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Air Quality and Climate Change Volume 48 No. 4. November 2014 53

WOODSMOKE: REGULATORY FAILURE IS DAMAGING PUBLIC HEALTH

Woodsmoke: Regulatory failure is damaging public healthD L Robinson

ABSTRACT

Despite only 4.3% of households using wood as the main form of heating in 2008, over half of annual PM2.5 emissions in Sydney came from domestic wood-heaters, which were also identified as a major contributor to secondary particle formation. With average firewood consumption of about 2 tonnes/year, the average brand new wood-heater emits about 20 kg PM2.5 and has estimated health costs (using the NEPC economic analysis estimate of $280/kg for PM2.5 emissions in Sydney) of $5,600 per year.

The current AS4013 test bears little resemblance to real-life emissions because it measures laboratory emissions of a perfectly-operated wood-heater. Development of a real-life emissions test stalled in 2007 after the wood heating industry vetoed a recommendation to halve the emissions limit for new heaters as an interim measure while the new test was developed. The Standards Australia committee was put into abeyance for several years. Average real-life emissions of new wood-heaters are currently estimated at 9.8 g/kg, with only slight reductions to 8.2 and 7.0 g/kg for AS4013 test ratings below 2.5 and 1.5 g/kg respectively.

In Launceston, education programs on the health effects of woodsmoke successfully reduced pollution and mortality. The main benefits were achieved by persuading families to switch to non-polluting heating. Even after years of education on correct operation, AS4013-compliant heaters operated by highly-motivated volunteers averaged 9.4 g/kg, a highly unacceptable level of pollution.

Woodsmoke was estimated to be an $8 billion health problem in NSW, but three simple measures: 1) not permitting the installation of new wood heaters (until a health-based emissions standard has been developed); 2) requiring existing heaters to be removed before houses are sold and 3) annual licence fees to fund education programs and assist neighbours whose health or lifestyle is adversely affected by a neighbour’s smoke would save about $6 billion of the $8 billion health damages for minimal cost.

Education programs could garner public support for such measures by explaining that the average new wood-heater emits more PM2.5 pollution per year than 1,000 passenger cars, that woodsmoke caused 16 (softwood) to 3 (hardwood) times more tumours in tests on mice than the same

INTRODUCTION

This paper reviews information on wood-heater emissions, estimates of health costs per wood-heater per year, the inadequacy of current regulations, and possible ways to address the issues and minimize the health damage from woodsmoke pollution.

WOOD HEATER EMISSIONS

PM2.5 is considered to be the most health-hazardous air pollutant. In Europe, PM2.5 pollution is associated with over 492,000 premature deaths, corresponding to a loss of almost 4.9 million years of life (Leeuw and Horálek 2009). The next worst pollutant, O3 is estimated to cause 21,000 premature deaths in Europe (NSW EPA 2009). The Draft Variation to the Australian Ambient Air Quality National Environment Protection Measure (NEPM) impact statements notes: “The greatest proportion (>99%) of the health costs accrue from avoiding premature deaths due to long-term exposure to PM2.5”(NEPC 2014). Any evaluation of wood-heaters must therefore consider their contribution to PM2.5 pollution.

Figure 1, provided by the NSW EPA from their 2008 Emissions Inventory (NSWEPA

2013) shows estimated PM2.5 emissions in Sydney by source and month. Residential wood-heater emissions peak in July at 1.4 thousand tonnes, compared to about 0.45 thousand tonnes for all other sources. This is despite the fact that only 4.3% of households in Sydney used wood as the main form of heating in 2008 (ABS 2008). For the whole year, the inventory lists 5,457 tonnes of PM2.5 from Sydney’s wood-heaters (50.6% of man-made PM2.5 emissions), compared to 1,553 tonnes from on-road vehicles, 1,935 from industry, 952 from off-road vehicles and 881 tonnes from other sources (NSWEPA 2013).

Increased wood-heater use appears to be counteracting efforts to reduce PM2.5 pollution. From 2003 to 2008, man-made PM2.5 emissions from all sources in Sydney except wood-heaters fell by 38% (from 8,623 to 5,321 tonnes/year) but wood-heater emissions increased by 21% from 4,503 to 5,457 tonnes per year (NSWDECC 2007). From 2008 to 2011, use of wood-heaters continued to increase from 70,700 households burning wood as the main form of heating in Sydney (ABS 2008) to 83,300 (5.0%, ABS 2011).

Current wood-heater use is likely to be higher still, because of higher electricity prices. Network companies were allowed a guaranteed rate of return on infrastructure spending. Companies that invested the most, irrespective of whether the work was needed, earned the most profits (ABC 2014). In 2013, 51% of the bill was to cover network charges, compared to 20% for generation, 20% for retail and customer services and energy efficiency, and 9% for the (now abolished) carbon tax (Australian Government 2013). A likely unintended consequence of such policies is increased wood-heater pollution.

For the whole of Australia, wood-heaters emit an estimated 40,000 tonnes of PM2.5 (NEPCSC 2013) compared to 10,000 tonnes from electricity generation and 7,400 tonnes from mining (NPI 2013).

