Is my wood burner damaging my health? I tracked pollution in my home to find out

Recently, I’ve been increasingly concerned about the impact of wood burning on my health. 

My parents live in rural Cornwall, and when I visit in the winter months, we typically light their wood burner every evening.

However, a growing body of evidence suggests that wood burning is a key source of a type of air pollution called particulate matter (PM), which has been linked to conditions ranging from dementia to stomach cancer. 

To find out whether our stove use could be negatively impacting my family's health, I used a monitor to track air pollution in my parents' living room for a week. My findings broadly aligned with existing literature – and inspired us to change the way we use the stove. 

For a detailed look at the health impacts, visit our guide to the pollution and health impacts of wood burning stoves

What is particulate matter?

It has long been established that wood burning creates particulate matter (PM) - tiny solid particles that are suspended in the air. These include dirt, dust, and soot.

Research into the health impacts of wood burning stoves has focused on PM2.5 and PM10. ‘2.5’ and ‘10’ refer to the diameter, in micrometres, of the particles making up the particulate matter. For context, the average human hair is about 70 micrometres in diameter. 

Due to the size of these particles, they are small enough to make their way into your lungs when they are inhaled, and then in some cases cross into your bloodstream. This means they can be carried around the body and reach other organs. 

A 2019 review of research in the journal Chest, published by the American College of Chest Physicians, linked PM exposure to conditions ranging from heart disease to bladder cancer. In 2025, the University of Cambridge published a report linking long term exposure to air pollution to dementia. It suggests exposure to air pollution can be linked to inflammation and oxidative stress in the body and brain, both of which play a well-established role in the onset and progression of dementia. 

Tracking my PM exposure while using a wood burning stove

At the end of February 2026, I used the wood-burning stove at my parents' home in Cornwall every evening for five nights, for several hours. 

To track air pollution, I ran an air quality monitor continuously in the living room with the stove for the total duration of the study period. It took measurements of the level of PM2.5 in the room every two minutes. I noted down whenever the stove was lit, and whenever more wood was added. 

Pollutants are typically measured in micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³). This shows the concentration of a particular pollutant in the air. For example, a concentration of 1µg/m³ means that every one cubic metre of air contains one microgram (one millionth of a gram) of that particle. 

Once the study period was finished, I was able to map spikes in pollution in the air in the home. Read on to see my key findings. 

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1) Air pollution was higher when the stove was in use

To see whether PM2.5 concentrations were higher when the stove was lit, I averaged readings from the air pollution monitor across the times when the stove was in use (called a ‘burning period’) and when it wasn’t (‘non-burning period’). 

Average PM2.5 concentrations during burning and non-burning periods

During non-burning periods, recorded levels of air pollution were consistently low - average PM concentrations were never greater than 2.5µg/m³. This is typical for a rural area. 

In contrast, average PM concentrations were greater than 10µg/m³ during three of the five burning periods. 

Looking across all the days, the average PM concentration across all non-burning periods was 0.64µg/m³, and across all burning periods was 9.34µg/m³, a statistically significant difference.

2) I observed spikes in air pollution after the stove was lit 

When I lit the stove, I saw a spike in air pollution, which rose sharply in the living room before gradually tapering back down. 

The graph below shows an example of this happening, showing the PM2.5 concentrations in the room over the course of an evening. 

Average hourly PM2.5 concentrations between 12pm and 11.59pm on 1 March 2026

On this day, before lighting the stove, PM2.5 concentrations remained between roughly 0µg/m³ and 1µg/m³. 

I lit the stove at 7.10pm. In the hour following, between 8pm and 9pm, the average PM2.5 concentration was 16.24µg/m³, and between 9pm and 10pm, it was 10.07µg/m³. 

I added one log to the stove at 11pm, when it was smouldering at a low level. PM levels remained raised, but did not spike again. 

This observation was consistent with those found in another study investigating indoor air pollution in residential homes, published in the journal Atmosphere in 2020. Researchers reported that they also found elevated PM concentrations during natural stove use. 

They investigated hourly average PM concentrations, and found large spikes in pollution, which they call 'flooding', at the time when wood-burning stoves were lit. 

3) Spikes in pollution were significantly greater than average levels of pollution

To find out whether the spikes in pollution after the stove was lit were significantly greater than average levels of pollution, I calculated the average concentrations of PM2.5 for each hour across all the study days. 

Then I identified the hour in each day with the greatest concentration (called the ‘peak hourly average’) and averaged across all the hourly averages in each day to find the ‘daily hourly average’. 

