The Wood Smoke Activist Network
June 2011 Newsletter
Educating the world about the health and climate impacts of wood smoke and combustion aerosols.
Editor: Shirley Brandie
Ontario Director of Canadian Clean Air Alliance http://canadiancleanairalliance.ca
Web site: http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net
Co-editor: Julie Mellum
Web site: Take Back the Air
Mission Statement
Our mission is to educate public officials, government and all citizens about wood smoke as a major form of hazardous air pollution that affects our health, use of our property, water, crops, livestock, the environment and climate change. We urge citizens everywhere to press for legislative changes to call wood smoke a public nuisance under state health codes and to ban all wood burning.”
Welcome!
We hope that this newsletter will give you the information and inspiration you need. Regain clean air to breathe and eliminate the wood burning that is affecting your health and your home environment. (http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net)
Please pass this issue on to others in need of help and suggest that they send an email to s.brandie@sympatico.ca to be added to the mailing list.
Webmaster----Check out this great organization for help, advice, and information on how to ban/end deadly woodsmoke in your community. You can also receive (via e-mail) a free monthly newsletter filled with great facts, successes, and assistance.
http://WoodBurnerSmoke.net
s.brandie@sympatico.ca
Smoke-Related Chemical Discovered in the Atmosphere Could Have Health Implications
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Smoke-Related Chemical Discovered in the Atmosphere Could Have Health Implications
ScienceDaily (May 17, 2011) — Cigarette smoking, forest fires and woodburning can release a chemical that may be at least partly responsible for human health problems related to smoke exposure, according to a new study by NOAA researchers and their colleagues.
Using a custom mass spectrometer designed by the researchers, the NOAA-led team was able get the first look at levels of the chemical, isocyanic acid, in the atmosphere. Isocyanic acid has been difficult to detect with conventional measurement techniques.
"We found isocyanic acid in a number of places, from air in downtown Los Angeles and air downwind of a Colorado wildfire, to cigarette smoke," said Jim Roberts, lead author of the new paper and a chemist with NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. "We also demonstrated that it dissolves readily in water, which means that humans can be exposed directly if it gets into eyes or lungs."
The health effects of such exposure are not fully known. In the body isocyanic acid, described by the chemical formula HNCO, is part of a biochemical pathway linked with cataracts and inflammation that can trigger cardiovascular disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Until now, the acid had not been measured in air outdoors or in tobacco smoke.
The research team made four separate measurements of HNCO: in the air in urban Los Angeles; in the air in Boulder downwind of the fall 2010 Fourmile Canyon wildfire; in laboratory burning experiments at high concentrations; and in cigarette smoke. The team also made the first measurements of the acid's ability to dissolve in water, which determines the chemical's tendency to dissolve into moist tissues in the body.
"There are literally billions of people in the world who burn biomass for cooking and heating," Roberts said. "If these indoor fires release similar levels of isocyanic acid as the fires we studied in the laboratory, families could be exposed to high levels of the chemical."
Roberts and colleagues from NOAA and University of Colorado at Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, the, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and the University of Montana published their paper in the May 17 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The research project started in the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, where scientists burned brush, tree branches and other vegetation, to better understand the air quality effects of wildfires. They used a new, specialized instrument -- a mass spectrometer built by Roberts and several colleagues -- to measure the amounts of a suite of organic acids, which are emitted by burning vegetation. Such acids are involved in chemistry that can degrade air quality.
During simulated wildfires in the Montana laboratory, levels of HNCO approached 600 parts per billion volume (ppbv). The HNCO was a few thousand times less concentrated in both the air in Los Angeles during a time without recent fires, and in the air in Boulder when the Fourmile Canyon fire was burning upwind.
At about 1 ppbv, the research team calculated that enough HNCO would dissolve into exposed tissues -- lungs and eyes -- that those tissues could be vulnerable to "carbamylation," part of the chemical process triggering inflammation and cataract development. People could experience higher exposure to HNCO near wildfires or in indoor environments where coal, wood or other biomass is burned for heating or cooking. The health effects of chronic exposure to lower-level amounts isocyanic acid, such as those found in the California and Colorado air are not known.
