Wood smoke and your health

Wood smoke has tiny particles and gases. Breathing in wood smoke can cause health impacts such as:  

• Coughing, wheezing and trouble breathing
• Increased risk of heart attack and stroke
• Worse symptoms for people with lung conditions such as asthma or chronic lung disease  

For children, breathing in smoke can contribute to health impacts such as:  

• More lung and ear infections
• Reduced lung function
• More severe and frequent asthma symptoms 

Who is most at risk of health impacts from wood smoke?  

• Children
• Older adults
• People who have lung problems 

• Replace uncertified wood stoves, wood fireplaces or other wood-burning devices with electric fireplaces, heat pumps, pellet stoves, or other cleaner certified wood-burning devices. To check if a device is certified, look for the certification label for CSA or US EPA emission standards.
• Follow good wood-burning practices:
  • Burn only clean seasoned wood, manufactured fire logs, or wood pellets
  • Never burn garbage, plastic, or treated wood
  • Keep fires small and hot and avoid smouldering
  • Make sure smoke is only visible when starting a fire
  • Inspect and maintain your wood burning device every year
• Consider using a portable air cleaner indoors
• Protect yourself and your family by installing smoke detectors and at least one carbon monoxide (CO) alarm in your home.  
• Check your local air quality data to understand current smoke conditions on AQ map. 

Local governments, First Nations, and community organizations can take actions to reduce wood smoke in their communities. Actions can include: 

• Increase awareness of the health impacts of wood smoke using health resources such as those from the BC Lung Foundation.
• Register for the BC Community Wood Smoke Reduction Program. This program provides incentives to replace old wood-burning devices, support for education initiatives and funding for local administration of the program.
• Regulate the installation and use of wood stoves through bylaws governing wood-burning devices. This may include:
  • Requiring registration of wood-burning devices
  • Restricting the fuel that can be burned and requiring best burning practices
  • Limiting the amount of smoke emissions
  • Prohibiting the use of non-certified wood-burning devices
  • Not allowing the installation of new wood-burning devices in homes and buildings that are already free of wood-burning devices
  • Restricting burning at specific times.