Fire Pit Emissions (To Council, #8)

Today I would like to direct your attention to the 2013 decision by the South Coast Air Quality Management District in California, regarding beach bonfires:

http://burningissues.org/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6405

Some key points to note:

“The particulate emissions rate per minute from one beach bonfire is equal to that from: 

• Three average big-rig diesel trucks; or 
• The secondhand smoke from 800 cigarettes. Wood smoke contains many of the same toxic chemicals as secondhand cigarette smoke.”

 “...one fire pit in one evening emits as much fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) as one big-rig diesel truck driven 564 miles.”

“Smoke does disperse and is diluted as it travels downwind from a fire pit. An air quality model indicates that the concentration of PM2.5, the key harmful ingredient in wood smoke, decreases by about 98 percent at a distance of 700 feet from a fire pit...”

“Fine particles in wood smoke contain cancer-causing chemicals as well as common combustion pollutants such as nitrogen oxides. Numerous health studies during wildfires, and in communities where large amounts of wood or other biomass is burned, show that wood smoke causes respiratory irritation and an increase in hospital admissions for respiratory problems. Fine particles also can aggravate chronic heart and lung diseases and are linked to premature deaths in people with these conditions.”

SCAQMD’s decision is that fire pits can remain if they are “located at least 700 feet from the nearest residence”.

I am waiting to hear your justification for allowing backyard fire pits in Woodstock.

Open Air Burning and Children (To Council, #7)

Just like second-hand tobacco smoke, wood smoke is hazardous to infants, children, and the unborn.

You are probably aware that in Ontario it is illegal to light a cigarette in a vehicle with a child on board, and it is also illegal to smoke within 20 metres of a playground or playing field.  Our provincial government is well aware of the danger posed to children from smoke inhalation.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/smoke-free-ontario

Bizarrely, in Woodstock it is legal for many residents near parks and playing fields to light backyard fires, thus subjecting children and their families using these facilities to toxic wood smoke. 

Please ponder the irony implicit in the attached picture, taken at Cowan Park:  no  smoking, but a fire pit (one of many in the neighbourhood) in the background.

Here are some excerpts from the website of Doctors and Scientists Against Wood Smoke Pollution:

“Children are among the most vulnerable to the harmful effects of particulate air pollution. Children breathe faster and inhale more pollutants in proportion to their body weight than do adults. Their immune systems and organs are still developing.”

“Particulate pollution has been shown to affect lung function and lung development.”

“During infancy, the developing lung is highly susceptible to damage from environmental pollutants, including those from wood smoke.”

“Recent research also suggests an association with increased exposure to fine particulate matter during pregnancy and an increased risk of stillbirth.”

“There is also growing evidence that fine particulate pollution, especially with increased levels of PAHs, can lead to impaired neuropsychological development and a lifelong lowered IQ.”

“As a society, we no longer think it is acceptable to force children to breathe secondhand tobacco smoke. It’s time to extend this attitude to wood smoke.”

https://woodsmokepollution.org/children.html

Why does Woodstock allow open air burning?

Open Air Burning and Asthma (To Council, #5)

You probably know someone who suffers from asthma; according to Health Canada, this chronic condition afflicts 12.1% of the population of Ontario.

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/asthma-chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-canada-2018.html

If you have been following the news about the forest fires elsewhere in the province, you may have heard special warnings directed at people who suffer from asthma, as well as for those with COPD, or other respiratory or cardiovascular problems.

What you should realize is that inhaling smoke from neighbourhood fire pits is just as dangerous as inhaling forest fire smoke.

Here is more information from the Lung Association, Asthma Canada, and the Government of Canada:

“Breathing in wood smoke can cause increased respiratory symptoms, increased hospital admissions, exacerbation of asthma and COPD, and decrease your ability to breathe normally. If you have a lung disease, breathing in wood smoke can make your disease worse and cause a flare-up.”

https://www.lung.ca/news/advocacy-tools/our-position-statements/residential-wood-burning

“Exposure to smoke of any kind, whether the source is tobacco, marijuana, forest fires or camp fires, can be harmful.”

https://www.asthma.ca/get-help/asthma-3/triggers-3/common-asthma-triggers/

“Asthma is one of the most common chronic respiratory diseases in Canada. It affects Canadians of all ages, but younger Canadians are disproportionately affected.

