19 comments:

• Ben Sanacore posted at 10:07 pm on Sun, Mar 10, 2013.

  Posts: 103

  I have personally observed people have acute, immediate breathing problems from the inhalation of fireplace smoke. They must take medicine and use inhalers. That is evidence enough for me. That is the reality of the situation, real people I know suffering, not some academic study or some half baked political theory of public health. The Air District's response to this problem is fully warranted, plain and simple.

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• Josh Morgan posted at 6:25 am on Sat, Mar 9, 2013.

  Posts: 518

  I have the choice of eating asparagus or not. Unfortunately I don't have that same choice of the air I breathe.

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• Thomas Heuer posted at 6:35 pm on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 1030

  Everybody is entitled to their opinion but some facts are eye openers. Mr Barrow listed some good resources of information the first of which opens with "...new concerns over the toxic substances borne aloft in wood smoke. Scientists say the tiny airborne specks of pollution carry carcinogenic chemicals deep into lungs and trigger DNA damage and gene changes comparable to the hazards of cigarette smoke and car exhaust."
  So aspargus may kill you but smoke can do it faster. The article is from, www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/hazards-of-wood-smoke
  Smoke created in Lodi stays in Lodi and is added to the rest of the valley which catches and holds the smoke between our two mountain ranges. All the Norman Rockwell or Courier and Ives scenarios fail to compensate the real problem of smoke. Those are simply a nostalgic trip to a time when there were fewer fireplaces or other wood burning. We now have many regulations where there were none before simply because there are more concentrations of people now. There was a time we didn't need exhaust emmission rules because there weren't that many cars. Its all changed now. So you can wish for the good ole dyas but time has made that a distant past.
  And to say the earth has a large ability to cleanse itself is true to a point but our valley is a unique geology to the "global" air quality. We are not talking hear about the problems of climate change but central valley dynamics. Its the same problem we have with all polutions especially with the summer heat. The air gets trapped here and accumulates making it more dense than lets say up in the mountains. Overcast days and fog adds a lid to the valley trapping the air here. Then to say there are more problems with autos or leaf blowers is ignoreing the problem which is multi headed. They all need to be worked on but even when you try to work on autos or leaf blowers people complain.

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• Robert Chapman posted at 4:32 pm on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 951

  Duh, no kidding. Do you really think what goes on in Lodi has a bearing on planet earth?

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• Eric Barrow posted at 3:25 pm on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 1018

  I second that

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• robert maurer posted at 3:21 pm on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 233

  Perfect! Right on with what I was trying to convey, Jerome. As far as Kim's comment regarding retrofitting diesels, another main cause of combustion problems, is the CARB required No2 (oxides of nitrogen) sensor, which lowers combustion temperature. Diesels have preheaters for a reason,but don't try to convince beaurocrats of this.

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• John Kindseth posted at 2:29 pm on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 141

  Everyone who eats asparagus will die.

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• Jerome Kinderman posted at 1:30 pm on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 2028

  Hear, Hear!!

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• Jerome Kinderman posted at 1:29 pm on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 2028

  Of course those who choose to use their fireplaces should take care not to die as a result. Where I live the fireplaces are cleaned on a yearly basis; there are also carbon monoxide detectors installed and tested bi-annually.

  But to permit governmental intervention by outlawing the use of fireplaces is another example of this infernal nanny state that is completely unnecessary.

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• Jeff Tillett posted at 1:28 pm on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 419

  for the record, within our valley micro-environment, fireplace emissions do pollute more than exploding volcanoes, uber-polluting countries, and even raging forest fires.

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• roy bitz posted at 12:53 pm on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 479

  I believe gardeners wielding powerful and very noisey leaf blowers put more particulate into the air we breath than the few occasional evening fireplaces do.
  Nothing positive is accomplished by simply blowing debries from a yard into the street. I give up my fire place when leaf blowers are replace with vacuum cleaners.

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• Kim Parigoris posted at 12:24 pm on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 444

  Environmentalism at its best- First you need to scare the people in to sumbmission, then you need to come up with some half cocked, half thought out replacement product like Cleen Aire filters for all the thousand of truckers that had to retrofit their trucks to comply with Calfiornia Air Resources Board regulations. All these truckers have had to retrofit their trucks only to have the filters gert recalled because of combustion problems. (Started a 3,000 acre fire up in Washington State) That would ll be well and good, but the Cleen Aire company has now gone out of business. Another fine mess the libs have gotten us in to, Ollie..

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• Robert Chapman posted at 12:11 pm on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 951

  Raging forest fires, exploding volcanoes, uber-polluting countries (China, India,etc) and automotive exhaust make fireplace emissions pale in comparison when it comes to impacting the environment.

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• Jerome Kinderman posted at 11:05 am on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 2028

  What, because one might smell the odor of burning wood this is "evidence" of something harmful? For me it brings back fond memories.

  We've become a nation of people who believes that virtually EVERYTHING we do is harmful to the environment. Over the course of this planet's life there have been plenty of untamed forest fires as well as human beings burning wood in order to keep warm, cook their food and mostly now for ambiance - a nicer way to live our lives.

  I live in an apartment complex where every unit has a small fireplace. I've chosen to not use it but not because I believe it's a bad thing to do, but because I'd rather not spend my limited funds on wood or Duraflame logs. However, when I did use it a few years ago I did make sure that it was a legal "burn day" because I also believe I'm not above the law, even one as silly as prohibiting me from burning a log in my fireplace.

  But if I were to base my life upon what someone thinks is a bad thing by walking down the street I would be very foolish. Earth is a hearty planet - it has the power to cleanse itself and to provide us with what we need to live good and happy lives. I'm not about to give in to such silly histrionics.

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• Doug Chaney posted at 10:23 am on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 389

  I'm hoping that this is an attempt at satire?

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• robert maurer posted at 10:18 am on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 233

  In my opinion, if you can smell your fireplace while it is burning,then you are no doubt, breathing deadly, colorless, odorless, gas called carbon monoxide; a byproduct of combustion and burning. A lot of homes burn down because of creosote buildup in the chimney flue.Combine these 2 facts with the deaths that occur and I find that without proper ventilation and constant chimney cleaning, that fireplaces can be not healthful,but also deadly.I personally would reccomend a carbon monoxide meter be used in homes that have fireplaces,unless light headedness and the side affects of not enough oxygen to the brain are appealling.

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• Josh Morgan posted at 10:06 am on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 518

  Evidence?? All you need to do is walk down the street in the middle of winter and breathe. I don't need any statistics. I can experience it myself.

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• Jeff Tillett posted at 9:45 am on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 419

  Also, Mr. Parsons, other literate people would refer to "Could your fireplace be killing you?" as an article, not an ad. But of course you probably knew that.

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• Eric Barrow posted at 8:46 am on Thu, Mar 7, 2013.

  Posts: 1018

  Just a little something to get you started I wouldn’t stop here find your own info. But please don’t say there is no statistics. Of course most research takes place at Universities so if you are already biased against education and those pesky college
  students I don’t imagine it will matter to you.
  
  http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/hazards-of-wood-smoke

  http://www.epa.gov/iaq/combust.html

  http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/952/1/Beware-Your-Fireplace-Or-Wood-Burning-Stove-May-Be-Harming-Your-Health.html

  http://www.vtwoodsmoke.org/pdf/Fine01.pdf

  http://burningissues.org/sense-protect.html

  http://www.burningissues.org/comp-emmis-part-sources.htm
  

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