Every year winter and plummeting morning temperatures greets me with a pall of wood smoke trapped in the valley by the chilly air along Ploughman's Creek.

Because of this, residents who live in that area who are at risk of respiratory harm.

Harm comes from pollutants from wood smoke which include gases such as carbon monoxide, organic compounds, air toxics and fine particles formed when un-burnt gases cool as they go up the chimney.

Ploughman's Valley is not alone in Orange as a place affected by wood smoke caused by inconsiderate operators.

They exist all over Orange, according to complaints received by Council.

Exposure to wood smoke is harmful to health in a variety of ways. Concentrations of carbon dioxide contained in smoke can cause headaches, fatigue, chest pains and flu like symptoms.

Exposure to particulate matter (PM) can result in itchy, burning eyes, bronchitis, runny nose and throat irritation.

PM can also aggravate such heart and lung conditions as angina, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma.

Air toxics which are generated during the burning of wood include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which are carcinogenic.

They can also cause eye irritation, headaches and serious damage to the respiratory, nervous reproductive, developmental and immune systems.

Those most at risk from the effects of wood smoke include infants and very young children, those suffering from asthma and other existing cardiac or respiratory illnesses, those with vascular complications from diabetes and frail and elderly people.

You can be affected by wood smoke from an inefficiently operated heater which could be your own or from another wood heater in your neighbourhood.

Fortunately much of the effects of wood smoke pollution can be avoided if operators follow common sense rules for the operation of their heaters, such as using seasoned dry hardwood (sourced from plantation timber), letting your fire go out each evening (not left to smoulder and emit smoke), keep your chimney clean, and regularly monitor any smoke from your chimney by going outside to have a look and a sniff.

At this time of the year there is nothing better than being warm and cosy in front of a blazing wood fire.

But take a moment to walk outside and check your chimney.

You could be polluting your entire neighbourhood. Remember if you can smell your smoke you are breathing it. So are your neighbours.