Are Wood-Burning Ovens Harming The Environment?

Turns out those fancy wood-burning stoves used at steakhouses and pizzerias are impacting the environment in a not-so-savory way.

A study by environmental experts from seven different countries examined the emissions from wood- burning ovens in busy urban areas, such as São Paulo, reports The Daily Mail.

Dr. Prashant Kumar from the University of Surrey and one of the study experts said, "It became evident from our work that despite there not being the same high level of pollutants from vehicles in the city as other megacities, there had not been much consideration of some of the unaccounted sources of emissions."

Despite the fact that São Paulo has reduced the amount of emissions produced by traffic, the amount of pollution is still as high, which is a result of the high output of pollutants from wood-burning stoves.

When wood is burned, the smoke goes into the air and through a chemical process turns into secondary pollutants such as ozone and aerosol.

Kumar says, "A total of over 307,000 tons of wood is burned each year in pizzerias. This is significant enough of a threat to be of real concern to the environment negating the positive effect on the environment that compulsory green biofuel policy has on vehicles."