A burning issue.

Sixteen-year-old Jake Wilson (not his real name) was the star of his Wayne, Pennsylvania high school football team. Young, smart and in good shape, he was also radiantly healthy. But then Jake started becoming lethargic. He began to fatigue easily, lost his ambition, seemed disoriented, complained of headaches and grew quite irritable. His school work took a dive as well as his performance on the field.

For months, doctors were confused. Wilson's parents were alarmed and distressed, but also determined to learn why their son had changed. As winter rolled on, they got a clue. Jake often fell asleep in the den while doing his homework. They zeroed in on ... the family's wood stove.

Wood Stove Explosion

Before 1973, wood stoves were largely relics of rural America. Then came the Arab oil embargo. The wood stove became America's declaration of energy independence. In 1980 alone, 2.5 million wood stoves were sold. Then sales slowly tapered off. But a combination of back-to-the-landers and regular folks worried about power failures and high fuel costs has wood stoves again becoming a hot item. In the past decade, wood burning has almost doubled throughout the country. The Department of Energy estimates that more than 20 percent of American households now burn wood for some or all of their heat. According to the industry-supported American Hearth Association (yes, that's hearth, not heart!), 130,000 wood stoves were sold in 1994.

Wood stove mythology, laced with nostalgia and folkiness, is as basic to America as Abe Lincoln and apple pie. Few routines in life are more satisfying than the ritual of the winter fire, which conjures up the image of the pioneer and the woodsman and the warm and loving family gathered around the burning hearth. Todays wood stoves are hot designer items. Instead of basic black, they now come in many styles and colors, including red, blue and green. Suburban pioneers can put their wood stove right in the fireplace and watch the flames through the glass doors.

Clearing the Air

But yesterday's technology is not always better, and wood stoves can pose a serious health threat. Emissions from wood stoves are a well-documented source of both pollution and illness. If you suffer from headaches, sinus problems, asthma or respiratory problems, your condition can be aggravated by wood stoves.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), residential wood stoves are one of the nation's largest sources of particulate matter air pollution. Although the EPA sets standards for new wood stoves, some burn cleaner than others. And many people still have old wood stoves that don't burn efficiently. In fact, there is a growing market for used stoves.

Fumes from a burning wood stove include:

* Carbon monoxide, the leading cause of poisoning deaths in the country. Colorless, odorless carbon monoxide gas is often improperly vented from wood stoves.

* Carbon dioxide, inhalation of which can lead to fatigue, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, headaches, dizziness, weakness, nausea and disorientation.

* Sulfur dioxide, the presence of which can aggravate symptoms in individuals with asthma and bronchitis.

Particulates formed from incompletely-burned wood carry toxic substances such as creosols, aldehydes and phenols into the lungs, as well as carcinogens such as benzopyrene, dibzezanthracenes and dibenzocarbazoles. Research conducted as part of the EPA's Integrated Air Cancer Project found a major source of cancer risk from particulate air pollution caused by wood stoves. The study also found that breathing air containing wood smoke can reduce lung function, especially in children. It can also increase the severity of asthma, emphysema, pneumonia and bronchitis; irritate eyes, lungs. throats and sinuses; and trigger headaches and allergies.

An EPA study correlated risk of death with wood smoke, finding that exposure to every 100 micrograms of total particulate per cubic meter of air raises the risk of dying 19 percent from bronchitis and asthma, nine percent from cardiovascular disease, 32 percent from emphysema, and 12 percent from pneumonia.

Wood stoves produce many of the same carcinogens as cigarettes. People who've given up or never started smoking may be exposing themselves to many of the same toxins from their stoves, and wondering why they lack concentration and are often tired, restless and irritable.

To make matters worse, people are not careful about what they burn. Many owners toss treated wood, plywood, painted wood, plastic and other chemically coated substances into the stove. Homeowners also burn newspapers, wrapping paper and rubbish. Consequently, toxic chemicals are spewed out that can exert harmful effects on all of us.

Young people like Jake Wilson are particularly vulnerable to wood stove fumes due to their size and weight. The fact that children spend a lot of time watching TV and doing their homework in rooms with wood stoves make them unknowing victims.

