Burning wood may be putting lead back into the air in neighborhoods and inside homes, raising new concerns about a heating source many people still view as perfectly safe.
Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that as wood-smoke pollution rose in winter, airborne lead levels also increased, a troubling connection because lead is toxic even at very low levels, per The Guardian.
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst analyzed winter air-pollution samples collected over seven winters in five suburban and rural towns in the northeastern United States. They focused on potassium particles, which are commonly used as a marker of wood burning, and compared them with particles that contained lead.
The study, published in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, found that on days with more evidence of wood smoke, there was also more lead in the air. In four of the five towns, the link was especially strong.
The team later expanded the analysis to 22 additional towns across the country and found that the pattern showed up in many places, with some of the strongest associations appearing in the Rocky Mountains.
"Approximately 11 million U.S. residences utilize wood as an energy source, with 2.2 million homes relying on wood fuel as their primary heating source," the study concluded. "Our results indicate that residential wood fuel emissions are a previously under-recognized source of ambient lead."
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Professor Richard Peltier, the study's senior author, said wood burning creates substantial particle pollution and that "a small but measurable fraction of this is a powerful neurotoxicant."
Although the lead levels measured in the study were below U.S. legal limits, health experts have long warned that there is no truly safe level of lead exposure.
The researchers believe trees may be taking up lead that has remained in soil for decades from older pollution sources, including leaded gasoline. That lead can stay in the wood until the tree is burned, when it may then become part of the smoke people breathe.
Lead is especially dangerous because it can damage the brain and nervous system, and exposure has been linked to health problems throughout life. Children are particularly vulnerable, but adults can also face serious risks.
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Wood heating remains common in many communities, especially in colder regions. While firewood is often seen as cozy or traditional, the findings add to growing evidence that wood smoke can carry more than soot. It may also contain toxic metals that linger in the air.
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