This analysis is a replica of that done for the study published in the journal Atmosphere, referenced above. 

Peak and daily hourly averages of PM2.5

While daily hourly averages were never greater than 5µg/m³, peak hourly averages reached over 15µg/m³ on four of the five days.

The highest concentration of PM2.5 was on 3 March, when levels reached 24.46µg/m³.

The mean peak hourly average of PM2.5 was significantly higher than the mean daily hourly average. 

Is my wood burner impacting my health? 

Given my air monitor assesment, it seems that my family's wood burning stove does cause spikes in pollution during use. 

But the key question is: does this pose a danger to our health? 

According to the World Health Organisation, the recommended limit for average PM2. 5 exposure over a 24 hour period is 15µg/m³. The daily averages in this study fall comfortably below these guidelines. 

However, both the UK government and the European Public Health Alliance report that there is no evidence of a safe level of air pollution (i.e., an amount of exposure that will not cause adverse health effects). 

To find out more, I spoke with Professor James Allan, professor of Air Pollution Measurement at the University of Manchester, and Dr James Heydon, associate professor at the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Nottingham. 

'Even studies of relatively low levels of air pollution have found adverse health effects,' said Prof. Allan. 'In addition, it seems that particulate matter from wood burning is a particularly harmful form of pollutant.' 

Dr. Heydon concurred: 'Research suggests that PM2.5 is especially damaging to your health because it can enter your blood stream, which means it can cause inflammatory responses throughout the body.' 

Growing bodies of evidence suggest that both long-term exposure to low levels of PM and brief exposures to high levels of PM can have detrimental health effects. 

A 2021 study found exposure to an annual average of less than 10µg/m³ of PM2.5 was associated with an increased risk of mortality. Three months of exposure to similar levels of pollution induced neuroinflammation and cell death in mice.

Similarly, a 2012 study found that people exposed to bigger hourly peaks of PM2.5 had an increased risk of mortality - even after controlling for average daily exposure.

'Even small amounts of air pollution can detrimentally impact your health,' said Dr. Heydon. 'Decreasing exposure will yield health benefits across the board.' 

Although the exact amount of pollution from my family's stove (and, by extension, the specific health impact of my stove) isn't completely clear, we've decided we won't continue to use it every single night, as we don't feel it's worth the potential health risks of even low levels of daily PM exposure. 

We won't stop using it altogether, but will consider it to be a treat for special occasions rather than something to do every day. 

See our advice around gas and electric fires

What does this mean for your wood burner?

It's difficult to generalise results across studies of wood burners. Scientific studies find varying levels of pollution during stove usage across homes. I found that PM concentrations in my home varied across different days. 

Dr. Allan explained: 'The amount of indoor air pollution produced by wood burning stoves can vary a lot. It depends on factors like the type of stove, the way it's used, and the level of ventilation in the home.'

Dr. Heydon concurred: 'Even activities like cooking and cleaning can influence indoor air pollution, which makes it harder to interpret results. But studies have consistently identified intense bursts of pollution during stove use.' 

The key takeaway from scientific literature is that stoves probably do release some level of PM pollution during normal use, and that over the long term this can contribute to a variety of health conditions. 

When considering your stove usage, it's important to balance your enjoyment of using your stove and your heating needs with the potential health impacts of wood burning. 

How to reduce the air pollution impacts of a wood burning stove

There are several ways you can reduce the amount of pollution your stove produces when you do want to enjoy it:

• Don't skip regular servicing and chimney sweeps. You should get your chimney swept and your stove serviced at least once a year.
• Burn seasoned or kiln-dried wood. Analysis by researchers at the University of Surrey has found that manufactured fuels (eg. smokeless coal and wood briquettes) release significantly more pollution than these types of wood fuel.
• Ventilate the room during use. Leaving a door open or intermittently opening a door while your stove is burning will help to disperse pollution.
• Use the top-down technique for lighting your stove. 'Stacking your kindling and firelighter on top of your logs appears to help reduce pollution during lighting,' said Prof. Allan. 
• Use proper refuelling technique. When you need to add more fuel to your stove, open the door slightly, pause for a few seconds, then open it all the way. This helps to prevent pollution ‘flooding’ into the room. If you can, you should also wait until the wood in your stove is smouldering, rather than actively burning. 
• Consider updating very old stoves. If you do have a very old stove, updating to a newer model might help to reduce pollution. 

