Dangers of open fire cooking

[grenfell]

It's funny , my father was a furnace operator and told me about the treated timber so I never burned it although others did , however , I'd burn mdf whereas some of those who burned the treated stuff wouldn't touch the mdf Luckily working in restoration hardwoods , especially oak , was generally common both green , semi green and several hundreds of years old .

[preparedsurrey]

MDF - yuck! Thick black choking smoke....Mind I did chuck on some of the cheap chinese ply offcuts (the stuff you find the workers empty crisp packets and orange peels in when you cut it) and they gave off some horrible smoke too. Hardwood is nice though, even better when its free - I've got a load of green oak offcuts drying for next year.

[Bongo]

I also stayed/participated at a re-enactment village and had to have a word about the offcuts and explain about the possible hazard of mdf smoke, plus it was stinkink and im not sitting around dressed like claypole smelling the rank stink. Hoyed it out and carried on with the good dry white pine that was there, odd really as there was a stonking big forest next to it but i dont think that they realised that firewood grows on trees....strange lot. I was a bit preoccupied with the medieval lady that had invited me there to be helping out much...another story and im really digressing

Back on topic, we had open grate fires for years in our home and burnt primarily timber offcuts, logs and coal, switched over to closed woodburners and rocket stoves about ten years back, wife developed brain tumor, cause unknown. It could have been hydrocarbons/pollutants escaping into our living enviroment? It could have been chernobyl as we still have lamb restrictions nearby and some really odd cancers amongst the people. Woodburners with the doors closed and rocket stoves and clean timber is my way of heating now.

[Arzosah]

Sorry to hear about your wife, Bongo, I hope she's clear of that now.

Very interesting to put this topic together with the rocket stove, where it burns up the crap that usually gets dumped into the atmosphere (ie indoors, in weather like this!)

[grenfell]

Agreed best wishes for your wife Bongo.
Concerning the mdf I've just done a google and looked at a few sites and whilst definite scientific evidence is scarce I would say the majority are against burning it. This is largely because of the glues and resins used in the manufacture and also applies to chipboard , ply and pretty much all man made timbers. Some people were concerned with build up in chimneys which admittedly can also occur with stuff like green softwoods while others were more concerned with the effects of the fumes on health and envoirment . As pointed out mdf differs in quality and glue content dependant on its final use and it's not knowing these details that cause a lot of people to err on the side of caution . Older mdf is more likely to be worse than newer .
Although I have burnt some in the past it was never huge amounts and generally only if there was nothing else available so I'm not going to beat myself up over it especially as some of my colleagues were burning tanalised , protomised and painted timbers.

[Waterbaby]

I would imagine that treated wood is the biggest short term problem,because of the immediate response to toxic fumes.
I've heard very little about this,but I think the main concern is the use of open fires as a cooking and heat source over many years,and the health problems caused by this.
In a survival situation fire could be so vital that the longer term risks pale into insignificance,so this is really only a concern in our day by day lives.
I would avoid treated wood anyway because it can also spit and burn way too fast.Pallets are a pain in woodstoves as you either have to denail or take care to remove the nails from the riddle grate.
There is an old traditional verse about which wood burns best -I'm not good enough at computers to know how to copy it on to here but its worth looking up.

[Hamradioop]

wood burning rhymes


Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year
Chestnut only good they say
If for long it's laid away
Make a fire of elder tree
Death within your house will be
But ash new or ash old
Is fit for a Queen with a crown of gold
Birch and Fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last
It is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread
Elmwood burns like churchyard mould
Even the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a Queen with a golden crown

Poplar gives a bitter smoke
Fills your eyes and makes you choke
Apple wood will scent your room
With an incense-like perfume
Oaken logs, if dry and old
Keep away the winters cold
But ash wet or ash dry
A king shall warm his slippers by.

#2

Beechwood fires burn bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year
Store your beech for Christmastide
With new holly laid beside
Chestnuts only good they say
If for years tis stayed away
Birch and firwood burn too fast
Blaze too bright and do not last
Flames from larch will shoot up high
Dangerously the sparks will fly
But Ashwood green and Ashwood brown
Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown

Oaken logs, if dry and old
Keep away the winters cold
Poplar gives a bitter smoke
Fills your eyes and makes you choke
Elmwood burns like churchyard mould
Even the very flames burn cold
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread
So it is in Ireland said
Applewood will scent the room
Pears wood smells like a flower in bloom
But Ashwood wet and Ashwood dry
A King may warm his slippers by.

[Waterbaby]

Thats the one!
Thanks Hamradioop!

[Wulfshead]

Hamradioop,
That's the rhyme that was evading me, thanks for the reminder.

Wulfshead

[Bongo]

Thanks for the good wishes, appreciated. Its been 'no change' on mri scans for some time so were all good at the moment. Impossible to know the cause, could be so many different things.

I popped a 1x1x12 of mdf into the rs today, nothing to see out of the chimney and didnt notice odor from mine. Neighbours though....they burn carpet, toys, sump oil by the smell of it...