wood smoke...the other second hand smoke

1. http://burningissues.org/car-www/index.html  see if this works. Ok...it doesn't.  How do I get the link to work? Can someone please help me? Thanks

<a href="http://burningissues.org/car-www/index.html">CLICK HERE</a> 

www.burningissues.org 

My neighbors keep burning their wood (It's for aesthetics, not heat). The Health Department reversed the cease and desist even though the inspector they sent to our home last winter said the smoke inside our home burned his eyes, he experienced the smoke all throughout our home, he witnessed all the plastic on our windows and doors and the air purifiers, and he said there was nothing more we could do to keep the smoke out. They were on our side last year, now they decided they don't want to take on wood burning residential pollution. Pollution is pollution!!!!  It is ruining our health and making my mother worse.

It all has to do with the neighbors' addition and how it is traps the air ....all the smoke emissions from their chimney and then the smoke engulfs our property and the inside of our home. We are going to go ahead with the attorney, we might also go to the media. My daughter has another bad respiratory infection which she developed shortly after a major smoke out last week. Now my mother has a respiratory infection too. My mother's lungs have been damaged due to a Taxotere pulmonary toxicity. She's been on oxygen since. She must do breathing treatments throughout the day to keep her lungs clear and open. She is highly susceptible to pneumonia, which in her condition would be life threatening. She also has tumors that bleed in her lungs that are easily irritated. It's criminal. 

Can anyone else offer any suggestions? I am active with a local anti-pollution group and we went to the advisory committee (to the health dept..air pollution division) and told my story and begged for help. If anyone here has any clever political ideas or media ideas or legal advice, I would be so appreciative.

Dear Tender and vivre,

Thank you both for your replies. I believe, from what the health department old us, that the chimney is to code.  I should check with building inspectors though like you two suggested. Their addition, with this low chimney, and all the fencing traps all the smoke. There is no breezeway and the smoke just hovers on our property because we have open yards, no walls or fences. The smoke just seems to spill this way.

What I can smell and is burning my eyes and causing ill respiratory effects (coughing, asthma flare, infection) could also be doing the same amount of damage if I couldn't smell the smoke. I've learned about the particulate matter, such as (PM2.5) which is small enough to get into the newer tighter sealed homes with ease, because the particulates are so small, small enough to fit into a red blood cell and way too small to be filtered by nasal passages. It's similar to diesel exhaust PM2.5. What I am trying to say is that sometimes you can't see or smell smoke, but it's there and it can be doing damage. Like carbon monoxide, you can't see, smell, or taste it, but it's fatal. These small particles are so small that they act like a gas. They bring with them bacteria, viruses, mold, toxins,  etc into the lung's moist environment where it then brings all the garbage directly into your bloodstream. They can even transport radon into your lungs if you have high levels in your home. With all of this, you can see how it would and does depress the immune system.

Tender, I am so glad you chose to not burn this year. I would have never known any of this if we hadn't gotten so sick last year. I have learned so much.  Also, I have sent this information on to my neighbors and they disregard it, because they love their wood burning fireplace so much. My husband is an internal medicine doctor, a well respected one in our city too. He told our neighbors, as a physician, why and how wood burning is harmful. We gave scientific literature form several resources.  It's been quite useless and they continue to stink up the entire street. 

We are looking to move. This is my mother's home, where I was born and raised. My father passed a few years back and my mom wanted to stay here. She's very close to her doctors and her hospital. 

I agree moving is best. vivre, I know what you mean about the formaldyhyde. Our environment today is so much more toxic than it was many years ago.  There are so many more chemicals and of these chemicals many are not even regulated. Perfume, scented products (fabric softeners and detergents), air fresheners are some of the most toxic things people have in their own homes, and they don't even realize the chemicals in these products are unsafe and are not regulated.

Tender, thanks for thanking me.  I am quite passionate about spreading the word about "The other second hand smoke." Thank you and vivre for your advice and compassion. 

SIncerely,

Julie 

http://www.burningissues.org/car-www/highlights.html

Excuse me again for not doing the link correctly. This is a highlight page of this site.  Here you can easily click onto facts and the brochures.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

I know some people here, who like me,  would love to get an Environmental Risks/Prevention board started here. Maybe with this thought I'll do a poll.