Dear Editor,
We now live in the 21st century and are well aware of habits which endanger our health and lives. My question is that if we outlawed smoking indoors and tightened regulations on industrial pollution output why must I continue to inhale the particulate matter from the wood burning stoves and fireplaces in our community when they also contain carcinogenic chemicals and irritants. Using wood burning stoves is not “going green.” It’s adding to our world’s problems as well as health issues. If my car put out as much smoke I’d have a ticket for it in a heartbeat. Yet there seems to be no rules when using stoves in your home. One of the reasons our lifspans were extended after the 19th century is that we no longer lived in a smoke filled environment. Asthma, emphysema and COPD are on the rise and the acrid smoke from these wood burners are also part of the problem.
I believe in freedom of choice but I also believe in rights to live my life in a healthy environment. Second hand smoke from the stoves can be just as deadly as the tobacco smoke we no longer have to endure while we go out to eat, flying across country or working in the same office. Long ago trash and leaf burning was outlawed as well as burning the trash dumps. Until something can be done to “scrub” the output from stoves which pollute our air what can be done for us who continue to live with nasal congestion, sore throats, and chest tightness. How about our population who have to use oxygen inhaled meds and pulmonary treatments to get through their day with the sooty, smoky irritants?
I don’t have the exact stats but the output of particulate matter and carcinogens equal hundreds, if not thousands, of cigarettes per day.
Mr. Editor do you have a suggestion or an answer for our community for this problem?
Katharine Piper
Great Bend