Update Limits the Amount of Pollution Wood Heaters Can Emit
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing standards to limit the amount of pollution wood heaters can emit. These standards, which were last updated in 1988, reflect the significantly improved technologies available to make a range of models cleaner-burning and more efficient. The final rule will provide important health benefits to communities across the country and will be phased in over a five-year period, giving manufacturers time to adapt their product lines to develop the best next-generation models to meet these new standards. The final rule does not affect current heaters already in use in homes today. It also does not replace state or local requirements governing wood heater use. Instead, it ensures consumers buying wood heaters anywhere in the U.S. will be able to choose from cleaner-burning models.
Wood heaters, which are used around the clock in some areas, can increase particle pollution, sometimes called soot, to levels that pose serious health concerns. Particle pollution is linked to a wide range of serious health effects, including heart attacks, strokes, and asthma attacks. People with heart, vascular, or lung disease; older adults; and children are the most at risk from particle pollution exposure. Smoke from wood heaters also includes volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide, and air toxins. EPA’s updated standards will build on the work that states and local communities have done to improve air quality in these communities and are based on significant improvements in technology.