Back during the energy crunch of the 70's,I sold wood stoves and Chainsaws. I sold Fishers and Riteways. To keep up with info and trends I went to a seminar at Notre Dame University. A professor who gave one of the talks, talked about wood burning and air pollution. He said that a log laying in the forest rotting gave of the same amount of toxins as a similar log burning in a stove. The stove just put them out quicker,where as the one in the woods took years. I realize that if you live in certain areas,and there are enough stoves,the smoke is going to be bad. Normally wood stoves are scattered out pretty good,and pollution is not an issue. Naturally forrest fires put out a lot more smoke in a given area,and this is natural. Burning wood is a natural thing,and happens in nature. Where as oil and gasoline are not normally found in nature. I think people are worrying to much about wood,in the long term it is a lot safer then other forms of fuel.