{"id":12392,"date":"2024-08-12T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=12392"},"modified":"2024-08-02T07:45:25","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T07:45:25","slug":"snug-but-unsafe-your-heater-may-be-harming-your-health-what-are-your-safest-choices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/snug-but-unsafe-your-heater-may-be-harming-your-health-what-are-your-safest-choices\/","title":{"rendered":"Snug but unsafe: your heater may be harming your health. What are your safest choices?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n \n
\n \n Alexander Raths\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n Christine Cowie<\/a>, UNSW Sydney<\/a><\/em> and Bill Dodd<\/a>, University of Tasmania<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

We now have a dizzying array of heating technologies to consider, besides the fire that warmed our ancestors.<\/p>\n\n

Salespeople will highlight any number of features and minor conveniences. You will be made aware of limited-offer discounts, product warranties, trends in certain Nordic countries, or their low cost (at least in the short-term). What you are less likely to read on the box is, well, the stuff that really matters: the long-term effects on your health and the health of your family, your neighbours and the environment.<\/p>\n\n

Yes, a heater should keep you warm affordably. After all, a warm home is vital for your health. But would you run a heater that you knew was increasing the likelihood of your child developing asthma, your partner developing lung cancer, and your neighbour or your grandparent suffering a stroke or heart attack?<\/p>\n\n

Many peer-reviewed studies<\/a> have found domestic heating to be a major source of air pollution and of ill health in Australia. So which heaters are high-risk and which are low-risk? Let\u2019s consider, firstly, the most dangerous heaters.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Extreme-risk heaters<\/h2>\n\n

Two rules reduce the risks: <\/p>\n\n

    \n

  1. never burn anything (wood, gas or other fuel) in your home without adequate ventilation such as a chimney, exhaust or flue<\/p><\/li>\n

  2. never use an outdoor appliance (heater, cooker, barbecue) inside.<\/p><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n

    Concerningly, a 2022 Asthma Australia survey<\/a> found 7% of Australians used an unflued gas heater.<\/p>\n\n

    When gas or other fuel is burnt indoors it releases a range of particles and toxic gases<\/a>. Most dangerous of all is carbon monoxide<\/a> (CO). This colourless, odourless gas can build up in unventilated homes, resulting in serious poisoning and death. <\/p>\n\n

    A recent case of carbon monoxide intoxication<\/a> left three people unconscious in a Sydney home after an outdoor barbecue was used inside as a heater. Outdoor heaters, cookers and barbecues are especially potent sources of carbon monoxide and should never be brought inside. <\/p>\n\n

    If you have a gas appliance in your home, even if it is ventilated, install a carbon monoxide alarm<\/a> for as little as $30.<\/p>\n\n

    \n \"Two\n
    \n Outdoor heaters should never be used indoors.<\/span>\n Balifilm\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

    High-risk heaters<\/h2>\n\n

    The evidence<\/a> is now very clear: wood heater smoke is a potent source of air pollution and significant cause of ill-health in Australia.<\/p>\n\n

    The more often you burn, the greater the risk. One large population study<\/a> found even infrequent wood heater use (30 days or more each year) increases the risk of lung cancer by 68%.<\/p>\n\n

    Wood heaters spill smoke into the home when refuelling. They also suck smoke from outside back into the home as air is drawn up the chimney.<\/p>\n\n

    If you can smell your wood heater, it is harming your health and exposing you to a toxic mix of particles and gases. <\/p>\n\n

    For the wider community, the cumulative health impacts of wood heaters are significant.<\/p>\n\n

    Less than 10% of Australian households<\/a> use a wood heater. Yet they are the largest source of particulate air pollution in most Australian cities and towns, including Sydney<\/a>, Melbourne<\/a>, Canberra<\/a>, Adelaide<\/a> and Hobart<\/a>. Even in temperate Sydney, wood heaters emit more of this pollution<\/a> than all the cars, trucks, boats and buses combined, and more than coal-fired power stations and industry.<\/p>\n\n