Symptoms of asthma include shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, and chest tightness. There is currently no cure for asthma; however, it can be well controlled by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, avoiding allergens and other triggers, quitting smoking, and taking medication properly.”

https://infobase.phac-aspc.gc.ca/datalab/asthma-blog-en.html

The number of residents of Woodstock who suffer from asthma is probably close to 5,000.

(2016 census population: 40,902 x provincial asthma rate 12.1%) = 4,949.

Now that you know that wood smoke may be triggering asthma attacks in approximately 5,000 residents (many of them children), how can Woodstock Council justify continuing the practice of open air burning?

Open Air Burning and COPD (To Council, #4)

You probably know someone who is suffering from COPD; more than 10% of Canadians over the age of 35 are living with it.

https://infobase.phac-aspc.gc.ca/datalab/copd-blog-en.html

Wood smoke can cause COPD, precipitate flare-ups, and lead to death.

Here’s what the Lung Association has to say:

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a lung disease that includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

In 80-90% of cases, it is caused by smoking. Other causes of COPD can include:

• genetic reasons (alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency)
• occupational dusts and chemicals
• second hand smoke
• frequent lung infections as a child
• wood smoke and other biomass (animal dung, crop residues) fuel used for cooking. https://www.lung.ca/copd

Breathing in wood smoke can cause increased respiratory symptoms, increased hospital admissions, exacerbation of asthma and COPD, and decreased your ability to breathe normally. If you have a lung disease, breathing in wood smoke can make your disease worse and cause a flare-up.

PM2.5 (inhalable particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter) - PM2.5, which consists of a mixture of microscopic particles of varied size and composition, has been declared a toxic substance under the Environmental Protection Act. These particles can be inhaled deep into the lungs, leading to serious respiratory problems, including excess mortality, especially among those with pre-existing cardiopulmonary illness.

https://www.lung.ca/news/advocacy-tools/our-position-statements/residential-wood-burning

So we can add COPD to our growing list of health problems (cancer, diabetes, heart attacks) linked to PM2.5 and wood burning.

How can Woodstock Council justify the practice of open air burning?

The above text was sent by e-mail to each member of Council on July 18, 2018.

Open Air Burning and Diabetes (To Council, #2)

Last week I wrote to you about the cancer risk for residents due to exposure to wood smoke and one of its components, fine particulate matter (PM2.5).

This past Friday a new study was published in The Lancet Planetary Health, that links PM2.5 with DIABETES.

From CNN’s report on the study:

"There's an undeniable relationship between diabetes and and particle air pollution levels well below the current safe standards," said senior study author Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University.

“Particulate or particle air pollution is made up of microscopic pieces of dust, dirt, smoke and soot mixed with liquid droplets. The finest particles regulated by the EPA are 2.5 micrometers; to put that in perspective, a strand of human hair is 70 micrometers, or more than 30 times larger.

Anything less than 10 micrometers can not only enter the lungs, it can pass into the bloodstream, where it is carried to various organs and begins a chronic inflammatory reaction thought to lead to disease.”

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/29/health/air-pollution-diabetes-study/index.html

From the study itself:

“The global toll of diabetes attributable to PM2·5 air pollution is significant. Reduction in exposure will yield substantial health benefits.”

https://secure.jbs.elsevierhealth.com/action/getSharedSiteSession?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelancet.com%2Fjournals%2Flanpla%2Farticle%2FPIIS2542-5196%2818%2930140-2%2Ffulltext&rc=0

8 years ago, the Sentinel Review reported that residents of Oxford County were already at a higher risk of diabetes, due to obesity.

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2010/09/10/diabetes-risk-for-adults-in-oxford-county-is-on-the-rise

PM2.5 is a carcinogen.

PM2.5 increases the risk of developing diabetes.

PM2.5 is a major component of wood smoke.

How can Woodstock Council justify open air burning?

I await your response.

The above text was sent as an e-mail to each member of Woodstock Council on July 4, 2018.

