Wood Burning
Drawn by Kate, age 9
When wood and smokeless fuels are burnt, tiny particles of soot and carbon are released that lodge deep in our bodies and make us sick.
These particles - known as PM2.5 - affect the people burning as well as having a significant impact on the whole neighbourhood.
In the UK, households burning wood indoors are a major source of PM2.5, contributing 12 per cent of total PM2.5 emissions in 2024. Yet only 1 per cent of UK households are reliant on solid fuels for their heating.
Long-term exposure to PM2.5 has been associated with hundreds of health conditions.
The World Health Organization has stated that there is no safe level of PM2.5.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health advises phasing out domestic wood burning in urban areas to protect children’s health.
We are calling for a phase-out of non-essential burning, with support for those in rural areas and fuel poverty to transition to cleaner heating.
Thinking about installing a wood burning stove?
Watch our short animation, created with Dr Mathy Sannasi of Royal Holloway University.
The animation covers the large amounts of invisible fine particle pollution emitted when wood is burnt, the health impact of that pollution, and what can be done about it.
Our wood burning campaign
Drawn by Kate, age 9
We’re calling on the Government to:
Launch a public health campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of wood burning stoves and open fires.
Provide effective powers to local authorities to stop unlawful burning.
Stop classifying wood burning stoves as “DEFRA-exempt” or “DEFRA-approved”.
Label wood burning stoves as harmful to better educate consumers.
Phase out domestic wood burning for those who do not need to burn, with support for those in rural areas and fuel poverty to transition to cleaner heating.
Want to get involved?
Our wood burning group is made up of people from all over the UK who are concerned about this much-misunderstood source of air pollution. We always welcome new voices - please get in touch if you’d like to join our wood burning Google group, where we share information and ideas, or come along to one of our online campaign meetings.
“It was a great meeting last week - you and the team are really on top of this! Thanks for all that you, and everyone else in this amazing group, are doing.” — Volunteer in our wood burning group.
Volunteer putting up posters for Clean Air Night
What’s so bad about wood burning?
The effect of wood burning on a neighbourhood
“My children have learned to smell the air as they go into the garden to play... their playtime is regularly cut short by cancer-causing fumes. Our home is often shut up to try to keep the air clean.” - Dr Booth, Cheshire
At Mums for Lungs we are regularly contacted by people affected by wood burning who feel powerless to act. The negative physical and mental health effects of living near a household that burns can be significant. Many people feel trapped in their own homes because they can’t open windows, or go into in their garden without breathing in fumes.
Even in a Smoke Control Area, complaints rarely lead to action: over 15,000 complaints about wood burning were made in England between September 2024 and August 2025, with barely a handful of fines issued and not a single prosecution pursued.
Wood burning and indoor air pollution
Graphic showing a comparison of the emissions data in the CMO’s 2022 air pollution report. With thanks to data visualisation designer Chris Woods.
Burning wood doesn't just pollute the air outside - it pollutes the air inside your home too, releasing fine particles and toxic gases into your living space.
A University of Surrey study found indoor PM2.5 levels were significantly higher in homes using wood burning stoves during burning periods, and this University of Sheffield study found that PM2.5 levels inside homes were three times higher when wood stoves were in regular use than when the stoves were not being used.
Surrey’s researchers found that even the best stove models caused significant spikes in indoor pollution when lit, refuelled or cleared of ash.
With people spending up to 90% of their time indoors, this is exposure that’s hard to escape, and it’s particularly harmful to children, older people and anyone with a respiratory condition.
Similarities between wood and tobacco smoke
“Wood burning is adversely affecting my health. I’m getting a smoker’s cough every morning when neighbours are burning wood and coal.”- Diana, South London
Wood smoke contains most of the same carcinogens as tobacco smoke, including formaldehyde, benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - and research shows wood smoke is actually more toxic than cigarette smoke.
Tobacco packaging has carried health warnings for decades, helping the public understand the harmful effects of smoking. Wood burning stoves carry no such warning; instead being labelled "DEFRA-exempt" or "DEFRA-approved," which can mislead people into thinking they're safe to use.
Do wood burning stoves cause cancer?
