Are Smokeless Fire Pits The Solution to High Blood Pressure AND Air Pollution?

Anyone who has ever been the recipient of a face full of hot grey smoke rising up out of the fire pit knows that it can’t be good to breathe that in. 

Coughing. Eyes watering. Lungs burning. WHITE RABBIT! WHITE RABBIT! WHITE RABBIT!

Yeah, it’s rough. We’ve all been there. 

But minutes later the smoke has moved on (or you’ve played musical chairs with your friend and left them in the hot seat). You’ve all but forgotten about how you couldn’t breathe just moments ago. 

So is campfire smoke really that bad for you? Is it just a moment of suffering or are there negative effects of campfire smoke that persist — like its sweet stench — long after the camping trip ends? And when it comes to kicking back fireside, are there risks that outweigh the benefits? Let’s explore.

Wood Burning Fire Pits Produce Fine Particulate Matter — And Yes, It Can Be Bad for Your Health

We hate to admit it, because we love a good wood burning campfire, but it’s the truth. Unfortunately inhaling campfire smoke can be bad for your health. Even when you do your best to stay out of the smoke, it’s hard to avoid breathing in microscopic particulate matter if you’re sitting fireside. 

Beyond the particle pollution, burning wood releases VOCs (volatile organic compounds) into the air. These are nasty chemicals like benzene, arsenic, formaldehyde, and others that are toxic and potentially cancer causing. If you’ve ever watched someone aghast while yelling about “carcinogens” as they torch their marshmallow in the flame and precede to indulge in the charred ball of cancer — you may want to watch out for the smoke-filled air you’re breathing. 

Some people may never flinch at the effects of smoke from the fire pit. Some are highly sensitive. Especially those who have pre-existing conditions like asthma. The irritation caused by campfire smoke can trigger asthma attacks. It can even contribute to triggering heart attacks, strokes, and various other cardiac events in people who are predisposed to them. 

Those are all extreme occurrences, though. More often, the health impacts caused by being exposed to smoke by a fire pit, hearth, or campfire are no more than mildly annoying and unlikely to last much longer than your weekend camping trip itself. If you don’t have a condition that’s exacerbated by smoke, typically the worst symptoms you’ll find yourself noticing — if any — are coughing, a runny nose, itchy eyes, and occasionally respiratory illnesses like bronchitis can develop. 

Don’t let this scare you away from enjoying the campfire on your next trip. Sitting beside a fire has also been shown to yield some surprising health and social benefits

Sitting Fireside Leads to Surprising Health Benefits

Now for some good news! Man evolved around the fire. Some may say it’s the greatest and most impactful discovery in all of human history. From cooking food to forging iron, we wouldn’t have grilled ribeye or the Empire State Building if it weren’t for our ability to start and manipulate fire.

But if I told you that sitting by a fire pit can lower blood pressure would you believe me? According to a study led by Christopher D. Lynn, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Alabama, it can. Yet another reason to worship FIRE! 

Christopher D. Lynn’s study on hearth and campfire influences on arterial blood pressure put the theory that sitting by a fire calms us down and makes us more sociable to the test. 

The study measured the blood pressure of 226 adult participants before and after sitting beside a simulated wood burning fire — something like the Yule log channel you turn your TV to during the holidays. Out of three groups, simulated fire with crackling sounds, simulated fire without sound, and a control group, those who sat by the simulated fire with sound saw not only a decrease in blood pressure that grew more significant with more time spent fireside but also an increase in prosocial behavior. 

Long story short, sitting around a fire pit can make you a better person. Yes, this is a perfectly valid excuse to go camping when you call in for a sick day. 

Smokeless Fire Pits May Provide the Health Benefits Campfires Offer Without the Risk

While we’re certainly not claiming to be scientists over here, I think the correlations are pretty clear… Smokeless fire pits are the answer. 

Sitting beside a traditional wood burning fire pit, campfire, or hearth lowers blood pressure and can make us more social and tolerant of our friends and neighbors. However, the smoke they produce is not only bad for health and air quality but wood burning campfires are often the culprit behind human caused wildfires that devastate millions of acres of wildland each year. 

Smokeless fire pits and campfires fueled by a clean burning gas like propane don’t make the exact crackling wood sound that Christopher D. Lynn’s study concluded has the largest effect (in conjunction with the flickering fire) on decreasing blood pressure. But we would argue that smokeless campfires have the power to evoke a similar result. 

After all, almost anyone who has ever gathered around any LavaBox Portable Campfire will likely report experiencing a feeling of calm, decompression, and increased warm fuzzy feelings towards the people they’re communing with. And yes, we believe that’s a result of the smokeless campfire, too, not just the whiskey. 

All the health and environmental benefits… Without the wildfire risk. Without inhaling smoke. Without the nasty chemicals.

In our fast-paced, connected-by-phone, anxiety-inducing modern society, maybe the whole world should be prescribed a smokeless campfire kumbaya session.