Ambient air quality and health impacts of PM 2.5 from US residential wood combustion

2026-01-23

Residential wood combustion (RWC) is a primary heating fuel in just 2% of US homes. However, the 2023 release of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s National Emissions Inventory (NEI) found that RWC contributes ~28% of total wintertime fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) emissions, suggesting that ambient PM 2.5 concentrations could be substantially reduced if RWC were curtailed. Despite its contribution to PM 2.5 emissions, an assessment of the air quality, health, and distributional impacts of RWC using the updated NEI has not been performed. Here, we use a high-resolution (4 kilometers) air quality model and the updated NEI to evaluate wintertime RWC impacts over the contiguous United States. We find that RWC contributes 2.43 micrograms per cubic meter (21.9%) of winter population-weighted mean PM 2.5 concentrations, leading to ~8600 (confidence interval: 6500 to 9600) premature deaths annually. Moreover, nonwhite communities are disproportionately affected by RWC-related PM 2.5 and associated mortality, especially in urban areas. We suggest that policies targeting RWC could substantially reduce air pollution, improve health, and address distributional disparities.

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DOI https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adz0189