Residential wood-burning appliances and fireplaces can emit significant amounts of air pollutants. Wood smoke contains hundreds of chemical compounds including nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, organic gases, and particulate matter. Besides the visual impact of wood smoke, many of these compounds can cause serious health problems, especially for children, pregnant women, and people with respiratory ailments. Several of these pollutants have demonstrated cancer-causing properties similar to cigarette smoke. In many urban and rural areas, smoke from wood burning is a major contributor to air pollution. Recent Environment Canada studies in Montreal comparing pollution levels in wood-smoke affected residential areas with those in urban areas found significantly higher concentrations of pollutants such as PAHs, dioxins, and furans in the residential areas than in the more-urban areas. Highest concentrations were in the evenings and on the weekends, during the winter wood-burning season.

About half of all homes in northwest Washington have some type of wood heating device. During the wood heating season, especially at night and on weekends, wood smoke can account for up to 80% of the air pollution recorded in residential areas. The use of wood heat on Tribal Reservations without access to natural gas is generally higher. Wood heating is used in more than 85% of the homes in some Tribal Communities. On an annual average bases, wood stoves and fireplaces are responsible for 9% of the total emissions of air pollution in Washington State. In the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) and Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD), about 1/3 of all homes have wood burning appliances, although most do not use these for their primary source of heating.

• The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) and other Washington agencies will support legislation to implement a PM2.5-based burn ban trigger in 2005 Washington Legislature (the bill proposed in 2004 was not successful).
• The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) / Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) will develop a program for voluntary “burn bans” when PM10 (and in some locations, PM2.5) is measured at unsafe levels. Implementation of the bans may involve tiered actions.
• The PSCAA, Northwest Clean Air Agency, Washington Department of Ecology, Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), GVRD, FVRD, BC Ministry of Environment (BC MoE), and Environment Canada will co-operatively conduct outreach efforts to encourage upgrading older stoves to newer, cleaner models.
• The PSCAA will re-introduce Washington legislation to require that homeowners notify prospective home-buyers if residential wood stoves do not meet EPA standards.
• Agencies will work to develop strategies to encourage burning only in certified stoves or fireplace inserts.
• Agencies will explore funding options to assist those with wood stoves to upgrade to more efficient stoves or to switch to lower emission heating sources.

• The PM2.5 based burn ban triggers for the Washington State two-stage burn ban program went into effect in 2005.
• The PSCAA is working with one small rural community that has a measured air quality problem to develop a pilot woodstove change-out program and implement other wood smoke reduction strategies.
• In June 2006, staff from Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, and BC Ministry of Environment attended a 2-day conference in Salt Lake City, Idaho on woodstove change-outs.
• The GVRD is in the early stages of developing an action in their new draft Air Quality Management Plan for voluntary curtailment of non-essential woodstove use when PM2.5 levels are elevated. It is also considering reducing woodstove emissions by voluntary change-out programs, in partnership with other levels of government and equipment suppliers.
• British Columbia and Washington State are sharing information on woodstove change-out programs. This may be useful for subsequent implementation of similar projects.
• Information on the status of the initiative is to be compiled and shared with Tribes and First Nations.
• The Swinomish Tribe is currently implementing a wood stove change-out program for homes on the Swinomish reserve.

• BC Ministry of Environment - Particulate (and Smoke) page
• Burn it Smart
• Environment Canada’s study on pollution from residential wood heating in Montreal
• Feasibility Assessment of a Change-out/Education Program for Residential Wood Combustion, June 2004
• Georgian Bay Program
• The Great Okanagan Woodstove Changeout Program
• Hearth Patio & Barbecue Association of Canada (Western Chapter)
• Intergovernmental Working Group on Residential Wood Combustion, Discussion Document: Options to Reduce Emissions from Residential Wood Burning Appliances, July 30, 2002
• Particulate Matter in British Columbia: A Report on PM10 and PM2.5 Mass Concentrations up to 2000 (pdf)
• The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and other active partners are promoting choices that help reduce wintertime air pollution:
• Puget Sound Energy can help you choose a contractor to install a natural gas stove or fireplace insert and sometimes has offers special promotions.
• Cascade Natural Gas, a natural gas company serving areas in Kitsap County, also occasionally offers special promotions for natural gas stove or fireplace insert purchases.
• The Northwest Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association can help you find a retailer who sells natural gas, propane, pellet, or EPA-certified wood stoves and fireplace inserts.
• The association also sponsors a Burning Clean Web site, which has information for wood-burners about how to burn properly to get the most heat with the least smoke.
• The Propane Education & Research Council has information about propane devices.
• Residential Wood Burning Emissions in British Columbia (pdf)
• Skeena-BVLD 2004 Changeout Program
• Sunshine Coast Clean Air Society
• US Environmental Protection Agency’s Wood Stove Change-out Program:
• Woodstove Changeout Implementation Plan for the Sunshine Coast, October 2004
• Woodstove Emissions in BC, June 2003