    Centre for Safe Air<\/a> researchers estimate<\/a> wood heaters cause between 558 and 1,555 excess deaths a year in Australia. That\u2019s roughly equivalent to the annual road toll<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

    Fine particles (2.5 microns or less in diameter \u2013 also known as PM2.5) are a major component of wood smoke. PM2.5 increases rates of heart disease and stroke<\/a>, lung disease<\/a>, dementia and other neurological conditions<\/a> and asthma attacks<\/a>. Risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes<\/a> and poorer learning outcomes in children<\/a> are also increased.<\/p>\n\n

    \n \"A\n
    \n If you can smell your wood heater it is harming your health.<\/span>\n KingTa\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

    Moderate-risk heaters<\/h2>\n\n

    Evidence suggests there is no \u201csafe\u201d level of air pollution, with health effects seen at very low levels<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

    Flued gas heaters, which vent exhaust gases out of the home, can still expose residents<\/a> to PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide and formaldehyde. Over time, this can have a range of health impacts<\/a>, including worsening asthma and respiratory symptoms.<\/p>\n\n

    Even ducted gas heating, which has an external heating unit, has the problem that burning gas adds to greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n\n

    As Australia transitions to a zero-carbon society, some states and territories are phasing out installation of new wood heaters, such as in the ACT<\/a>, and gas connections, such as in Victoria<\/a>. Subsidies to help people replace unhealthy heaters are excellent investments in the environment, public health and health equity.<\/p>\n\n

    Healthy heaters<\/h2>\n\n

    Ultimately, heaters that do not rely on burning fuel inside the home are the safest, and often more affordable, heating option.<\/p>\n\n

    A well-maintained<\/a> reverse-cycle air conditioner, sometimes called a heat pump, actually cleans the air inside your home.<\/p>\n\n

    These air conditioners have the additional benefit of cooling your home in summer. As heatwaves become more severe and frequent, efficient cooling is increasingly important for health<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

    As for affordability, an efficient reverse-cycle air conditioner can be up to seven times as efficient<\/a> as a gas wall heater in the energy it uses for a given amount of heat. <\/p>\n\n

    There are many other electric heating technologies<\/a> \u2013 such as fan heaters, oil column heaters, panel heaters, or infrared heaters \u2013 that do not release toxins into the home.<\/p>\n\n

    Heater manufacturers are often reluctant to talk about the health impacts of their products, and regulators are slow to catch up with the science.<\/p>\n\n

    By thinking about heating in terms of health, you can make your home safer \nfor yourself and the people around you.<\/p>\n\n

    After all, there\u2019s nothing cosier than a healthy home.<\/p>\n\n

    \n\n

    Correction: This article has been updated to correct a reference to ducted gas heating exposing residents to toxins indoors. It should have referred to flued gas heaters.<\/em>\"The<\/p>\n\n

    Christine Cowie<\/a>, Senior Research Fellow, Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Macquarie University and the South West Sydney Clinical School, UNSW Sydney. Affiliate, Centre for Safe Air., UNSW Sydney<\/a><\/em> and Bill Dodd<\/a>, Knowledge Broker, Centre for Safe Air (NHMRC CRE), and Adjunct Researcher, Media School, University of Tasmania<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n

    This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alexander Raths\/Shutterstock Christine Cowie, UNSW Sydney and Bill Dodd, University of Tasmania We now have a dizzying array…\n","protected":false},"author":903,"featured_media":12394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/d\/db\/Hoarders_House_-_Rusty_Water_Heater_%2815991797965%29.jpg\/1362px-Hoarders_House_-_Rusty_Water_Heater_%2815991797965%29.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,12],"tags":[1547,1546],"class_list":{"0":"post-12392","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-engineering","8":"category-health-and-body","9":"tag-heater","10":"tag-house-heater","11":"cs-entry","12":"cs-video-wrap"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/903"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12392"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12393,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12392\/revisions\/12393"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}