Holy smoke! Now we’re told to wear a mask for lighting the fire
LIGHTING a fire at home may create a cosy atmosphere – but the warmth and glow now come with a health warning.
Scientists say householders should put on a mask before striking a match in their fireplace, or risk inhaling harmful fumes.
They say a family fireside can be as dangerous as a mine or building site when it comes to carbon emissions.
A potentially damaging number of particles are released, particularly when a fire is lit and as logs are first added. And it can take three hours to clear the pollution, after opening a window, a study led by Leon University in Spain found.
British experts say the smoke exposure as logs ignite is too small for a mask to be necessary. But the researchers recommended that anyone not involved in lighting the fire should leave the room.
They said the fire’s remains may also create dangerous pollution if there are tiny embers still burning inside. The scientists recorded pollution from ten fires in an ordinary home. They said: ‘When the fireplace is cold (especially during the first ignition and first refuelling) and during the cleaning activities, only the person responsible for carrying out this activity would stay in the living room and [should] wear a suitable mask.’
Pollution levels were recorded at the height at which people would inhale when sitting in a living room.
Domestic fires mainly create carbon fumes, and emit particles small enough to get into the lungs.
The results show the most pollution is caused when a fire is lit and when logs are piled on for the first time. Wood which has problems starting to burn creates a lot of smoke.
Small particles have been shown to reduce lung function, cause cardiovascular problems and make them less resistant to infections, with the study warning they can pose a ‘significant risk to human health’. The amount of inhalable particles reached 483 micrograms per cubic metre of air, similar to the mining industry according to the authors.
The number produced when cleaning up a fire, with embers lurking in the ashes, was said to be comparable to that of ‘working in a building industry’.
Professor Barbara Maher, of Lancaster University, said: ‘Open fires are a significant source of magnetite nanoparticles … able to directly gain access into the brain, where magnetite is a known toxin and possibly implicated in development of neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer’s disease.’
But Dr Ian Colbeck, of Essex University, said the mask recommendation was ‘excessive’ as ‘overall exposure to particulate matter is going to be minimal’.
Responding to the study in the journal Science of the Total Environment, Leicester University’s Professor Paul Monks said: ‘Many [masks] are not very effective at stopping the very small particles.’