Why Is Britain Taking the Axe to Wood-Burning Stoves?
The use of wood for home heating is regaining popularity in developed countries. Today, more than 11 million of her homes in the United States are heated with wood stoves. Wood stoves reduce heating costs, but wood smoke can affect children's health through the release of gaseous and particulate air pollutants. Our goal is to raise awareness of this environmental health issue among pediatricians. To summarize the state of science, we conducted a narrative review of articles published in PubMed and Web of Science. We identified 36 studies from developed countries that reported an association between home wood stove use and/or community wood smoke exposure and health outcomes in children. These studies focused primarily on airway effects without assessing cardiometabolic or neurocognitive health. Studies have found that exposure to wood smoke in the community consistently adversely affects respiratory health in children. Home use of wood-burning stoves was consistently less associ