On 2009-10-24, Dan Musicant wrote:

Wayne, are you there? Wayne Whitney who traffics this newsgroup

Yo! My trafficking is fairly irregular these days, it was chance that
I noticed your post.

told me that fireplaces release particulate matter which has been
shown to shorten one life.

Right, but most of those are emitted outside, so you'd be shortening
your neighbor's lives, not your own. Of course, if your fireplace has
a drafting problem, you could get smoke and particulates inside.

The best option pollution wise is to get an EPA-certified wood burning
insert in your fireplace. They have some form of afterburner or
catalyst to burn wood more cleanly. Plus you could improve the
efficiency of using the fireplace to heat the house, as you should be
able to arrange to use outside air for combustion and just blow the
heat into the house. Much more efficient than a conventional
fireplace.

However, the expense of the insert and/or necessary chimney
improvements or liners may be prohibitive.

Cheers, Wayne