Doctors speak out against wood stove ban reversal
Doctors in Scotland are speaking out after the government reversed a ban on wood stove installations in new-build homes.
The New Build Heat Standard (NBHS), which came into effect in April 2024, banned the installation of “direct emissions heating systems,” including wood stoves, in new homes.
Following intensive lobbying from the wood stove industry, the Scottish government recently announced it is repealing the ban for wood stoves and peat burning, but leaving it in place for oil and gas-based heating. Yet wood and peat burning are more polluting than oil and gas heating.
Doctors with the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE), The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in Scotland and The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) in Scotland are urging the Scottish Government to reverse its position.
Among the doctors speaking out is DSAWSP board member Professor Jill Belch, who is co-chair of The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh’s short-life working group on air pollution. She said:
Wood burning in the UK accounts for the majority of the killer pollution particles, PM2.5 in our air. It can produce over 600 times more air pollution than a diesel truck in a wood burner’s sitting room. Wood burning has been implicated in many lung diseases but also in invasive breast cancer, and lung cancer in nonsmokers.
People’s health is at stake. The Scottish Government could have applied a restriction to the installation of wood burners in cities and also in air quality management areas (AQMAs). There is huge disappointment about this decision within the medical profession, and we ask the Scottish Government to think again.
Professor Belch was also interviewed about it in a Scottish TV news segment (see below).
Others who expressed dismay over the policy reversal included Professor Andrew Elder, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, who said:
Poor air quality remains the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK and the evidence about the dangers of particulate matter on human health is strong. Given the quantities of PM2.5 that are produced by wood burners, the Scottish Government must reconsider its position on a ban on their installation in urban areas without delay.
Dr Munro Stewart, the Royal College of General Practitioners in Scotland’s Clinician Representative for Climate and Sustainability, said:
Wood burners in urban areas increase the amount of lung disease we see in children, increase the risks of heart attacks, strokes, dementia and cause cancers. We have a duty as doctors to speak up for our patients who suffer from air pollution and we are concerned about the harm that delaying legislation will cause.
Dr Mairi Stark, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Officer for Scotland stated:
Air pollution is one of the biggest risks to children’s health, and exposure to air pollution is now the second leading risk factor for death in children under 5, both globally and in the UK. Wood burning stoves, though more common in wealthier urban areas, contribute significantly to this issue and disproportionately impact more vulnerable populations.
Children are especially vulnerable to air pollution because they inhale more air than adults in proportion to their body weight. Breathing in dirty air as a child irreversibly stunts lung growth and continues to affect lung capacity in adulthood and increases the risk of chronic disease later in life.
Recognising these risks, paediatricians strongly support national policies and legislation aimed at improving indoor and outdoor air quality. Phasing out of wood burning stoves in urban areas in favour of cleaner heating sources is a crucial step towards protecting child health, therefore we are disappointed to see the ban won’t progress.
