Clean Air, Better Health

Quick Submission Guide - Wood Heater Pollution - NSW Clean Air Strategy
An easy way to create your own personalized submission until the consultation closes on 23 April:
1) copy and paste the 3 draft responses below into the 3 boxes on the NSW Government Web Page then edit - add your experiences, order the suggestions to highlight what you consider important, delete what's unimportant, to create a submission that best represents your views, add your name, email and postcode, then submit using the prepared form on the NSW Government Page.

Personalized submissions carry more weight, so if you have more time, paste relevant sections of the detailed info on Our NSW Clean Air Strategy Page into an email and send to Air.Policy@environment.nsw.gov.au (please also send us a copy: ausairqual@gmail.com )

Stay informed about Clean Air Issues - Contact us or join the Australian Air Quality Group Email List - emails are limited to very important news or information (that happens perhaps 2 to 3 times a year) and will not be used for any other purpose. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Q1. What air quality issues in NSW are you most concerned about and why?

I am most concerned about wood heater pollution because:
It is a major source of pollution where I live
I am suffering health damage because of a neighbour's wood heater and have been unable to get help to solve the problem
I am concerned about the impact on my family's health. In New Zealand, one additional modern woodstove per hectare (satisfying stricter standards than currently required in NSW) increased by 7% the risk children under 3 would need hospital emergency treatment.
I am concerned about the impact on our health. In Tasmania hospital admissions for heart failure started to increase as soon as PM2.5 exceeded 4 µg/m3, a tiny fraction of the current Australian PM2.5 standard of 25 µg/m3.
I am concerned about the impact on my health. Wood smoke significantly increases the risk of dementia
I am concerned that new wood heaters will be installed nearby and will affect my health. The 2020 Asthma Australia Survey found that People exposed to woodfire heaters said they are largely unable to protect themselves from the smoke.

In Sydney, the draft NSW Clean Air Strategy shows that wood heater pollution accounts for 46% of population-weighted exposure to PM2.5, the most hazardous air pollutant. This is despite only 4.4% of Sydneysiders using wood as main heating. New wood heaters are almost as polluting and existing models. Any increase in wood heater pollution will counteract the benefits of reduced power station and vehicle pollution.

Q2. How could the NSW Government better help individuals and communities reduce and avoid exposure to air pollution to minimise adverse health effects?

1) No further damage to public health – no new heaters to be permitted in areas where there could be an increased risk to people living nearby. The the 2020 Asthma Australia Survey, that found 77% of Australians believe new wood heaters should not be allowed in built-up urban areas.

2) Reduce the health damage by removing existing heaters when houses are sold in urban areas. This costs the taxpayer nothing, does not interfere with anyone’s use of an existing wood heater, but was found to be a highly cost-effective option according to research commissioned by the NSW Government showing wood heater pollution is an $8 billion health problem in NSW in 2011 that could be reduced by 75% by not allowing new wood heaters to be installed and requiring existing ones to be removed when houses are sold.

Q3. How could the NSW government work better with the community, industries and businesses to adopt clean air management techniques?

Develop an education program to promote widespread understanding of the facts about wood smoke.

Legislation against smoking at work was initially controversial, but now has almost universal support. People who are likely to want similar protection against wood smoke once they understand that burning 15 kg of wood in an enclosed wood heater – an evening’s heat – produces as many toxic PAH as in the smoke from a quarter of a million cigarettes, that real-life emissions of new heaters are little different from older models, that health experts recommend not using wood heaters when alternatives are available, that wood smoke increases the risk of dementia, that in Tasmania hospital admissions for heart failure started to increase as soon as PM2.5 exceeded 4 µg/m3, a tiny fraction of the current Australian PM2.5 standard of 25 µg/m3, and that modern efficient heater-air-conditioners are more environmentally friendly than wood heating and have lower running costs than buying firewood (see below).