Wood Smoke Presents Tobacco-Like Danger

Women who cook over and breathe wood smoke for years can develop the same problems suffered by tobacco smokers, a seven-year study in Mexico concludes.

Researchers at Mexico City’s National Institutes of Respiratory Diseases reached the conclusion in a study of 481 people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — 71 percent of which developed COPD from tobacco smoke and 38 percent of which developed the condition from wood smoke.

Biomass smoke exposure starts early in life because women cook using wood stoves in the same room where children sleep, play and eat, increasing the risk of respiratory infections and possible reduction in lung growth, said researcher Alejandra Ramirez-Venegas.

The study was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.