Our air pollution expert, Grantham Scholar Rohit Chakraborty, has been interviewed by Damian Carrington the Environment Editor at the Guardian newspaper. Rohit studies air pollution at the Grantham Centre, with a focus on indoor stoves and air pollution sensors. And his interview focused on his recently published research about wood burners. Specifically, the research looked at the impact of wood burners on indoor air quality.
The study found that wood burners triple indoor air pollution. However, many users of wood burners are not aware of the risks.
In the interview Rohit says, ‘It is recommended that people living with those particularly susceptible to air pollution, such as children, the elderly or vulnerable, avoid using wood-burning stoves.’
You can find the original interview in the Guardian online. Follow the link to read: Wood burners triple harmful indoor air pollution, study finds in the Guardian.
After the Guardian interview, both the Daily Mail and the Independent carried stories about this research. If you want to find out more about Rohit’s work then check out his project page at the Grantham Centre.
Wood burners should have health warning, scientists say in the Independent
Trendy wood burners TRIPLE the level of harmful pollution particles inside homes and should be sold with a health warning, study claims in the Mail Online
Damian Carrington the Environment Editor at the Guardian who spoke to Rohit tweeted about this interview to his 60K followers.
Wood burners triple harmful indoor air pollution, study finds – burners should be sold with health warnings, say scientists who found tiny particles flooding into rooms Exclusive, by mehttps://t.co/WU4sem6c5C — Damian Carrington (@dpcarrington) December 18, 2020
Wood burners triple harmful indoor air pollution, study finds
– burners should be sold with health warnings, say scientists who found tiny particles flooding into rooms
Exclusive, by mehttps://t.co/WU4sem6c5C
— Damian Carrington (@dpcarrington) December 18, 2020
The University of Sheffield carried a news piece about this too. Indoor wood stoves release harmful emissions into our homes, study finds.
Additionally, Rohit’s work appeared in subsequent air pollution news stories.
Avoid using wood burning stoves if possible, warn health experts. This article quotes experts at Asthma UK and British Lung Foundation. Both say people with wood burners only to use them if they have no alternative source of heat.
And in the letters page of the Guardian, one writer defended wood burners. So if you want to learn why people use wood burners despite the risks, you can read: Wood-burning stove is good for my health.
If you want to find out more, you can find the study Rohit published in Atmosphere.
Indoor Air Pollution from Residential Stoves: Examining the Flooding of Particulate Matter into Homes during Real-World Use by Rohit Chakraborty, James Heydon, Martin Mayfield and Lyudmila Mihaylova.
You can find Rohit on Twitter.
Finally, we interviewed Rohit about his work. If you want to find out more about his methods, and why he does what he does, look here.