Domestic Burning in Wales: Understanding the Hidden Threat to Lung Health

This report from Asthma + Lung UK Cymru explores the public’s awareness of domestic burning, presents new data on fuel use in Wales, and highlights the lived experiences of people whose health is directly affected by wood and coal smoke. We are calling for urgent action from the Welsh Government to protect public health, including a ban on the most polluting fuels, investment in air quality monitoring, and a robust public information campaign to raise awareness of the health risks of burning at home.

Air pollution is one of the most significant environmental risks to health in Wales, contributing to around 2,000 premature deaths each year. One of the lesser-known but highly harmful sources of air pollution is domestic burning—the use of wood, coal, and other solid fuels in homes. While only a small percentage of households burn solid fuels, the impact on air quality and public health is substantial.

We call on Welsh Government to:

  1. Deliver a national awareness raising campaign to set out clear health advice, including specific guidance to all homes with a wood burning stove or open fire, alongside general messaging on the health impacts of air pollution.
  2. Implement a ban on the sale of the most polluting fuels such as house coal and wet wood.
  3. Deliver a nation-wide scrappage scheme for the most inefficient wood burners.
  4. Legislate for annual MOT-style checks on wood burners and stoves, and a ban on wood burning stoves in new builds.
  5. Set up PM2.5 monitoring stations in every community for local authorities to accurately analyse the levels of PM2.5 across different neighbourhoods, identify hotspots and implement more targeted interventions designed to reduce pollution levels.
  6. Use data from increased monitoring to communicate health alerts to people living with lung conditions during periods of higher air pollution. This would better support hospitals and general practices to reduce emergency respiratory admissions, reduce hospitalisations and reduce waiting times.
  7. Revise all legislation covering Smoke Control Areas to better support local authorities to implement and enforce SCAs. Along with better monitoring, local authorities would be able to better monitor and investigate and control air pollution caused by domestic burning as well as enabling stronger enforcement for repeat offenders.
  8. Set targets for local authorities, regarding PM2.5 emissions similar the those for recycling.
  9. Be much more ambitious in its implementation of Healthy Air, Healthy Wales.
  10. Consider implementing a Wales wide Smoke Control Area to avoid blackspots and to ensure that each community has the relevant air quality and public health protections in place.

 

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English

 

Welsh