The extreme sensitivity of the new instrument to low concentrations of HNCO made it impossible to quantify the very high levels of isocyanic acid in cigarette smoke.
"We conclude that tobacco-derived HNCO needs to be measured more extensively and potential exposure to it quantified," the scientists wrote, adding that the acid is not currently listed as a "harmful" or "potentially harmful" constituent in tobacco products or smoke.
In their paper, researchers noted other sources of atmospheric HNCO, including pollution-control equipment that is being introduced in California and Europe to reduce emissions by diesel trucks. The systems are designed to reduce nitrogen oxides, which contribute to air quality problems, but they emit HNCO as a by-product. This new source could increase human exposure to the chemical in urban areas.
Moreover, climate change is expected to bring hotter temperatures and drier conditions to some regions of the world, with accompanying increases in biomass burning, including wildfire. "We may be facing a future of higher amounts of HNCO in the atmosphere," said Roberts. "It is fortunate that now we can measure it."
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110516161344.htm
Also...Smoke from the Fourmile Canyon wildfire west of Boulder, Colo. in fall 2010 flows toward the city to the right of the image. A new NOAA study found isocyanic acid in the smoke from that fire -- and in urban Los Angeles air, in cigarette smoke, and in laboratory-simulated wildfires. That acid has been linked with health effects from cataracts to cardiovascular disease. (Credit: Photograph courtesy of Daniel Lack, NOAA/CIRES)
ScienceDaily (May 17, 2011) — Cigarette smoking, forest fires and woodburning can release a chemical that may be at least partly responsible for human health problems related to smoke exposure, according to a new study by NOAA researchers and their colleagues.
Using a custom mass spectrometer designed by the researchers, the NOAA-led team was able get the first look at levels of the chemical, isocyanic acid, in the atmosphere. Isocyanic acid has been difficult to detect with conventional measurement techniques.
"We found isocyanic acid in a number of places, from air in downtown Los Angeles and air downwind of a Colorado wildfire, to cigarette smoke," said Jim Roberts, lead author of the new paper and a chemist with NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. "We also demonstrated that it dissolves readily in water, which means that humans can be exposed directly if it gets into eyes or lungs."
The health effects of such exposure are not fully known. In the body isocyanic acid, described by the chemical formula HNCO, is part of a biochemical pathway linked with cataracts and inflammation that can trigger cardiovascular disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Until now, the acid had not been measured in air outdoors or in tobacco smoke.
The research team made four separate measurements of HNCO: in the air in urban Los Angeles; in the air in Boulder downwind of the fall 2010 Fourmile Canyon wildfire; in laboratory burning experiments at high concentrations; and in cigarette smoke. The team also made the first measurements of the acid's ability to dissolve in water, which determines the chemical's tendency to dissolve into moist tissues in the body.
"There are literally billions of people in the world who burn biomass for cooking and heating," Roberts said. "If these indoor fires release similar levels of isocyanic acid as the fires we studied in the laboratory, families could be exposed to high levels of the chemical."
Roberts and colleagues from NOAA and University of Colorado at Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, the, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and the University of Montana published their paper in the May 17 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The research project started in the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, where scientists burned brush, tree branches and other vegetation, to better understand the air quality effects of wildfires. They used a new, specialized instrument -- a mass spectrometer built by Roberts and several colleagues -- to measure the amounts of a suite of organic acids, which are emitted by burning vegetation. Such acids are involved in chemistry that can degrade air quality.
During simulated wildfires in the Montana laboratory, levels of HNCO approached 600 parts per billion volume (ppbv). The HNCO was a few thousand times less concentrated in both the air in Los Angeles during a time without recent fires, and in the air in Boulder when the Fourmile Canyon fire was burning upwind.
At about 1 ppbv, the research team calculated that enough HNCO would dissolve into exposed tissues -- lungs and eyes -- that those tissues could be vulnerable to "carbamylation," part of the chemical process triggering inflammation and cataract development. People could experience higher exposure to HNCO near wildfires or in indoor environments where coal, wood or other biomass is burned for heating or cooking. The health effects of chronic exposure to lower-level amounts isocyanic acid, such as those found in the California and Colorado air are not known.
