Armidale Dumaresq Council News advised us that the Australian Lung Foundation urges Australians to be aware of the signs of lung disease, which often worsen over winter (Independent, June 21).
Directly underneath were Armidale’s pollution measurements. PM2.5 pollution at council chambers (and no doubt many surrounding residential areas) failed to meet National Air Quality Standards on four of the six days measured. Is it any wonder that lung diseases is worse in winter?
As well as lung diseases and heart attacks, wood smoke is linked to genetic damage of unborn children and reduced IQ when children start school.
Like cigarette smoke, wood smoke is also a major source of the chemical benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), linked to behavioural problems and ADHD. Burning just 10kg of firewood in an Australian wood heater produces more BaP than in the smoke from a quarter of a million cigarettes — woodsmoke.3sc.net.
Perhaps on ‘World Show us Your Lungs Day’, people could therefore also remember the advice of the Australian Lung Foundation not to use wood heaters when affordable alternatives are available.
Dr Dorothy L Robinson,
Australian Air Quality Group
