Oregon's top airborne cancer cause: burning wood

The Environmental Protection Agency has found that pollution from burning wood in stoves, fireplaces and elsewhere is the leading airborne cause of cancer risk in Oregon, but experts agree that the finding is partially due to Oregon’s meticulous record-keeping.

Forty-five census tracts in four counties were found to have cancer risks above EPA’s benchmark level, Scott Learn reports for The Oregonian. Rural counties are particularly fond of wood-burning stoves, and urban areas increased risk levels with higher use of fireplaces, which release more pollutants.

The state Department of Environmental Quality backed new laws this year that require new wood-burning stoves to have EPA certification that they reduce pollution by 70 percent of pollution, but it is estimated that more than half of Oregon homes are using older stoves. The DEQ says residents can cut pollution by using cleaner-burning manufactured logs in fireplaces and by building small, hot fires instead of large, smoldering ones. (Read more)