City begins log burner pollution monitoring

SMOKE from log burners in a central part of Bristol is being monitored to discover how much dangerous soot is being pumped out into the atmosphere.

Volunteers from Ashley ward have come forward to learn how to assemble and install their own monitoring devices, which will collect real-time data for analysis by experts.

The project, which will run over the autumn and winter, comes amid growing fears for residents’ health with the onset of winter and an expected rise in the use of wood and coal-burning stoves.

Log burners have become increasingly fashionable and are common in many of Bristol’s refurbished Victorian homes, especially in the central parts of the city. But they produce very fine soot particles, known as PM2.5, which have been identified by the World Health Organization as the most serious air pollutant for human health.

The tiny particles enter the bloodstream and lodge in the lungs and other organs, and are especially dangerous for asthmatics and people with lung conditions, putting them at risk of potentially life-threatening asthma attacks or flare ups.

In an attempt to get a better understanding of how much pollution comes from people using stoves to burn wood and coal at home, the project in

Ashley ward – a collaboration between Bristol City Council, the Knowle West Media Centre and the University of the West of England (UWE) – is recruiting volunteers to monitor air quality outside their homes.

Ashley ward takes in Montpelier, St Pauls and St Werberghs, and covers an area bounded by the A38, the Bearpit and the start of the M32 which lies just outside the proposed Clean Air Zone due to be introduced next year.

The project is being funded by the council, using £122,000 allocated by Defra to tackle the problem of pollution from domestic stoves that burn wood or coal.

Bristol is covered by a ‘smoke control order’, but log burners and stoves are legal to use as long as they or the fuel they burn are on an approved government list.