Home wood-burning may expose children to pollution comparable to traffic exhaust, new study suggests

Children's exposure to pollution from home wood-burning could be as significant as their exposure to traffic exhaust, according to new research across six European towns and cities, The Guardian reported on 13 November 2026.

The study measured polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, a family of pollutants given off when fuels are burned. Samples were taken in schools, sports centres and homes, the places where children spend much of their time. Measurements were made in and around Athens, Barcelona, Colchester, Copenhagen, Helsinki and Lisbon.

Dr Barend van Drooge of Barcelona's Institute for Environmental Assessment and Water Research is the senior author of the study. Maria Antonia Aretaki of the same institute is the first author.

Urban areas with wood-burning, such as Colchester and Athens, had the highest PAH levels, while Barcelona and Lisbon had the lowest. In Colchester and Athens, PAH exposure was greater than the guidelines of the World Health Organization, the United Nations health agency.

Among the places studied, sports centres had the lowest PAH concentrations, followed by schools. Some of the highest levels were found in homes in areas with wood-burning, and many of those homes had open fireplaces and stoves.

Levels also changed with the seasons. Winter PAH concentrations were greater than summer concentrations. In homes in Colchester, the heavier PAH compounds measured in winter were more than 10 times those measured in summer, while the lighter compounds were around three times greater.

None of the cities exceeded unacceptable limits for lifetime cancer risk, a measure of the estimated chance of developing cancer over a whole life.