PM2.5 measurements and particle compositionAn investigation into particle composition at Liverpool, Sydney (Cohen et al. 2011) identified woodsmoke as a major source of PM2.5 in winter - around 40%, dropping to nearly zero in the summer, consistent with the results of the NSW EPA Emissions Inventory. Elevated PM2.5 measurements predominate in winter months (Figure 2, provided by Prof David Cohen, ANSTO).

An earlier study of air pollution and health in Sydney noted that “both

amount of cigarette smoke and that a typical evening burning 15 kg of wood puts out as much PM2.5 as in the smoke of 7,500 cigarettes. Contrary to popular belief, and despite its proximity to open-cut mines and the Bayeswater and Liddell power stations (which generate enough electricity for 3.25 million homes), the largest single source of PM2.5 in Muswellbrook (population 11,791) is domestic wood-heaters. Education could also focus on the fact that Australian wood-heaters are estimated to emit 40,000 tonnes of PM2.5 compared to 10,000 tonnes for electricity generation and 7,400 tonnes for mining, that exposure to a daily average PM2.5 pollution of 25 mg/m3 was considered to be equivalent to actively smoking 3 cigarettes, that the UN Environment Program and the World Meteorological Association recommended phasing out log-burning heaters in developed countries to reduce global warming as well as improve health, and that the NSW Chief Medical Officer, Kerry Chant, said that wood-heaters are so detrimental to the health she supported banning and phasing out them out in built-up urban areas.

Keywords: Particulates, Wood-smoke, Policy

54 Air Quality and Climate Change Volume 48 No. 4. November 2014


particulates and deaths are higher in winter” (Morgan 1996). Air samples taken in July and August 1993, from 4 pm to 8 am the following morning, when the air was essentially free of smoke from bushfires or bushfire hazard-reduction burns, found that at Rozelle, central Sydney, 67% of PM10 were modern, suggesting they came from wood-heating, rather than fossil fuels such as coal, petrol or diesel (NSW EPA 1996). At Winmalee in the Blue Mountains, the proportion was 81% (NSW EPA 1996). In Duncraig, Perth, the proportion was close to 100% (Gras 1996). Thus, despite the relatively low proportion of households using wood-heaters – 4.3% using wood as the main form of heating in Sydney in 2008 (ABS 2008) – woodsmoke was found to be a major source of PM2.5 emissions in urban Australia.

Recent studies of particle composition in Sydney, Melbourne and the upper Hunter also identified woodsmoke as a significant contributor to PM2.5 pollution. The main findings of the Sydney particle study were that: 1) fine particles (PM2.5) in the atmosphere contain a significant amount of organic matter in both autumn and summer, and high levels of sea salt in summer and 2) major sources of secondary organic particles in the air include volatile organic compounds from vegetation in summer and wood heaters in autumn (NSW EPA 2014). In Aspendale, Melbourne, the secondary organic aerosol fraction of PM2.5 was found to be greatest during the autumn and early winter months when the formation of

Figure 1. Monthly PM2.5 emissions in Sydney (source: NSW EPA) Inventory data: half Sydney’s man-made PM2.5 emissions from wood-heaters

Figure 2. Box-whisker plot of monthly PM2.5 measurements at Liverpool, Sydney and the percentage of airborne PM2.5 due to woodsmoke (source: Prof David Cohen, ANSTO).

inversions allows build up of particles emitted by domestic wood-heaters (Keywood et al. 2011).

Smoke from domestic wood-heaters also affects mining areas. Muswellbrook (population 11,791) is only a short distance

from open-cut coal mines and two power stations (Bayeswater and Liddell) that provide enough electricity for 3.25 million homes. Yet an analysis of particles collected in 2012 showed that 30% were from wood-heaters, 17% were secondary sulphate,



13% industry-aged sea salt, 12% biomass smoke (mainly from bushfires and hazard-reduction burns), 11% soil, 8% vehicles/industry, 6% secondary nitrate and 3% sea salt (Hibberd et al. 2013). Thus the year-round proportion (17%) of PM2.5 from secondary sulphate (likely to be related to power station emissions) was less than the 30% from domestic wood heating, emitted by perhaps 10-20% of the 4,000 households in Muswellbrook.

Urban areas with more households using wood-heaters can have even higher daily average PM2.5 measurements, especially on still days and nights when woodsmoke builds up in urban areas. Figure 3 compares daily average PM2.5 at Muswellbrook with measurements on the roof of the Civic Administration building in the central business district (CBD) of Armidale, NSW. With no other major source of pollution, Armidale has cleaner air in summer, but (even in the CBD where there are few chimneys), many more winter days exceeding the advisory PM2.5 limit of 25 mg/m3. In some residential areas, pollution was two to three times higher than the CBD (Khan et al. 2007; Robinson et al. 2007).

