Dear bills? Ok to pellets, but watch out for old stoves and saving materials

With the onset of cold weather, beware of savings to heat your home. Health can lose out. Dated and badly used pellet stoves with non-certified products, obtained with too much sawdust and chemicals, can release emissions that irritate the mucous membranes and damage the respiratory tract, especially in the most vulnerable people such as the elderly, children and allergy sufferers. The experts of the Italian Society of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology (Siaaic) warn them during the national congress that closes today in Verona. By illustrating the damage that indoor pollution can cause to our airways, allergists examine the possible effects of alternative heat sources in times of energy crisis, which required a crackdown on home heating. Experts urge you to be careful. In addition to old and badly used pellet stoves with non-certified products, often purchased at low prices on the Internet, the risks to respiratory health also come from the restrictive measures of gas consumption: the reduction of the maximum temperature and the duration of heating in the home and in public places it can induce to keep the windows closed, favoring the concentrations of mites and other allergens that can damage the epithelium of the upper respiratory tract, making them more attackable by viruses and bacteria. Not to be underestimated – they warn – also the frequent and massive use of candles against possible blackouts: they can release irritating fumes into the air of the house, particularly harmful for children and for those suffering from asthma and allergy. Pellet stoves, waste products of wood processing, are among the most popular methods for heating homes as an alternative to gas. The explosion of stove sales costs, + 28% compared to 2021, and the price of pellets, which went from 3.50 euros in January to the current 13.50, could however push many Italians to inappropriate use. “If the stoves are very old and the waste products are not certified, the pellet fumes are among the worst pollutants in circulation”, underlines Gianenrico Senna, president of Siaaic and professor of respiratory diseases at the University of Verona. “Pellet stoves, in fact, are a source of combustion – explains the expert – which alone contributes to the emission of half of the fine dust deriving from the domestic combustion of woody biomass. The smaller the particles, the deeper they can penetrate into the If the fine dust, microscopic particles with a diameter of 7 micrometers can reach the oral cavity, nasal cavity and the larynx, particles with a diameter of 1.1 micrometers can reach and even damage the pulmonary alveoli. But pellet stoves, in the case of very old systems, they can release harmful emissions even in the home. In particular, in order not to irritate the mucous membranes and damage the respiratory tract, it is necessary to use systems that are not too dated and avoid non-certified waste products – Senna notes – especially cylinders in pellets larger than 7-8 mm obtained with too much sawdust and also with too many additives and chemicals “.Risch i for respiratory health may also derive from the crackdown on heating, envisaged by the National Plan for the containment of gas consumption. “The reduction of the maximum temperature and the duration of heating in the home and in public places can in fact induce people to avoid or reduce the opening of windows – comments Giorgio Walter Canonica, member of the Scientific Committee of the Siaaic congress and director of the Personalized Medicine Center : asthma and allergology at the Humanitas Research Hospital in Rozzano (Mi) – Not adequately ventilating the rooms favors the concentration of mites and other allergens that can damage the epithelium of the upper respiratory tract, irritating the mucous membranes and making them more attackable by viruses and bacteria “. Finally, the frequent use of candles against possible power cuts due to energy consumption peaks is not recommended. “Even the smoke of candles is not without risks for our respiratory tract – emphasizes Senna – In fact, a very recent study published in the Indoor Air journal by experts from the University of Lund in Sweden shows that the combustion of candles releases emissions into the home air. of smoke, some of which are worrying for respiratory health “. Swedish experts studied particle and gas emissions from burning five types of candles with different compositions of wax and wick, highlighting an increase in respiratory problems associated with the use of candles at home. “The deposition on the respiratory tract of emissions from badly used pellet stoves, from the massive use of candles to the poor ventilation of homes, as a consequence of the restrictive measures of gas consumption, can particularly weigh on respiratory health “, conclude Senna and Canonica, inviting to” pay more attention to consumption of energy, but not to the detriment of their well-being. If the habits of Italians change to cope with the energy crisis, unknowingly exposing them to other sources of indoor pollution, the costs of the NHS for allergic and respiratory diseases could also skyrocket due to the increase of pathologies affecting the airways “.