“Burning solid fuels like wood (coal and charcoal) is the most polluting way to generate heat.”
Source: CleanAirHub
Wood stoves and open fires produce huge amounts of tiny particulate matter that worsens air pollution. According to GOV.UK, emissions of particulate matter arising from the domestic combustion of wood as a fuel increased by 124 per cent between 2011 and 2021. You can read a full report about burning in domestic settings here.
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Gas boilers, heaters, stoves and ovens can all contribute to presence of Carbon Monoxide (CO) and other harmful pollutants in the home.
Research from Clasp suggests that “indoor air pollution from gas cooking harms people.” You can find out more about their study on the effects of gas cooking here.
Clasp also provide a simple guide on How to Improve Air Quality in Your Home When You Have a Gas Hob or Oven.
For the UK, a ban on smoking in all indoor spaces has protected millions from harmful effects. Except in the home.
“Smoking has been prohibited by law in virtually all enclosed and substantially enclosed workplaces and public places throughout the United Kingdom since July 2007” (ASH). However, the persistence of Carbon Monoxide (second hand smoke) in the homes of smokers can cause health issues not only for the smoker, but for other in the home.
Whilst many see vaping as a safer alternative, vapes do contain other harmful materials, for example the heavy metals present in illegal vapes and gelatine. The UKSHA states, “Our advice remains that people who smoke are better to switch completely to vaping but if you have never been a smoker, don’t start to vape”.
As a final word, The World Health Organisation state that, “All forms of tobacco use are harmful, and there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco”.
Looking for help quitting smoking? One You Lincolnshire can help.
Deodorants, surface cleaners, scented candles, air fresheners, paints and varnishes all contain Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde, and many more exotic compounds.
“Domestic use of solvents (often found in household products such as cleaners, aerosols and cosmetics) accounted for 24 per cent of emissions of non-methane volatile organic compounds in 2021.” (GOV.UK).
You can find even more information about the dangers of household aerosols and sprays on the National Library of Medicine website.
All eight councils in Lincolnshire are working together to measure air quality and support local action to improve the negative health effects of air pollution.
Air pollution is the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK. Long-term exposure to air pollution can cause chronic heart and lung conditions, leading to reduced life expectancy. It is estimated that man-made air pollution contributes to between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths in the UK each year.
DEFRA awarded Lincolnshire funding to provide an evidence-based air quality monitoring and awareness campaign. The aims are to encourage local involvement and provide clear assistance and advice to help reduce local concentrations of air pollutants throughout Lincolnshire.
The DEFRA funding has enabled Lincolnshire to install air quality monitors outside eight schools for one year. All this data is mapped on the Clean Air Lincolnshire homepage. Unfortunately, we do not have any additional monitors available to hire.
Clean Air Lincolnshire have installed Clarity air quality monitors at eight locations outside schools. They are recording data on particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide levels continuously. In collaboration with DEFRA air quality monitoring stations all the data is building a picture of air pollution levels across the county.
Clean Air Lincolnshire is a partnership between public health, sustainability, and environmental health departments at the eight local authorities in Lincolnshire.
Everyone can act! Look through the pages on this website for more information and ideas. But if we all think about how well we ventilate our living spaces and how we travel, all the small differences will add up to improve the health of ourselves and others.
The eight schools participating in Clean Air Lincolnshire will have first access to all the resources to help them understand their local air quality and to develop a behaviour change campaign to inform and influence the wider school community. The resources will be available on this website for other schools to make use of as their campaigns end.