Dr James Heydon and a team from the University of Nottingham measured air pollution in 20 UK homes for four weeks. Each had a Defra approved wood stove, exempted for use in smoke control areas. We found that wood burning can trigger sharp spikes in indoor air pollution, he said. The biggest increases were associated with routine stove management like lighting the stove, opening the door to refuel, and tending the fire.
We are used to being concerned about air pollution outdoors, but we aren't used to thinking about air pollution when we're inside our homes," Rob Jackson, the study's senior author and an earth system science professor at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, told SFGATE. "For the average American, one quarter of all the asthma-triggering nitrogen dioxide that they breathe comes from their stove indoors. That's not something most people are aware of.
Every time you fire up your cooktop, you're releasing pollutants like oil mist and smoke into the air. Without proper ventilation, those particles can drift deep into your lungs, where they can cause irritation ( or worse). Since becoming privy to this information, I've been vigilant about ventilation (and real fun at dinner parties). Unfortunately, the only exhaust in my otherwise lovely apartment is the seemingly-useless fan built into my over-the-range microwave-though,
