Approximately twenty per cent of harmful pm 2.5 (tiny particles of pollution) comes from people burning wood and solid fuels in a domestic setting, and people living close to wood burners are breathing very high levels of toxic particle pollution whenever their neighbours burn, increasing their risk of developing cancer and other health issues… Burning increases levels of unhealthy pollution in the burners’ home, too, of course. 

Right now, DEFRA is consulting on domestic wood burning – and we at Mums for Lungs, and working with partners like UK100, are urging all local authorities to respond. Collectively we are asking Government to go further and finally deliver a plan for domestic wood burning that protects public health and gives local authorities the powers and funds to protect their residents. 

This consultation closes on 19 March.

Whilst local authorities have a lot of the responsibilities over tackling toxic air pollution, we know they do not have the powers and resources to tackle this source of pollution.  

Many council officers and councillors across the country are very frustrated by this status quo.  

The current framework leaves individuals unprotected from toxic smoke, councils powerless to protect residents and us all at the mercy of the stove industry and uninformed homeowners choosing to burn unnecessarily.

99% of all households have alternative means of heating their homes, and yet, about 200,000 stoves are newly installed every year in privately owned-homes costing several thousand pounds – and indeed, research has found that legal wood burning is not actually cheaper than central heating. 

The evidence on the health impacts of domestic burning are so clear that the  Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Royal College of Physicians recommend a phase out, at least in urban settings, altogether. 

In fact, that is the only feasible solution – once people have a fireplace or wood burner, it is impossible to regulate or control what fuels they use. From pallets treated with toxic paint to prevent moulding to doll’s houses or a newly felled tree – anything can and will be burnt, at great health risk to neighbours. 

Mums for Lungs was founded in 2017 by a group of mothers living in Brixton who were on parental leave and became concerned about the high levels of air pollution their young children were breathing. 

We have since expanded to become a national network of parents and others who are campaigning to tackle dirty air for the benefit of everyone’s health, especially children’s. Initially focussing on pollution from road transport, we learned of the huge contribution that wood and solid fuel burning is making to the level of poisonous particulate matter in the air we breathe. Indeed, pollution from wood burning continues to rise. 

And every week we are contacted by people asking us what to do, as their kids’ bedrooms are filled with their neighbours’ smoke, stepping into their garden is causing them to cough and a quick dog walk through their local neighbourhood leaves their hair stinking like a camp fire. 

In our most recent FOI research, we found that more than 15,000 complaints were made to local authorities about domestic burning – but only 24 households were fined. The current legislation that requires monitoring “visible smoke” from a chimney, is simply not working. Not working for local authorities, not working for asthmatic children or elderly neighbours with underlying health conditions.  

At Mums for Lungs, we ask you as local authorities with responsibility to protect public health to take part in the consultation; highlight the unworkable existing policies and significant gaps in the new proposals. It is vital that we raise this with the Government and urge you to campaign with us for better policies. ‍

To help you and other campaigners, we have unpacked some of the key issues relating to the consultation on our website.

Contact us at hello@mumsforlungs.org if you want to collaborate. 

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