Monash, ACT has a similar pattern of measurements. PM2.5 pollution is relatively low except for May to September when wood heaters are in use (Figure 4). A study of particle composition in Australian cities found that: “In Canberra (studied in May 1997) and Launceston (studied in June 1997), the winter-time aerosol is dominated by emissions from domestic wood-burning” (Ayers et al. 1999). Melbourne (studied in April), Adelaide (August), Sydney (late August/September), Brisbane (October/November) had lower proportions of woodsmoke, as might be expected from the time of year when samples were collected.

Even relatively small numbers of wood-heaters can cause a major pollution problem. Geeveston, a small Tasmanian town with 277

houses had 99 exceedances of the advisory PM2.5 standard (maximum daily average of 25 mg/m3) in 20 months. A nearby rural area (the Department of Primary Industry Research Station near Grove) was much cleaner. Domestic wood heaters were considered responsible for 77% of anthropogenic PM pollution in Geeveston, compared to 11% from prescribed burns (Meyer et al. 2011).

Thus the general conclusion from studies of particle composition and concentrations is that, despite being used by only a small proportion of households, domestic wood-heaters are responsible for a disproportionate amount of PM2.5 emissions. Woodsmoke particles are emitted at roof height in urban areas where people live and spend time with their families. The intake fraction for woodsmoke (the proportion of emissions inhaled by an exposed population) is estimated to be comparable or slightly larger than that for urban vehicle emissions (Ries et al. 2009).

WOODSMOKE PM2.5 AS UNHEALTHY AS PM2.5 FROM OTHER SOURCES

Effects of Woodsmoke PM2.5 ExposureSeveral studies show that PM2.5 pollution from woodsmoke is a major threat to public health. For example, in Christchurch, NZ, fine particle pollution was found to vary from almost zero on the undeveloped fringes of the city to more than 20 µg/m3 in residential areas with lots of chimneys. More than three quarters (76%) of Christchurch’s pollution was reported to be woodsmoke, with only 13% from industry, 11.7% from diesel vehicles and 0.3% from petrol vehicles (Fisher et al. 2005).

After adjusting for other factors such as age, sex, ethnicity, socio-economic status and tobacco smoking, death rates were related to woodsmoke levels. Estimates for each increase of 10 µg/m3 of PM10 exposure were: 34% increased respiratory deaths, 11% increased

Figure 3. PM2.5 pollution measurements in Muswellbrook (close to close to open-cut coal mines and the Bayeswater and Liddell power stations) and the central business district of Armidale (data from the NSW EPA website and Armidale Dumaresq Council).

Figure 4. PM2.5 pollution measurements in Monash, ACT (source: ACTEPA 2012)



circulatory deaths and an 8% increase in all deaths (Fisher et al. 2007). This implies that living in the most polluted areas (>20µg/m3 PM10) increases mortality by about 16% (and respiratory deaths by about 68%) compared to living in an unpolluted area.

A Canadian study (median PM2.5 levels of 7.3 µg/m3) found that an increase of just 3 µg/m3 in PM2.5 was associated with a 9% increase in deaths from ischemic heart disease and 3-4.5% increases in all deaths (Crouse et al. 2012). The Quebec Lung Association reports that wood heating is responsible for 61% of Quebec’s fine particle emissions (Lung Association of Quebec 2009). In British Columbia, wood smoke is reported to be the most serious kind of air pollution, causing more illness and deaths than smog (BC Air Quality 2014). A mapping exercise was used to classify residences in Vancouver by woodsmoke exposure during winter (< 6.8, 6.8-10, >10 µg/m3). Living in highest third for woodsmoke was associated with a 15% increased risk of COPD. In the town of Prince George, use of HEPA filters for 1 week in the homes of healthy volunteers when outdoor PM2.5 (mainly woodsmoke) averaged 10 µg/m3, resulted in significant improvement in blood vessel health (Allen et al. 2011). Once breathed in, PM2.5 from combustion particles can be retained in the lungs for many years (Churg and Brauer 1997).

For Utah’s Wasatch Front, an area with high PM2.5 wintertime pollution from woodsmoke, an increase of 10 µg/m3 daily average PM2.5 was associated with a 4.5% increase in acute ischemic coronary events in patients who were followed-up after coronary arteriography (Pope et al. 2006).

Launceston’s woodsmoke reduction program reduced mean daily wintertime PM10 concentration from 44 µg/m3 in 1994-2000 to 27 µg/m3 in 2001-07; annual death rates for men fell by 11.4% for all-cause mortality; 17.9% for cardiovascular and 22.8% for respiratory mortality (UTAS 2013). A small study in Armidale, NSW found a significant relationship between woodsmoke (PM2.5) measurements and visits to GPs for respiratory complaints. The estimate of 8.8 additional GP visits per day (Khan et al. 2007) represents about 900 additional visits per year.

The magnitude of the effects observed in these studies indicate that exposure to PM2.5 from woodsmoke is as unhealthy as exposure to similar amounts of PM2.5 from other sources and therefore (with an intake fraction similar or slightly larger than other sources such as urban vehicle emissions), the health costs per kg of PM2.5 emitted from domestic wood-heaters is likely to be as high as the cost of PM2.5 emissions from other sources.

