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

Heart & Stroke

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

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 Heart Attacks (To Council, #3)

Saturday July 7 was a horribly smoky, unpleasant evening in my neighbourhood here in Woodstock.

Are you aware that wood smoke causes heart attacks?

The results of a recent Canadian study are summarized here:

“By comparing pollution data from three cities in British Columbia (Prince George, Kamloops and Courtenay/Comox) with hospital admissions, researchers from McGill and Health Canada found that rising concentrations of fine particulate air pollution caused by wood burning were associated with increased hospitalization for myocardial infarction. During the cold season, when pollution from woodstoves is at its highest, the risk of heart attacks among subjects of 65 years and older increased by 19%.

“We noticed that the association was stronger when more of the air pollution came from wood burning, says McGill University professor Scott Weichenthal, lead author of a new study published in Epidemiology.”

https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/woodstoves-are-good-soul-bad-heart-266643

Here’s a statement from the American Heart Association:

“In sensitive populations, exposure to PM2.5 for even a few hours or days can trigger cardiovascular disease-related deaths from heart attack, stroke, arrhythmia, sudden cardiac arrest, and heart failure. Short- term increases in PM2.5 levels lead to the early death of tens of thousands of Americans every year.”

https://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@adv/documents/downloadable/ucm_463344.pdf

PM2.5 is a carcinogen.

PM2.5 increases the risk of developing diabetes.

PM2.5 causes heart attacks.

PM2.5 is a major component of wood smoke.

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


The above text was sent by e-mail to each member of Council on July 11, 2018.

The holiday tradition we would be better off without (2nd edition)

Quiz:  What holiday tradition is bad for everyone's health, and also bad for the planet?
Hint:  "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..."

Yes, that cheerful wood-burning fireplace that confronts us everywhere in image and song at this time of year, is actually a little toxic incinerator.

Burning wood, leaves, or any other biomass releases carbon and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but perhaps the deadliest component of wood smoke is fine particulate matter (PM2.5).

In a joint publication, Public Health Ontario and Cancer Care Ontario identified PM2.5 as the third greatest environmental carcinogen in this province (way ahead of asbestos, formaldehyde, and second-hand tobacco smoke, for comparison).  Solar UV radiation and radon claimed the first two spots.
If that isn’t enough bad news, a recent study funded by Health Canada and conducted in B.C., found that heart attacks in seniors increased as the level of PM2.5 in the air increased.

This festive season, could we consider the health of everyone around us, and NOT light the fireplace?

Peace, goodwill, clean air, and good health to all.

References:
Public Health Ontario/Cancer Care Ontario.  The Environmental Burden of Cancer
https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/BrowseByTopic/EnvironmentalandOccupationalHealth/Pages/Environmental-Burden-of-Cancer-ON.aspx

Biomass Burning as a Source of Ambient Fine Particulate Air Pollution and Acute Myocardial Infarction
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28177951

Earth Institute, Columbia University.  The damaging effects of black carbon.
http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2016/03/22/the-damaging-effects-of-black-carbon/

Heart & Stroke Foundation sends the WRONG message

What's wrong with this picture?

The Heart & Stroke Foundation's brochure advertising their 2017 lottery includes an image of a three-generation family sitting lakeside...AROUND A FIRE PIT!
Yes, yes, the device pictured is actually fuelled by propane, but that fact is disguised by a metal surround, presumably to make it look like the (authentic) wood-burning kind.

The message couldn't be more off base, unless the adults were passing cigarettes to the kids ("Let me light that for you, and then I'll teach you how to inhale!").

It's hard to believe that no one at H&S is aware of recent research connecting wood smoke with cardiovascular issues, such as the study done in B.C. and funded by Health Canada, that found increased levels of fine particulate matter were associated with increased heart attacks in seniors: http://journals.lww.com/epidem/Citation/2017/05000/Biomass_Burning_as_a_Source_of_Ambient_Fine.5.aspx

H&S does have a Position Statement buried on their website entitled "Air pollution, heart disease and stroke", but it hasn't been updated since 2009, and the dangers of burning wood/inhaling particulate matter aren't mentioned in any of the "healthy lifestyle choice" advice offered up front.

The issue is even more disturbing when one considers that the person who disregards all the conventional advice offered on the H&S website (concerning weight, diet, exercise, smoking, medical attention), probably puts only their own health at risk, while the person who regularly burns wood damages the health of their entire community.

It would be wonderful to see the Heart & Stroke Foundation redeem itself from this faux pas by launching a wood-smoke-awareness campaign.

Would you do this to YOUR grandmother?

Outdoor Campfire for residents On Wednesday, Sept. 21 Woodingford Lodge residents, family members, staff and volunteers gathered around an outdoor campfire beside the community garden for some songs, roasted marshmallows and hot dogs. The Woodstock Fire Department was also on hand to enjoy the event, while ensuring the event went off safely. Thanks to all of the staff and volunteers who helped make the evening possible!

Pictures and story are from Oxford County's website: 
http://www.oxfordcounty.ca/Services-for-You/Long-Term-Care

I suppose that this event just illustrates the general level of ignorance regarding WOOD SMOKE in Oxford County.
Apparently no one involved (Long Term Care staff, families, volunteers, and [gasp] the Fire Dept.!) had any qualms about exposing a group of vulnerable residents to a hefty dose of particulate matter (of which the World Health Organization tells us that there is NO safe level of exposure), and all the other toxins that are found in wood smoke.

From the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change website:
Air Quality Ontario: Particulate matter
"Exposure to fine particulate matter has been associated with hospital admissions and several serious health effects, including premature death. People with asthma, cardiovascular or lung disease, as well as children and elderly people, are considered to be the most sensitive to the effects of fine particulate matter. Adverse health effects have been associated with exposure to PM_2.5 over both short periods (such as a day) and longer periods (a year or more)."

From the DSAWSP website:  https://woodsmokepollution.org/particulate-pollution.html
"Increases in particulate pollution levels can trigger heart attacks, strokes and irregular heart rhythms, especially in those with preexisting heart or lung diseases, and aggravate other lung  diseases such as asthma and COPD."

"A study of New England Medicare recipients over age 65 determined that the death rate rises for each 10μg/m3 increase in PM2.5, both from short-term and long-term exposure, and even when pollution levels do not exceed US EPA or World Health Organization thresholds."

Should I even mention the carcinogenic food served:  burnt sugar and nitrate-laced processed meat?