THE humble wood-burning heater releases more hazardous pollution than a car and the average heater in Sydney leads to an estimated $3172 in health costs a year, new research claims.
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The report, published in the journal Atmospheric Pollution Research, applies the same methodology used to measure vehicle emissions to wood-burning heaters and adds up the cost of respiratory health treatments.
''The health costs are extremely high and what is amazing is that people aren't doing anything about it,'' said the report's author, Dorothy Robinson. ''But this data is almost certainly an underestimate, because it is based only on the published emissions - sometimes emissions are higher.''
Dr Robinson, also a Greens councillor in Armidale, drew together international research on the health impacts of heaters, including a 2007 New Zealand study that showed death rates rose along with wood smoke levels after adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, socio-economic status and tobacco smoking.
New Zealand has since tightened its particulate matter emission standards for heaters but the Australian standard has not been updated since 1999.
The Greens want tighter emissions standards and a moratorium on new wood-burning heaters until new rules come in.
''With the winter months upon us, the government needs to introduce a new health-based standard for wood heaters as a matter of urgency,'' said the Greens senator Lee Rhiannon.
The peak wood heater industry body, the Australian Home Heating Association, said even a short-term ban would ''see an industry that employs many, devastated''.
The Australian emissions standard - four grams or fewer of particulate matter for every kilogram of fuel burnt - was sufficient, said the association's general manager, Demi Brown. There was ''no clear evidence'' separating wood smoke emissions from other sources.
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