Other Toxic ChemicalsWoodsmoke contains several known human carcinogens including benzene, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and formaldehyde and was nominated to the US National Toxicology Program Report on Carcinogens in 2013 (DOHHS 2014). Burning 10 kg of wood in a modern Australian heater produces more BaP than in the smoke from 270,000 cigarettes and more benzene and formaldehyde than in the smoke from 60,000 cigarettes (AAQG

2013). In mouse skin tumour assays, the potency of cigarette smoke was listed at 0.0029, compared to 0.046 (16 times worse) for softwood and 0.0087 (3 times worse) for hardwood smoke (Lewtas 2007).

The Australian National Pollutant Inventory lists domestic wood-heaters as the largest single source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions (500 tonnes, 43% of all emissions in 2012/13), more than motor vehicles (300 tonnes, 26% of emissions) and domestic/commercial solvents/aerosols (240 tonnes, 21% of emissions). All other sources account for 11% of PAH emissions. PAH exposure during pregnancy was linked to genetic damage in babies, with mothers in the top 50% of PAH exposure (more than 2.26 ng/m3) during the third trimester linked to a 5 point reduction in IQ on starting school (Perera et al. 2009). A related study found that the 41% of children with detectable BaP adducts in umbilical cord blood had a 4-fold increase in attention problems, and 2.6-fold increases in attention/hyperactivity problems and anxiety problems (Perera et al. 2012). Three studies have linked PM2.5 exposure during pregnancy and the first year of life to increased risk of autism. In one study, the odds ratio for risk of autism spectrum disorder was 1.39 (95% CI: 1.13-1.71) per IQR change (4.13 µg/m3) in PM2.5 during pregnancy (Raz et al. 2014), with more dramatic-looking results for exposure during the third trimester (a 60% increase, Swan 2014). In a second study in California, the adjusted odds ratios for autism were 2.08 and 2.06 for respectively the highest quartiles of PM2.5 exposure during gestation and the first year of life (Volk et al. 2013). A third study of children in North Carolina and California reported increased risk of autism of 34-40% per 10 mg/m3 increase in PM2.5 exposure during the third trimester of pregnancy (Kalkbrenner et al. 2014). Although traffic is a major source of PM2.5 pollution, woodsmoke is also a major contributor to PM2.5 pollution in California (Gilbreath and Yap 2008) and elsewhere in the USA.

In New Zealand (NZ), residential wood combustion is suspected to be the primary source of elevated levels of BaP and arsenic (from burning treated timber). Annual average BaP concentrations in some NZ cities were estimated to exceed national ambient air guideline of 0.3 ng/m3 by up to 20 times; arsenic can exceed national ambient air quality guideline of 5.5 ng/m3 by up to 2 times (Cavanagh et al. 2012).

In developing countries, children whose mothers cook with wood (as opposed to kerosene) stoves were found to have reduced IQ, memory and poorer social skills in Belize, Kenya, Nepal and American Samoa (Munroe and Gauvain 2012) and also in Guatemala (Dix-Cooper et al. 2011).

Health costs & estimated benefits of woodsmoke controlWith average firewood consumption of about 2 tonnes/year in Sydney and estimated emissions of 9.8 g/kg (NSW OEH 2011), the average new wood-heater emits about 19.6 kg PM2.5 and has estimated health costs (using the NEPC economic analysis estimates

of $280/kg for PM.5 emissions in Sydney) of $5,488 per year. Other cities, e.g. Montreal are phasing out log-burning heaters, so it is useful to consider the costs and benefits of wood-heating.

One of the most comprehensive evaluations (NSW OEH 2011) estimated there were a total of 372,000 wood heaters in NSW and that the health cost (net present value to 2030) of woodsmoke emissions was over $8 billion. This works out at over $21,600 for every wood-heater in NSW.

Table 1 lists the control measures investigated by NSW OEH (2011). Top of the list, with estimated benefits of over $4 billion in NSW for a modest cost of $36 million was the requirement to remove wood-heaters before houses are offered for sale. The next most cost-effective option was not allowing new wood-heaters to be installed, with estimated benefits of $2,206 billion for estimated cost of $134 million. The third option, licensing fees, was expected to save $1,267 in health costs and generate revenue of $11 million, which could be used to fund education and woodsmoke-reduction programs, deal with complaints from people whose health or lifestyle is adversely affected by other people’s woodsmoke, and provide subsidies to replace wood-heaters with non-polluting heating.

Scaled up to the whole country, the top 3 woodsmoke control measures are therefore likely to generate net estimated health benefits of about $20 billion, five times as much as the sum of all non-wood-heater measures considered in the NEPC economic analysis (Boulter and Kulkarni 2013). It is not clear why the woodsmoke-control measures investigated by NSW OEH (2011) were not considered as part of the NEPC economic analysis. The three most cost-effective measures were recently endorsed by the NSW Asthma Foundation (Asthma Australia 2014).

