Award of RRF/013/25 - Evaluation of the effect of PM2.5 due to domestic solid fuel burning on hea...

Recent UK studies have suggested that domestic solid fuel burning makes a significant contribution to PM2.5 (e.g. Allan et al., 2010; Fuller et al., 2014; Crilley et al., 2015; AQEG, 2017; Font et al., 2017). Even in a Smoke Control Area such as London, 10% of the winter PM10 has been attributed to wood smoke (Fuller et al., 2014). The contribution to PM2.5 is larger and can exceed that from tailpipe emissions. Comparatively little is known for the Scottish context, where solid fuel combustion is used both as a traditional heat source (open fire places, coal combustion) as well as increasingly as a renewable heat source, encouraged by policies such as the Renewable Heat Incentive, Feed-in Tariffs and the Merton rule for on-site renewable heating for new builds. To address this evidence gap the Scottish Government commissioned work within its 2022-2027 Strategic Research Programme (SRP). Using data from two field campaigns representing one urban and one rural location, in addition to national data from DEFRA, a 1km2 spatial model of the contribution of domestic burning to poor air quality has been produced.Particulate air pollution, especially PM2.5, is highly correlated with various adverse health impacts. The Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 strategy indicates a need forevaluation of the effect of PM2.5 arising from domestic solid fuel burning on health outcomes. Using the data that has already been derived in the SRP project this responsive research fund project will assess the human health implications from PM2.5 of domestic biomass burning in Scotland.