Hang on a sec, what's that smell? That's not clean. It's not clear, either. Where the heck is that smoke coming from?

Must be old mate down the road with his new backyard fire pit. Old mate loves a good trend. He got in on the fire-pit boom quick-smart. It sits nicely next to his pizza oven. He's chuffed.

Then again, it could be bugalugs up the road putting logs in his wood heater. Or jughead, who lives next door to bugalugs. He's got a wood heater, too.

Of course, it's great that old mate, bugalugs and jughead are nice and toasty.

But an increasing number of folks on social media are making the point - not necessarily calmly - that their toastiness comes at the expense of everyone else getting to breathe clean air.

And they seem to have a bit of a point. It doesn't seem quite fair. Some might say that life isn't fair, which would be true.

But others might wonder why wood heaters and fire pits are legal at all. Especially when NSW Health says on its website that: "Wood-burning heaters make a substantial contribution to air pollution in NSW".

Some folks might urge the anti-wood smoke brigade to toughen up a bit. It's just a bit of smoke, right? Then again, the wood burners could always throw on a few extra layers, with a beanie, scarf and gloves. Or whack on thermals. They'd be sweet then. They wouldn't need a wood heater.

God forbid, they could actually buy an electric heater! Funny thing, you can even get ones nowadays that look like fire [But they use coal power, wood-burners scream. But coal pollutants don't smother our suburbs, opponents hit back].

NSW Health notes that long-term exposure to wood smoke "can cause heart and lung disease, while brief exposures can aggravate asthma or worsen pre-existing heart conditions".

"Use of a wood-burning heater will affect the air quality inside your home and the surrounding environment."

NSW Health added that it's stablemate, the NSW environment department, estimated that "in some towns and cities in NSW, around 30 per cent of total annual emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are emitted from wood-burning heaters".

"On a winter weekend, wood-burning heaters may be responsible for more than 60 per cent of fine particle pollution."

The NSW EPA published a long list of pollutants from wood heaters that include: benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, lead, oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, polychlorinated dioxins, sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds.

NSW Health states that "wood smoke can affect anyone", with children, the elderly and people with heart or lung conditions most likely to be affected.

Bit of a shame about 5-year-old asthmatic Johnny down the road, and all the other taxpaying citizens through the suburbs who aren't fans of breathing smoke.

Old mate and his wood-burning buddies would save a bit on power bills. But the anti-wood smoke brigade suggest they have a human right to breathe clean air.

They reckon clean air is priceless.

Sadly, Sydney's Covid outbreak meant we couldn't have State of Origin in Newcastle.

If it's any consolation, NSW wore jerseys in the Gold Coast game that stated: "Game III, McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, July 14, 2021". If only, hey.

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