Indoor wood burning raises women’s lung cancer risk by 43%, says US study

(The Guardian, 6 Oct 2023) Results from study involving 50,000 women suggest even occasional wood burning can contribute to lung cancer.

Using an indoor wood stove or fireplace increases women’s risk of developing lung cancer by 43% compared with those that do not use wood heating, according to a US study.

In the UK, one in 13 men and one in 15 women born after 1960 are expected to be diagnosed with lung cancer during their lifetimes. In the US it is one in 16 men and one in 17 women.

The US study found that more frequent use of indoor wood heating led to greater risk. For example, people who used their wood burner on more than 30 days a year had a 68% increased lung cancer risk compared with people who did not burn wood.

The results come from the Sister Study, which tracks the health of 50,000 US women who had sisters with breast cancer.

Dr Suril Mehta, from the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and first author of the new study, said: “The Sister Study was designed to better understand genetic and environmental risk factors for breast cancer, but it is also equipped to evaluate other health outcomes in women. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among US women. It accounts for roughly one in five cancer-related deaths in the US.”

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The Guardian, 6 Oct 2023: Indoor wood burning raises women’s lung cancer risk by 43%, says US study