The extreme sensitivity of the new instrument to low concentrations of HNCO made it impossible to quantify the very high levels of isocyanic acid in cigarette smoke.
"We conclude that tobacco-derived HNCO needs to be measured more extensively and potential exposure to it quantified," the scientists wrote, adding that the acid is not currently listed as a "harmful" or "potentially harmful" constituent in tobacco products or smoke.
In their paper, researchers noted other sources of atmospheric HNCO, including pollution-control equipment that is being introduced in California and Europe to reduce emissions by diesel trucks. The systems are designed to reduce nitrogen oxides, which contribute to air quality problems, but they emit HNCO as a by-product. This new source could increase human exposure to the chemical in urban areas.
Moreover, climate change is expected to bring hotter temperatures and drier conditions to some regions of the world, with accompanying increases in biomass burning, including wildfire. "We may be facing a future of higher amounts of HNCO in the atmosphere," said Roberts. "It is fortunate that now we can measure it."
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110516161344.htm
Also...Smoke from the Fourmile Canyon wildfire west of Boulder, Colo. in fall 2010 flows toward the city to the right of the image. A new NOAA study found isocyanic acid in the smoke from that fire -- and in urban Los Angeles air, in cigarette smoke, and in laboratory-simulated wildfires. That acid has been linked with health effects from cataracts to cardiovascular disease. (Credit: Photograph courtesy of Daniel Lack, NOAA/CIRES)
Wood smoke is deadlier than tobacco smoke
Monday, May 9, 2011
Thursday, May 05, 2011
Wood smoke is deadlier than tobacco smoke
We’re snuffing secondhand tobacco smoke in this country, while wood smoke, far more toxic and concentrated, has risen like the phoenix in its place. In most metro areas and neighborhoods where people live and breathe, wood burning has been condoned and promoted as fun, family-friendly, healthy to cook with, and good for the environment. Restaurant wood grills and back yard campfires churn out black carbon soot like it’s the best thing since sliced bread. But nothing could be farther from the truth.
Everything we know about tobacco smoke is true of wood smoke.
Wood smoke is comprised of miniscule particulates that are bundled with legions of the same hormone disrupting and cancer causing toxicants that are in tobacco smoke. They include lead, arsenic, mercury, formaldehyde, benzene, and dioxins, some of the most insidious chemicals known to man. They are also “bioaccumulative”, building up in the environment and human lungs over time, where they increasingly ravage our health and that of future generations.
A terrible public health hazard. While back yard campfires rage across America and the biomass industry pours trillions of daily pollutants into our air, more and more people are becoming chronically ill from wood smoke entering their lungs on a continuous basis. Wood smoke is a well- documented trigger for asthma attacks and premature death in people of all ages, as cited by the EPA and US Centers for Disease Control. Children, the elderly, and anyone with asthma, other lung diseases and heart disease are most at risk. Wood smoke is also implicated in cancer, reproductive birth defects, neurological diseases such as autism, and compromised immune systems, paving the way for other disorders.
Most states have inadequate regulations to help those who are chronically ill from wood smoke inhalation. There is nowhere people can go for help, although private lawsuits are on the rise.
Property rights, wood smoke and the ADA. The perils of wood smoke are not limited to health effects. Wood smoke violates most nuisance ordinances and the property rights of others to use and enjoy their property smoke free. Cities claim they cannot afford to enforce such ordinances, but it is time they pony up to their accessibility requirements, for one. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires cities to provide “access” to public spaces such as parks, streets and sidewalks to those with disabilities such as asthma. Public spaces should be free of severe respiratory irritants like wood smoke in order to accommodate this skyrocketing segment of the population. In a precedent-setting ADA case, an Iowa district court ordered the town of Mallard to ban outdoor wood burning, because the smoke prevented a child with severe asthma from accessing public spaces.
How to get involved. If you agree that wood smoke is the scourge of our cities and needs regulation, email info@takebacktheair.com or s.brandie@sympatico.ca and request to receive the monthly online Wood Smoke Activist Network newsletter for the US and Canada. We facilitate connections among people in various states for a larger “voice” toward wood smoke solutions in our local and national governments.