With estimated PM2.5 population exposure of 6.2 mg/m3 (Victoria Port Phillip, VPP) and 6.9 mg/m3 (NSW Greater Metropolitan Region, GMR), tackling wood-heater pollution would go a long way towards meeting a PM2.5 standard of 6.0 mg/m3 estimated to avoid 541 premature deaths per year in Sydney, Mel bourne, SE Qld and Perth (NEPC 2014) and perhaps 700 premature deaths per year for the whole country.

Primary PM2.5 emissions from wood-heaters account for an estimated 16.3% of population exposure to PM2.5 in the GMR, compared to 7.1% from motor vehicles and 56.7% from secondary and natural particles. In VPP, the estimates were 7.7% (wood-heaters), 7.7% (diesel vehicles), 4.5% (petrol vehicles) and 74.3% for secondary and natural particles (Boulter and Kulkarni 2013). Subtracting the proportions from primary wood-heater emissions suggests that avoiding this source of pollution would reduce PM2.5 population exposure (depending on the contribution to secondary particles) to less than 5.8 mg/m3 (GMR) and 5.7 mg/m3 (VPP).

The NEPM AAQ Variation Impact statement notes that that the status quo (annual PM2.5 limit of 8 µg/m3) “equates



to an increase in exposure based on current PM2.5 concentrations, because annual mean PM2.5 concentrations at most monitoring sites are currently lower than 8 µg/m3” (NEPC 2014). Other PM2.5 emissions (e.g. diesel engines) are expected to reduce as older vehicles are replaced by Euro-5 compliant models. The introduction of US standards for outboard engines and lawnmowers would also reduce PM2.5 emissions, and increasing use of solar and wind power to replace coal-fired electricity should reduce secondary particle formation. Given the considerable benefits of reduced population PM2.5 exposure and that a standard of 6 µg/m3 cannot be achieved without Australia-wide implementation of the three most cost-effective woodsmoke control options listed in Table 1, their implementation has obvious merits.

REGULATORY FAILURE

New Wood-heater Worse Than 980 CarsEuro-5 standards, to be phased in over 3 years from November 2013 (Benson 2011) require diesel cars, utes and SUV to have PM2.5 emissions less than 0.005 g/km, a reduction of more than 99% compared to pre-1990 models (which averaged 0.75 g PM2.5/km, Robinson 2005).

Petrol cars have even lower exhaust

emissions. The 2006-07 average PM2.5 emissions of 1 mg/km for petrol-fuelled passenger cars (NISE2 2009) implies that a vehicle travelling 20,000 km will emit just 20 grams of PM2.5. In contrast, with average firewood consumption of 2 to 4 tonnes per year and real-life emissions averaging 9.8 grams per kg firewood (NSW OEH 2011), the average new wood heater is likely to emit 19.6 to 39.2 kg of PM2.5 per year, as much as 980 to 1960 passenger cars.

Current Test Does Not Measure Real-life EmissionsThe current AS4013 test is based on laboratory measurements of a perfectly-operated wood-heater. Even after years of education on correct operation as part of the Launceston woodsmoke-reduction program, emissions from AS4013-compliant heaters operated by highly-motivated volunteers averaged 9.4 g/kg, much higher than the lab test results. Real-life emissions of models with AS4013 ratings below 2.5, 1.5 and 1.0 g/kg respectively were estimated to be 8.2, 6.7 and 6.4 g/kg (NSW OEH 2011), implying that the problem cannot be solved by education on how to operate wood-heaters and specifying stricter emissions limits in the current test.

Development of a new emissions test to better reflect real-life emissions was abandoned in 2007 after the wood

heating industry vetoed recommendations by the majority of the Standards Australia Committee CS-062 to halve the emissions limit as an interim measure while a new test was being developed, and also to seek advice from health authorities about a suitable health warning to remind operators that woodsmoke is harmful and the importance of operating heaters correctly (Australian Senate 2013). When reconvened in 2013 with fewer community representatives and no health experts, CS-062 approved a revision based on the existing test, with limits of 2.5 g/kg from August 2015 and 1.5 g/kg in 2019.

Real-life emissions from new heaters installed in a new housing estate in Armidale, NSW are shown in Figure 5. All except the top left smoke plume are from heaters installed in new houses after Council required them to have emissions ratings of 2.5 g/kg or less. The level of emissions shown was evident for nearly 1 hour (middle photo) and about 10 hours for the heater installed in August 2014, after an application to Council and provision of all appropriate education material (bottom photo).

