EPA’s Burn Wise program encourages communities and their citizens to implement safe burning practices by emphasizing the importance of burning the right wood, the right way, in the right wood-burning appliance.
During the wintertime, residential wood smoke is a main contributor to fine particle pollution and is responsible for poor air quality days in many areas across the United States. Particle pollution in wood smoke can affect everyone, but children, teenagers, older adults, people with lung disease, including asthma and COPD, or people with heart disease are the most vulnerable.
Particle pollution exposure can lead to a variety of health effects. For example, numerous studies link particle levels to increased hospital admissions and emergency room visits—and even to early death. Research indicates that obesity or diabetes may increase risk. New or expectant mothers may also want to take precautions to protect the health of their babies.