u/Fluid-Grand5799

As someone who, like you, is concerned greatly about the air we breathe and especially aware and annoyed with how the winter's air quality has been getting worse lately.. We unfortunately now know that, in my opinion, one of the worst possible things you can breathe in (LEAD) is being released from wood burning!!

This new resurgence fad has been so detrimental and backwards. Gah! What next? Let's put lead back in fuel and they'll claim it's to counter rising gas prices lol.

EDIT - The reason lead is such a big concern, at least for me above all other pollutants, is because once inhaled it pretty much goes DIRECTLY to the brain. It's readily absorbed with ease and bypasses the liver, and once in your brain can and usually does cause irreversible brain damage. It's horrible and there's a reason statistics can point to more violent crime and other defects during times where more kids grew up breathing in leaded gasoline pollution. This is an atrocity and, since wood burning already hinders the air quality as is, awareness needs to exist.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/15/wood-burning-for-heat-reintroducing-lead-pollution-into-the-air-us-scientists-find