Although Council tries to respond to complaints about excessively smoking chimneys, current legislation requires a 10 metre plume of smoke to be observed. Unless the heater produces a 10 metre plume for many hours per day, there is little chance of councils actually observing the offence and

Health Benefit, NSW

Cost NSW Net Benefit, $million

NSW Australia1

Measures investigated by NSW OEH 2011.,

4) Phase out at sale of house $4,015 -$36 $3,978 12,419

2) Ban on heater sales $2,206 -$134 $2,071 6,466

7) Licensing fees $1,267 $11 $1,278 3,990

6) Sales tax on new wood heaters $1,049 -$1 $1,048 3,272

9) Cash incentive phase out $879 -$12 $867 2,707

8) Levying an excise/tax on biomass fuels $419 $36 $455 1,421

5) Fuel moisture content (20%) regulations $399 -$33 $366 1,018

3) Efficiency standards (60%,3g/kg) $301 -$3 $298 930

Measures investigated by the NEPC (Boulter and Kulkarni 2013)

Regulation: firewood moisture < 20% (already required in WA) $1,034

Wood-heaters: 60% efficiency, 1.5 g/kg, in-service measures $4,178

MOU to reduce shipping vessel speed for ocean transits $352

US2010 outboard & watercraft, US phase 2 gardening emission standards $616

Diesel trains driver assistance software for line haul locomotives $80

Retrofitting high-polluting (urban) non-road diesel equipment with DPFs $6

International best practice PM control measures at coal mines $643

US non-road diesel standards (excluding < 19kW) $1,922

Requiring new locomotives to meet US Tier 4 standards $1

Sum of all NEPC non-wood-heater measures $3,620

Table 1. Costs and benefits of different measures to reduce PM2.5 pollution

1 NSW measures were scaled up by pro-rating for population, i.e. dividing by the proportion of the Australian population living in NSW (32.0% in 2013). For measure 5, the proportion of the population excluding WA was used (35.8%) because WA already has a 20% moisture limit for firewood. Benefits of the NSW measures are NPV to 2030. The NEPM Net Benefits are in 2011 dollars and cover the 20-year period from 2017 to 2036.



issuing a warning, let alone take regulatory action. A survey of Armidale residents in 2013 found that nearly 60% of residents who did not own a wood-heater reported experiencing problems with wood-heater smoke from other houses (Carr et al. 2013).

Such examples demonstrate the failure of current policies. In a submission to the Federal Government in 2013 on wood-heater regulation, Armidale Dumaresq council stated: “It is estimated that Council has committed more than $300,000 (excluding wages) in the past 10 years on wood smoke abatement measures”. Despite this, over the last 3 years (2012-14) PM2.5 from May to August averaged 14.9 mg/m3 at the CBD, compared to 13.9 mg/m3 for June to August in 1999. In 1996, woodsmoke exposure was estimated to increase death rates by about 7% with at a cost of over $4,000 per wood-heater per year (Robinson et al. 2007). Other noted health problems included an additional 8.8 visits per day to GPs for respiratory problems (Khan et al. 2007), i.e. about 900 per year.

New Zealand became aware of the problems a decade before Australia and, from September 2005 onwards, required all new heaters in urban areas to have emissions ratings less than 1.5 g/kg (NZ MfE 2014). Several small towns, e.g. Alexandra (pop 4824), Arrowtown (pop 2400), Clyde (pop 900), Cromwell (pop 4896) have virtually no other sources of air pollution apart from wood-heaters. These towns reduced the limit for new heaters to 0.7 g/kg and required those with AS4013 ratings over 1.5 g/kg to be removed by January 2012 (Clean Air NZ 2013). Despite this, the four towns had respectively 42, 24, 7 and 29 exceedances of the 50 mg/m3 limit in 2012. In 2013, there were 50, 15, 9 and 24 exceedances and in 2014, 51, 48, 20 and 47 exceedances (ORC 2014). These results demonstrate that a ‘standard’ that is not based on real-life emissions will not provide acceptable air quality or protect public health.

Profit-Driven Industry Creating ConfusionAnecdotal evidence suggests that many people believe that if woodsmoke were as harmful as cigarette smoke (or other PM2.5 pollution), governments would not continue to allow new wood-heaters. Indeed, NSW Chief Medical Officer Kerry Chant said in 2014 that wood heaters are so detrimental to health she supported banning and phasing them out in built-up urban areas (Gilmore 2014). One possible reason for the failure of current woodsmoke-reduction programs is that the lack of government action causes the public to under-estimate the health hazards of breathing woodsmoke.

To generate sales, profit-driven industries paint a rosy picture. Prospective purchasers, are told that wood-heaters are clean and environmentally friendly, and have “minimal emissions” (McLennan 2012) and that “air quality data only measures the fine particulate … It has no way of measuring the source” (Gilmore 2014). This is despite carbon dating studies showing that the majority of particles were modern (not from

Figure 5. Examples of real-life emissions from domestic wood heaters in a relatively new housing estate. All except one (top left) were installed after Armidale Dumaresq Council required new heaters in new houses to have emissions ratings less than 2.5 g/kg.

fossil fuels) and all the studies identifying particle sources, e.g. that 62% of particles collected in winter in the power generation and mining town of Muswellbrook were from domestic wood-heaters (Hibberd et al. 2013).

The peak industry body, the AHHA, also claimed that when over $2.5 million was spent in Libby, Montana (population 2600) replacing 1130 stoves with new ones, air quality improved by “more than 80% (AHHA 2013). The real reduction was about 30% (Brauer 2012). Figure 6 shows that, even after replacing almost every old stove, Libby had many days of very unhealthy air above the Australian advisory PM2.5 standard of 25 mg/m3.