Open Air Burning and Cancer (To Council, #1)

On calm summer evenings, many Woodstock neighbourhoods are filled with wood smoke from backyard fire pits.

I would like each member of Council to spend a few minutes perusing a report entitled “Environmental Burden of Cancer in Ontario”, a joint publication from Public Health Ontario and Cancer Care Ontario, available on the internet.
https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/eRepository/Environmental_Burden_of_Cancer_Key%20Messages_2016.pdf
https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/eRepository/Environmental_Burden_of_Cancer_in_Ontario_2016.pdf

This report ranks 23 environmental carcinogens, and concludes that 3 of those carcinogens are responsible for 90% of new environmental cancer cases in this province.

One of the top 3 carcinogens is FINE PARTICULATE MATTER (also known as PM2.5), and it is a key component of WOOD SMOKE.

BY ALLOWING OPEN AIR BURNING, WOODSTOCK COUNCIL IS THEREFORE INCREASING THE CANCER RISK FOR EVERY RESIDENT OF THIS COMMUNITY.

One of the reduction strategies for PM2.5 given in the report is “increasing the distance between areas with concentrated combustion emissions and where people live and work.” [p.5] 

Clearly, fires shouldn’t be burning in backyards.

You should notice how far down the list are other substances commonly recognized as carcinogenic, such as asbestos, formaldehyde, and second-hand tobacco smoke.  Consider, too, that there is no way to avoid inhaling wood-smoke-polluted air from a neighbour’s fire pit.

Backyard fires are illegal in many Ontario cities, including Guelph, Waterloo, Brantford and Cambridge.

In light of the cancer risk, I would appreciate hearing your justification for continuing to allow open air burning in Woodstock.

The above text was sent by e-mail to each member of Woodstock Council on June 27, 2018.

Smog? In Woodstock, it's public policy.

With wry amusement I read the "Green Tips" column by the Woodstock Environmental Advisory Committee in the July issue of What's on Woodstock (p.12), entitled "Every breath you take".
To be fair, the concerns expressed about smog, its environmental and health effects, and the suggested tips, are all valid.
Conspicuous by its absence, however, is any mention of one of our greatest seasonal pollutants: WOOD SMOKE, which is all too often in evidence on calm summer evenings.
Is it not hypocritical of Woodstock to encourage me to avoid volatile organic compounds, while forcing me to inhale the same substances from nearby fire pits?

When the current Open Air Burning Bylaw was passed in 2013, the Fire Department reported that 1,282 burn permits had been issued; that worked out to about one toxic backyard incinerator for every 30 residents of Woodstock.  The northwest corner of the city, near Cowan Park, is peppered with them:  fire pits, chimineas, and (for those with a serious commitment to burning) large outdoor masonry fireplaces (gasp).
To put this situation in context:  it's illegal in Ontario to light a cigarette within 20 metres of playground equipment or a public sports field.  But properties near Cowan Park can light backyard fires, and blanket the soccer fields with wood smoke, thus exposing young athletes and their family members to lung-clogging fine particulate matter and an assortment of toxic substances.

Open air backyard burning is illegal in many cities, including Guelph, Waterloo, Hamilton, and Toronto.
Shouldn't our elected officials be protecting air quality and our health, rather than enabling wood smoke pollution?

Those of us who value clean air can only attempt to light a (metaphorical!) fire under Woodstock Council.

Excerpts from Oxford County's website, on Open-air burning:
"Burning wood will release various pollutants into the air that may be harmful to us and the environment, including particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ozone, and water vapour. Wood smoke may also contain cancer-causing substances, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and benzene formaldehyde."

"Some of the substances found in smoke from open-air burning are so small that our noses and upper respiratory systems are not able to filter them out. As a result, they may end up settling deep within our lungs, potentially damaging cells that protect our airways. 

Breathing in wood smoke is associated with an increase in respiratory irritations and symptoms such as coughing, chest tightness, asthma attacks and shortness of breath. Exposure to wood smoke may also decrease lung function and is associated with an increased number of visits to emergency departments and hospitalizations." 

The above text was published as a UR Opinion piece on the Sentinel Review's website on July 26, 2016.