Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Heart & Stroke (Why I no longer support this organization)

Way back in 2009, H&S published a position statement entitled “Air Pollution, Heart Disease and Stroke”.
In this document they:
  • Linked air pollution with premature deaths
  • Recognized wood stoves and fireplaces as “sources of dangerous air pollution” and PM2.5
  • Described the ways PM2.5 affects the cardiovascular system and increases the risk of heart disease and stroke
  • Recommended that public take action to reduce air pollution by limiting wood burning
Strangely, a decade later, none of this information is reflected in the front end of the H&S website.
Evidence that air pollution, PM2.5, and wood smoke have a detrimental effect on the cardiovascular system has increased, and yet residential wood burning is not included among “lifestyle risk factors”.  There are no warnings about inhaling wood smoke.
“Particulate” and “PM2.5” retrieve nothing in the H&S website search function.

There is even Canadian research showing the link between heart attacks in seniors and wood burning:
https://www.cantechletter.com/2017/03/wood-burning-stoves-fireplaces-increase-risk-heart-attack-canadian-study/

Bizarrely, in 2017 H&S used an image of a fire pit in their lottery brochure:


WHY WON’T HEART & STROKE TELL CANADIANS THE TRUTH ABOUT THEIR FIREPLACES, WOOD STOVES, CAMPFIRES AND FIRE PITS?

The position statement can still be found [archived] on the website...if you know where to look:

https://www.heartandstroke.ca/-/media/pdf-files/canada/2017-position-statements/airpollution-heartdisease-andstroke-ps-eng.ashx?rev=b3f18cce0f4249d0b7349d3e426843d7&hash=BC224590A86220A51F6F093C27F16FFE







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