However, it's important not to overstate the impact of these interventions.

'Proper stove use will reduce pollution overall, but it does not guarantee that you will not be exposed to high levels of PM during burning,' said Dr. Heydon. 'There is no way to control for all the factors that influence air pollution from your stove.'

Find out more about the best heating for your home

More details of my wood-burning stove pollution study

Limitations of the study

It is important to note some of the key limitations of this study when interpreting the results.

• Factors like humidity and outdoor air quality can also influence pollution levels and monitor accuracy. These factors were not controlled for during data collection and analysis, which could mean that results are inaccurate.
• These results are based on just five days of monitoring in one home, so are not generalisable beyond that time period or location.  

How I used the stove

The stove was used every day during the recording period. All doors and windows were kept shut during this time. 

The stove was used in the same way on all recording days: it was initially loaded with approximately eight logs, and half a firelighter was used as kindling. 

The stove was refuelled in accordance with HETAs recommendations, and only one log was added during refuelling. 

Stove and room details

Burning period dates and timings

I defined a burning period as the time at which the stove was lit until three hours after the last log was added. I chose this end point because I refuelled on average three hours after lighting the stove, which suggests that this is when it begins to cool noticeably. 

When the burning period ran past midnight, I included those measurements in the burning period of the previous day. For example, I included the measurements taken between 00:00 and 00:05 on 28/02 in the burning period for 27/02. 

This was to avoid excluding from analysis the end of the burning period on 03/03, when pollution was lower, which would have increased the burning period mean on that day. 

How I collected and calculated pollution measurements

The air quality monitor was run continuously from 7pm 26/02 to 11am 04/03. It took measurements every 2 minutes. I disregarded data taken before 00:00 on 27/02, and after 01:51 on 04/03. 

There were no missing measurements across the whole study period. 

To calculate burning and non-burning period means

To compare pollution when the stove was burning and not burning, I averaged readings across these two periods for each day of the study. I chose to calculate the mean level of PM2.5 in order to capture the impact of hourly spikes. 

I also calculated the mean PM2.5 concentrations across all non-burning and burning periods, and ran a Welch's t-test to check for a significant difference between these values. Results were significant (non-burning period mean: 0.64µg/m³; burning period mean: 9.34µg/m³)(Welch’s t(850.44) = −30.69, p < 0.0001)

To calculate peak hourly average and daily hourly average concentration 

I calculated mean hourly concentrations for all hours of the study.  

I calculated the peak hourly average by identifying the hour with the largest reading.

To calculate the daily hourly average, I averaged across all hourly concentrations for the day (including the peak hour). 

I rounded burning periods to the nearest whole hour (e.g., if the stove stopped burning at 00:30, the last burning hour was considered to be 00:00 - 01:00). Per the above analysis, when the burning period ran past midnight, those measurements were included in the previous days' burning period. 

I also calculated mean peak hourly average and daily hourly average across all the days, and 95% confidence intervals for these values. As confidence intervals did not overlap, this was taken to indicate a statistically significant difference. 

Additional studies with similar findings

Multiple published studies have reported similar findings to those in my investigation. Note that the results below include analysis of levels of PM2.5 and PM10. PM10 includes PM molecules up to 10 micrometres in diameter (so measurements include PM2.5 pollution). These summaries reflect only the key findings from each study, and not the full results. 

Key findings from three major studies of wood burning stoves

• Indoor air pollution from residential stoves: examining the flooding of particulate matter into homes during real-world use, published in the journal Atmosphere in 2020: Across four homes, researchers from the universities of Sheffield and Nottingham observed a 196.23% increase in PM2.5 concentrations when stoves were in use. Mean peak hourly average of PM2.5 across all homes was 27.34μg/m3.
• Impact of wood combustion on indoor air quality, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment in 2019: Researchers from the universities of Aveiro and León, and the Spanish Research Council, examined one stove in an unoccupied rural home and found 100% increase in PM10 during stove operation.
• Particulate matter exposure from different heating stoves and fuels in UK homes, published in the journal Scientific Reports in 2025: Across four homes with Ecodesign stoves, researchers from the University of Surrey found a 200% increase in PM10 during stove operation. Average PM2.5 exposure during burning in one home with an Ecodesign stove was 14.2μg/m3.

There is some variation in the results reported – in particular, PM2.5 concentrations during non-burning periods were a lot lower in my study, which means the increases I saw were more dramatic. However, like my investigation, all the above studies reported statistically significant increases in PM exposure during burning.