“Within weeks of my neighbour installing their wood burning stove, my lungs were affected so badly that my GP had to refer me to a respiratory specialist.” - Paula, Warrington South
Drawn by Kate, age 9
Lung cancer is on the rise globally among “never smokers”. This UCL study demonstrated for the first time how air pollution can cause lung cancer in people who have never smoked. Another UCL study discovered that lung function declined faster among solid fuel users compared to non-users. Between 10 and 20% of lung cancer diagnoses are made in those who have never smoked.
The US Sister Study found that higher wood stove / fireplace usage was associated with a 70% higher incidence of lung cancer. A second study of the same cohort showed that using an indoor wood burning stove or fireplace at least once a week was associated with a higher risk of breast cancer.
The toll goes beyond cancer too: air pollution from burning in UK homes contributes to nearly 2,500 premature deaths annually. Stopping non-essential wood burning in UK homes could help save the NHS millions of pounds and prevent thousands of deaths.
Burning wood is not carbon neutral
Image: @fhfpix via Unsplash
Per unit of energy, burning wood releases more carbon dioxide than coal or gas.
When wood is burned, the carbon dioxide that was absorbed over the years that the tree was alive is released back into the atmosphere immediately, along with short-lived pollutants such as black carbon. Regrowth and carbon reabsorption by trees can take decades, creating a carbon debt.
Research by Chatham House and others confirms that biomass combustion can be more harmful to the climate than fossil fuels over relevant timeframes for climate mitigation.
Graph taken from Global Action Plan’s Relight My Fire report on the cost of wood burning.
Burning wood is expensive
The yearly cost of using a new, Defra compliant stove for 20 per cent of a household’s heat, including purchase & installation, is 24 per cent higher than running a typical gas boiler. Even when using an existing stove, the yearly cost is 15 per cent higher than gas.
In almost every scenario, it is cheaper to heat your home using a gas boiler or a heat pump, not to mention less polluting and more efficient.
Newer stoves don’t solve the problem
From 2022, all new stoves sold in the UK have had to meet tighter emissions standards under the Ecodesign Regulations. However, while a modern stove may emit less than an older stove or open fire, it doesn’t solve the air pollution problem.
Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty’s 2022 air pollution report noted that Ecodesign stoves are several hundred times more polluting than gas central heating, and that “solid fuels are by far the most polluting method of domestic heating”.
Based on emission limits, a 5 kW Ecodesign stove is permitted to emit around six times as much particulate matter per hour as a modern Euro VI diesel HGV (Defra’s Air Quality Expert Group, 2017, table 5 and figure 2).
A 2025 University of Surrey study found that multifuel Ecodesign stoves emit more ultrafine particles than standard Ecodesign stoves. Compared with seasoned wood, wood briquettes and smokeless coal increased ultrafine particle exposure by 1.7 and 1.5 times respectively.
Image from Professor Whitty’s report showing comparative emissions from heat sources.
What can I do?
Stop burning if you don’t need to, and repurpose your fireplace!
If you have another way to heat your home, please don’t burn. If you can’t stop completely, could you save it for special occasions?
Thinking about installing a stove? Please don’t! Take a look below at a few examples of alternative options.
Images of fireplace alternatives, L to R: Matt White, Natalie Martin, Lily Hughes, @salbots
If you don’t need to burn, your fireplace can still be a focal point without the flames. Our #FireplaceFlip campaign has brought in some great ideas, including a stove turned into a terrarium! Send us a picture if you’ve repurposed your stove or fireplace, we love to feature them and inspire others to stop burning.
Write to the media about wood burning
Interior magazines, TV programmes and social media are full of roaring fires and beautifully styled stoves, with no mention of the air pollution they cause.
Spot one in a magazine or on TV? Email the editor or broadcaster using our template letter.
See it on social media? You could consider leaving a quick comment explaining that wood burning gives off pollution that damages our health.
Write to your local authority about wood burning
We write to councils across the country every Autumn to ask them to raise awareness of the dangers of wood burning and to ask all residents not to use their stoves or fires unless they are their only source of heat. You can use our template letter to contact your council if you’d like to do the same.
Order our wood burning flyers and posters
People across the country are using our free flyers and posters to raise awareness of wood burning.
We’ve sent thousands of these out across the UK over the last few years - you can order yours for free below.
If you want to do more - get in touch to join our wood burning Google group.