By Julie Mellum
Founder, Take Back the Air www.takebacktheair.com
Member, Clean Air Revival, www.burningissues.org
Co-Editor, The Wood Smoke Activist Network Newsletter s.brandie@sympatico.ca
Author’s “Bio”: Julie is a wood smoke activist in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with connections to others nation-wide who are also concerned with this emerging topic. A Realtor by trade, Julie has also researched wood smoke issues extensively for the past 10 years and founded Take Back the Air to help enlighten the public about the top most hazardous, yet vastly under-recognized air toxins in residential communities, starting in our own back yards.
Source: Blog for Clean Air
The official blog site for Clean Air Watch.
http://blogforcleanair.blogspot.com
Wood smoke is deadlier than tobacco smoke
We’re snuffing secondhand tobacco smoke in this country, while wood smoke, far more toxic and concentrated, has risen like the phoenix in its place. In most metro areas and neighborhoods where people live and breathe, wood burning has been condoned and promoted as fun, family-friendly, healthy to cook with, and good for the environment. Restaurant wood grills and back yard campfires churn out black carbon soot like it’s the best thing since sliced bread. But nothing could be farther from the truth.
Everything we know about tobacco smoke is true of wood smoke.
Wood smoke is comprised of miniscule particulates that are bundled with legions of the same hormone disrupting and cancer causing toxicants that are in tobacco smoke. They include lead, arsenic, mercury, formaldehyde, benzene, and dioxins, some of the most insidious chemicals known to man. They are also “bioaccumulative”, building up in the environment and human lungs over time, where they increasingly ravage our health and that of future generations.
A terrible public health hazard. While back yard campfires rage across America and the biomass industry pours trillions of daily pollutants into our air, more and more people are becoming chronically ill from wood smoke entering their lungs on a continuous basis. Wood smoke is a well- documented trigger for asthma attacks and premature death in people of all ages, as cited by the EPA and US Centers for Disease Control. Children, the elderly, and anyone with asthma, other lung diseases and heart disease are most at risk. Wood smoke is also implicated in cancer, reproductive birth defects, neurological diseases such as autism, and compromised immune systems, paving the way for other disorders.
Most states have inadequate regulations to help those who are chronically ill from wood smoke inhalation. There is nowhere people can go for help, although private lawsuits are on the rise.
Property rights, wood smoke and the ADA. The perils of wood smoke are not limited to health effects. Wood smoke violates most nuisance ordinances and the property rights of others to use and enjoy their property smoke free. Cities claim they cannot afford to enforce such ordinances, but it is time they pony up to their accessibility requirements, for one. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires cities to provide “access” to public spaces such as parks, streets and sidewalks to those with disabilities such as asthma. Public spaces should be free of severe respiratory irritants like wood smoke in order to accommodate this skyrocketing segment of the population. In a precedent-setting ADA case, an Iowa district court ordered the town of Mallard to ban outdoor wood burning, because the smoke prevented a child with severe asthma from accessing public spaces.
How to get involved. If you agree that wood smoke is the scourge of our cities and needs regulation, email info@takebacktheair.com or s.brandie@sympatico.ca and request to receive the monthly online Wood Smoke Activist Network newsletter for the US and Canada. We facilitate connections among people in various states for a larger “voice” toward wood smoke solutions in our local and national governments.
By Julie Mellum
Founder, Take Back the Air www.takebacktheair.com
Member, Clean Air Revival, www.burningissues.org
Co-Editor, The Wood Smoke Activist Network Newsletter s.brandie@sympatico.ca
Author’s “Bio”: Julie is a wood smoke activist in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with connections to others nation-wide who are also concerned with this emerging topic. A Realtor by trade, Julie has also researched wood smoke issues extensively for the past 10 years and founded Take Back the Air to help enlighten the public about the top most hazardous, yet vastly under-recognized air toxins in residential communities, starting in our own back yards.
Source: Blog for Clean Air
The official blog site for Clean Air Watch.
http://blogforcleanair.blogspot.com
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