Another Pennsylvania resident, 26-year-old John Reynolds (a pseudonym), also had a negative experience with a wood stove. "I got a stove thinking it would save money on our heating bills and create a `homey' atmosphere. It made me feel good chopping wood, better than the health club. Then my wife started getting sinus infections and headaches. She would rarely sit around the fire with me, was tense and grumpy, and often left the room. But when we stopped using the stove in the spring, she actually started feeling better."

Environmental Impact

Wood stoves are not only an indoor health hazard but also contribute to outdoor pollution. According to the EPA, in some areas of the country more than 80 percent of particulate matter pollution is caused by residential wood burning. Another study found that more than 30 percent of the mutagenic emission in the U.S. comes from wood stoves. With air quality in many regions listed as poor by the EPA, wood stoves increase the severity of ambient air pollution. When houses are grouped together in a small community, the effects are more pronounced.

Many towns and cities have banned wood stoves or restricted their use. Some western municipalities have banned installation of all new wood stoves. Still others insist on minimal requirements to keep pollution at safer levels. Some states do not allow the use of woo(i stoves on high-level pollution days. Oregon requires all new stoves to meet state emissions standards, and insists that wood stoves have automobile-type catalytic converters to reduce pollution.

A New Generation

All stoves manufactured after July 1988 have had to meet EPA health standards, and those made after July 1992 have to be either catalyst-equipped with a maximum particulate emission level of 4.1 grams per hour or non-catalyst-equipped releasing no more than 7.5 grams per hour.

Wood stove makers are producing a new generation of cleaner-burning stoves, which, studies show, have cut stove-produced pollution 85 percent in the last few years by reducing particulate emissions to an average of six grams per hour. By contrast, uncertified conventional stoves throw off an average of 42 gram per hour.

Ronald White, director of environmental health for the American Lung Assocations, says that "air pollution resulting from conventional wood stoves and fireplaces is a serious health concern." He encourages the use of EPA-certified stoves because they are produce fewer toxic emissions, need less fuel, and are less of a fire hazard. "In the newer models, efficiency has been increased by 50 percent, so homeowners burn less wood to produce the same amount of heat," he says.

Bill Mathewson, vice president of sales and marketing at major manufacturer Vermont Castings, says, "Today's wood stoves are all certified by the EPA, and ours have efficiency ratings of 72 to 79 percent. Our Dutchwest cast-iron wood stove is rated at 1.1 grams per hour, less than a single cigarette which emits 1.5 grams."

Carter Keithly, president of the industry-sponsored Hearth Products Association, says that manufacturers have cleaned up their act. "The newer generation of wood stoves is a source of pride and accomplishment," he says. "These stoves eliminate 75 to 85 percent of wood stove pollution across the U.S. Today's stoves set a standard for environmental cleanliness and are making a considerable difference in general air quality."

The progress in cleaning up wood stoves is encouraging, and increased regulation is working to curb the worst excesses. But wood stove users need to carefully consider the invisible pollution from their own hearths. Contact: Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street SW, Washington, DC 20460/[phone]; American Hearth Association, 1601 North Kent Street, Suite 1001, Arlington, VA 22209(703)522-0086; Vermont Castings, P.O. Box 501, Bethel, VT 05032/[phone].

If You Insist on

Burning With Wood...

Instead of trying to save money by using a wood stove, it might make more sense to properly insulate your house, put in new tight windows and doors and upgrade your existing heating system. But if your heart is set on having a wood stove, here are some guidelines.

1. Replace your older polluting model with a newer cleaner-burning one. See that it is equipped with technological advances, such as a catalytic converter, to improve air quality. The newer wood stoves will produce little or no creosote buildup in your chimney, lessening the chance of chimney fires and the need for cleaning. EPA-certified stoves reportedly reduce firewood consumption by a third. 2. If you choose to stay with your older wood stove, see that it burns at a high heat, there are no leaks in the system, and your chimney is cleaned yearly to prevent creosote build-up. You may want to purchase a carbon monoxide detector to insure your wood stove is not leaking into your home. 3. Do not burn treated wood, wrapping paper, newspaper, rubbish, or plastic in any wood stove. Use only seasoned hardwood. The best burning woods are hickory, beech, maple, oak and ash. 4. Insist that your township have a wood stove emissions policy that requires them to meet minimal standards, bans their use on high pollution days, and imposes a distance requirement between homes.