Issues > March/April 2006 (#113) > Waiting to Inhale: How to Avoid Breathing Polluted Air and Avoid Producing It Too

Waiting to Inhale: How to Avoid Breathing Polluted Air and Avoid Producing It Too

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The most polluting of all is the outdoor wood boiler, a detached unit that heats water for home use. These unregulated boilers emit on average about 12 times the amount of fine particle pollution as EPA-certified wood stoves and 1,800 times more than natural gas furnaces, according to a 2005 report by the New York State Attorney General's Office.

Outdoor boiler smokestacks are often shorter than the house roofline, so particles linger around houses rather than drifting above them. "The emissions coming from your own chimney can reenter your house and your neighbors' houses," says Phil Johnson, a public health analyst with the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM).

What you can do

Reduce what you produce

*Structure your life to drive less, exercise more. When possible, choose to live in a community where you can walk or bike to work or to mass transit.

*Pedal rather than drive when you run errands, replacing short automobile trips that are disproportionately high in pollutant emissions.

*Check with your local air quality management district for restrictions on fireplace and wood-burning stove usage. Replace a pre-1992 stove with an EPA-certified stove.

*Conserve heating fuel by plugging drafts around windows and doors, adding insulation and setting your thermostat a little cooler in winter.

*When buying a car, consider a hybrid such as the Toyota Prius or Honda Civic Hybrid. EV Rentals offers hybrids through Fox Rent A Car at various airports around the country (www.foxrentacar.com). Or rent a Volkswagen Beetle powered by 100 percent recycled vegetable oil the next time you visit Hawaii (www.biobeetle.com).

Protect Your Health

*Lower your baseline risk of heart disease and stroke by exercising regularly and eating a heart-healthy diet.

*Check the air quality forecast at www.airnow.gov. Limit physical exertion on unhealthy days and in mid-afternoons when ozone levels peak.

*Steer clear of busy roadways when exercising. A study published last June in the journal Atmospheric Environment found that people who walked on the innermost part of the sidewalk had lower exposures to ultrafine particulate matter than those walking close to the road.

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