The much greater benefits of replacing wood-heaters with non-polluting heating were demonstrated by Launceston’s $2.05 million program, which achieved a 40% reduction in wintertime particulate

pollution by reducing wood-heater use from 66% to 30% of households, and significantly reduced male annual all-cause (−11.4%), cardiovascular (−17.9%), and respiratory (−22.8%) mortality (Johnston et al. 2013). Follow-up programs led to further reductions in wood-heater use to about 15% of households (NEPCSC 2013). Subsidies were provided to replace about 2,000 wood-heaters (ABC 2004, about 7 percentage points of the reduction), with the remainder replaced entirely at the owners’ expense. Despite virtually all wood-heaters in Launceston being AS4013 compliant (Meyer et al. 2008) and all the money spent on education, the many wintertime exceedances of the PM2.5 standard show that current strategies of allowing new wood-heaters to be installed and relying on government-funded education programs to persuade owners to operate heaters correctly is unlikely



to achieve satisfactory results. In 2012, Launceston’s Ti Tree Bend monitor recorded 16 exceedances of the 24-hour PM2.5 advisory reporting standard of 25 µg/m3, compared to 6 in 2011, 11 in 2010, and 12 in 2009 (NEPC 2013).

Thus progress in reducing PM2.5 has stalled. This demonstrates the need for a satisfactory health-based emissions standard (set by independent experts, not the wood heating industry) and that allowing new wood-heaters to be installed in the absence of an appropriate standard is detrimental to public health.

Opportunities exist for the wood-heating industry to manufacture and sell cleaner alternatives such as pellet and gas-log heaters, until new clean log-burning-heaters are developed. The thriving pellet heating industry in New Zealand demonstrates such a strategy has many benefits and would provide jobs, improve health and protect

the environment by reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Global WarmingA comprehensive investigation by 50 scientists from the UN Environment Program and World Meteorological Association concluded that about half of current warming is due to substances other than CO2, including methane (CH4), black carbon (BC) and ozone precursors. They recommended a package of 16 measures, including phasing out log-burning heaters in developed countries to reduce global warming and improve health (UNEP 2011). The UNEP argued that reducing the 50% of non-CO2 warming is vitally important because we are unlikely to meet the Copenhagen limit of 2 degrees without tackling these pollutants. Reducing BC and CH4 emissions could substantially reduce current warming and prevents future warming by slowing the melting of glaciers

and polar icecaps, allowing the ice to continue to reflect radiation back into space. Heat stored in the oceans accounts for 93% of warming since 1955 (Levitus et al. 2012); estimated ice loss in the Arctic has increased from 34 Gt/yr (1992- 2001) to 215 Gt/yr (2002-2011, IPCC 2013). The amount of greenhouse gas stored in methane hydrates in the Arctic is said to be several times greater than the total CO2 released since the industrial revolution (Duarte and Huertas 2012).

Minimizing the temperature increase in the next 20 years would buy time to develop and implement clean energy technology. Within a couple of decades, wind, solar PV (with improved battery storage) and solar-thermal with molten salt storage are likely to be cheaper than the cost of digging coal out of the ground and transporting it to a power station. Improvements in battery technology and/or fuel cells should also allow electric cars (fuelled by non-polluting solar electricity) to replace petrol. In real-life, modern wood-heaters average about 18.7 g/kg of CH4 per kg firewood (Robinson 2011) and about 15% of the carbon is emitted as carbon monoxide (Meyer et al. 2008). Consequently, over a 20-year horizon, replacing an Australian wood heater with an efficient heat pump is a good way for individuals to reduce their contribution to global warming. Precise estimates of benefits depend on whether the wood is left in the forest or used for other purposes e.g. manufacture of wood pellets for pellet heaters, or as partial replacement for coal in power stations. Even if some wood burns or rots over this period, the amount of methane produced (and therefore the overall impact on the climate) is likely to be considerably less than if it is burned in a modern slow-combustion heater (Ayers 2014).

When Christchurch’s Clean Heat Project replaced wood heating in 1,973 households with improved insulation (where needed) and an efficient reverse cycle air-conditioner (rcAC), the average increase in electricity use was just 1% (O’Connell et al. 2010). Electricity consumption decreased in households that removed open fires, but increased by 8-10% in households that replaced free-standing wood-heaters (Wilton and Cavanagh 2012). Some participants reported decreased electricity use because they no longer used resistive heating in preference to lighting the woodburner for short term heat (Gaudin and O’Connell 2007).

In warmer climates, e.g. Australian capital cities, thermostatically-controlled systems use an average of only 26% of the energy burned in a wood-heater (Robinson 2011). Even in Tasmania, thermal comfort in wood-heated homes “often borders on the stifling” with excess heat sometimes managed by opening windows (Atech 2001). Many rcAC can deliver 5 times as much heat as they use in electricity (Wright 2013), so households in coastal cities in Australia should need only a small proportion of the energy burned in a wood-heater. If each million tonnes of sustainably-produced biomass could be burned efficiently in power

Figure 6. PM2.5 measurements in Libby, Montana and number of old stoves replaced with new ones (from Brauer 2012).

