollution down sharply," brought good tidings that industrial pollution has plunged to lower levels. That is great news for asthmatics, the environment and for community health and livability.

Yet for every industrial smokestack that is shut down by the flailing economy, residential pollution seems sharply on the rise.

Recreational wood-burning and the proliferation of restaurant wood grills are blanketing our city streets, parks and neighborhoods with the caustic fumes of wood smoke more than ever before.

Isn't it time that restaurants and residents also help control air pollution by not burning wood for food and for fun? Our health and our planet cannot sustain these behaviors. We must spread the word that wood smoke is a major source of black carbon soot.

It is far more concentrated than tobacco smoke, while containing legions of the same toxins. It travels farther and remains chemically active in the body up to 40 hours longer.

Wood smoke that drifts onto the property of others deprives them of using and enjoying their own property. Please don't burn.

Julie Mellum, Boca Raton

Source:
Sun Sentinel (Florida)
April 2, 2011