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Air pollution from residential wood burning is linked to an estimated 8,600 premature deaths each year in the United States, according to new research.
Although only 2% of US households rely on wood as their main heating source, and another 8% use it for ambience or as a supplemental heat source, together they account for 21% of the nation’s wintertime particle pollution.
Professor Daniel Horton of Northwestern University, who led the study, noted that while wildfire smoke often receives attention for its health impacts, the effects of burning wood in homes are rarely discussed. Kyan Shlipak, the study’s lead author, said he was surprised by how much particle pollution comes from residential wood burning, highlighting significant gaps in understanding where the pollution concentrates and which communities are most affected.
The researchers divided the continental US into 839,000 grid cells and calculated hourly pollution levels for each one, comparing scenarios with and without residential wood burning. Contrary to expectations that wood burning is mainly a rural issue, the study found it significantly affects urban and suburban populations, including areas around major cities.
Cold nighttime temperatures mean wood burning also impacts regions with generally mild climates, such as Los Angeles. In some locations, including areas near the Rocky Mountains west of Denver, the Cascade Range east of Seattle, and the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles, pollution becomes trapped by surrounding geography.
The team also examined who generates the pollution and who bears the brunt of it. They found that emissions from suburban neighborhoods with high wood-burning rates drift into densely populated urban areas. Despite burning less wood overall, people of color face higher exposure and greater health risks, compounding existing health inequalities and raising environmental justice concerns.
Professor Horton emphasized that since relatively few homes depend on wood for heating, transitioning to cleaner or non-combustion heating systems could significantly improve air quality.
Similar health concerns are present in the UK. Across the country, pollution from homes burning wood or coal is linked to nearly 2,500 preventable deaths annually. A recent study in Wales found that using a wood stove or fireplace tripled the particle pollution inhaled by children indoors.
An analysis of 26 million home energy performance certificates showed that 10.4% of homes in England and Wales used wood heating in 2024, with the trend increasing. The charity Global Action Plan estimates that, if current patterns continue, nearly one million new wood-burning stoves could be installed during the current parliamentary term.
High concentrations of wood stoves and fireplaces are found in urban areas outside major cities, such as Worthing, Norwich, Reading, Cambridge, and Hastings. These heating systems are most common in wealthier neighborhoods, but the resulting pollution spreads more widely, again raising environmental justice issues.
The UK government is currently consulting on proposals to introduce health warnings for new stoves and solid fuels.