Figure 7. Daily average PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations, Launceston, 2012 (source: EPATAS 2013).



stations, or made into pellets for wood pellet heaters, it could heat many more homes than if burned inefficiently in domestic wood heaters (Robinson 2011). The latter increases a country’s total emissions because of the additional energy required to heat the remaining homes. Although the Kyoto protocol lists biomass emissions under Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), it is both confusing and counter-productive to ignore efficiency at the point of use by counting CO2 emissions as zero, irrespective of whether a home uses 1 tonne or 100 tonnes for heating.

Comparing wood-heaters with other sources of pollutionIn a survey in Armidale in 1999 (Khan 2002), 52% of people with wood heaters said the statement “emissions from open fires and solid fuel heaters contain substances harmful to humans” was false. Only 24% said it was true, the remainder were unsure. This was despite a $46,000 wood smoke education program by the NSW EPA in Armidale a couple of years earlier.

The considerable public support for policies such as bans on tobacco smoking close to outdoor sports arenas (NSW Health 2014) demonstrates widespread concern for reducing exposure to harmful toxins. This indicates that a large proportion of people do not know that burning 10 kg of wood in a modern Australian heater produces more benzo(a)pyrene than in the smoke from 270,000 cigarettes and more benzene and formaldehyde than in the smoke from 60,000 cigarettes (AAQG 2013). Smoke is often blown downwards, so that a wood-heater downwind of a sports field or playground can expose people nearby to many more toxic chemicals than produced by tobacco-smoking spectators.

A submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Impacts on health of air quality in Australia by Dr Ben Ewald estimated that exposure to 10 mg/m3 PM2.5 per day is equivalent to smoking 1.4 cigarettes a day and that 25 mg/m3 PM2.5 exposure equates to actively smoking 3 cigarettes a day (Ewald 2013). Measured PM2.5 pollution at the Armidale CBD location (which was found to have relatively low PM2.5 levels compared with some residential areas), was over 25 mg/m3 on 20.2% of days from May-August 2014.

In order to make an informed decision on the costs and benefits of wood-heater pollution, Australians need better information on how to compare the impact of wodheaters on health with other sources such as vehicles and tobacco smoke. Information should also be provided on the most cost-effective alternatives and home energy efficiency evaluations used to assess the potential benefits of improved insulation and draft-proofing.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Despite extremely high benefit-cost ratios, the policies in Table 1 have not been widely adopted. A few councils do not allow new

wood-heaters to be installed (Waverley, Holroyd, Manooka Valley, the Oran Park and Turner Road growth precincts in Sydney, Mongolo in Canberra). However, the problems with existing wood-heaters remain. Few, if any, councils have the skills or expertise to deal effectively with health problems caused by a neighbour’s woodsmoke.

The large reductions in wood-heater usage in Launceston (from 66% to 15% of households, with only about 14% of households that removed wood-heaters receiving any form of subsidy) demonstrates that most people who understand the health problems caused by wood-heater pollution are prepared to use non-polluting alternatives, at least until a new health-based standard has been developed.

Montreal, Canada provides a good model for how such policies can gain widespread acceptance once the public understands the health consequences of breathing woodsmoke. In order to take action, home owners need information on how wood-heater pollution compares with other hazardous pollution such as cigarettes and vehicle emissions. Information on how to choose cost-effective alternatives including upgrading home insulation and draft-proofing could greatly assist homeowners who want to reduce their pollution. General statements such as ‘woodsmoke is bad for our health” are likely to be dismissed as no different to all the other things that are bad for our health such as junk food or not getting enough exercise.

Current messages create confusion because, even though there is no safe level of PM2.5 pollution, many people believe that if air meets the “standard” it must be safe. Similarly, many people think that new wood-heaters that meet the current “standard” must be OK, even though in reality one new wood-heater emits more PM2.5 per year than 1,000 to 2,000 passenger cars.

Despite higher costs per kg of avoided emissions, other sources of PM2.5 pollution (e.g. diesel emissions) are being addressed. It is inequitable to allow the disproportionately high emissions from wood-heating to continue. Both the NSW Asthma foundation and the NSW Chief Medical Officer have formally endorsed the top 3 woodsmoke control measures in Table 1, which are estimated to save at least $6 billion in health costs in NSW and perhaps $20 billion for Australia as a whole. These should be implemented as soon as possible. As long as new wood-heaters with the level of emissions shown in Figure 5 are permitted, and in the absence of measures to upgrade home energy efficiency and gradually remove existing heaters, the pollution evident in Armidale in 2011 (Figure 8) is likely to remain.

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AUTHOR

Dr Dorothy L Robinson, JSF Barker Building, University of New England, Armidale, 2351.email: [email protected] website:woodsmoke.3sc.net.

aecom.com

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