Long Island, NY - September 29, 2014 - October 5-11 is Fire Prevention Week - a great time to promote best burn tips to help keep homes warm and healthier. It’s also a great opportunity to share the health and safety benefits of replacing an old wood stove with cleaner, more efficient home heating.
Approximately 10 million wood stoves are currently in use in the United States, and 65 percent of them are older, inefficient, conventional stoves. Just 20 old, non-EPA certified wood stoves can emit more than 1 ton of fine particle pollution (PM2.5) into your area during the cold months of the year.
Smoke from wood-burning stoves and fireplaces contain a mixture of harmful gases and small particles. Breathing these small particles can cause asthma attacks and severe bronchitis, aggravate heart and lung disease, and may increase the likelihood of respiratory illnesses.
EPA Burn Wise offers the following tools to encourage best burn tips and to help improve the air and health of your community. To help reduce wood smoke in your area, share these tools with local media, partners and others to promote on social media, websites and newsletters.
For additional Health Resources and Tools click here.
For more Video and Radio PSAs click here.
Contact Herrington.leigh@epa.gov to order free Burn Wise brochures and posters.
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