Our board chair, Dr Brian Moench, weighed in on the wood stove industry in The BMJ.
In a letter to the editor titled “Countries Must Develop Better Protection Against Wood Burning Emissions,” Dr Moench explained:
In the UK, Australia, and the US, trade organisations of businesses that sell wood burning appliances engage in business practices that are far too similar to the notorious campaigns of the tobacco industry. Parallels to the tobacco industry don’t stop with their sales tactics. Over 70,000 studies published in the past seven decades have shown indisputably that air pollution, from virtually any source, causes premature death and a list of diseases nearly as long as the one associated with smoking cigarettes…
Dr Moench discussed how the UK industry has tried to confuse the health messaging on wood stove emissions by promoting health claims about wood burning that are based on people watching videos of wood burning, and not on people actually breathing wood smoke.
Dr Moench concluded:
Regulations against secondhand cigarette smoke have become commonplace. It is long overdue that all countries develop better protection against secondhand wood burning emissions.
The letter is available on The BMJ website.
