News / Brèves Back to previous selection / Retour à la sélection précédente Greeks Either Freeze To Death Or Poison Themselves 30 December 2012 (EIRNS)—Greeks are either freezing to death this winter or poisoning themselves. Unable to afford heating oil, which costs more than high performance diesel, Greeks are burning wood to keep warm. A study by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki revealed that the practice has led to dangerous levels of air pollution in homes and cities. The danger is not just from the wood smoke, but the fact that people are burning any wood they can get their hands on, including old furniture, chipboard, plywood, all of which contain chemicals that when burned become dangerous, penetrating the lungs and seriously affecting blood circulation. "If we also consider that many people use chemicals when burning wood, we are talking about a crime in the home that is to our own detriment and that of our children," Dimosthenis Sariyiannis, associate professor at Aristotle University, is quoted as saying to the blog keeptalkinggreece.com. The survey found that the cost to public health of the increase in the use of solid fuels in 2012 compared to 2011 amounted to EU40 million for Thessaloniki alone. [dea]