Have a BBQ! Cooking with wood or coal increases your risk of death by 36%

According to a new study, even though barbecued foods are delicious, they can have a darker side.

Researchers have found that the burning of wood or charcoal for cooking is linked to an increased risk of respiratory disease and even death.

In the study, researchers at Oxford University found that the mortality rate was 36% higher in homes using wood or coal than those using electricity or gas.

To reach this conclusion, researchers examined the health records of 280,000 adults aged 30 to 79 in China.

Participants who did not smoke were followed for nine years.

During this period, 19,823 people were hospitalized or died of a major respiratory disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Ka Hung Chan, who conducted the study, said, "Although many previous studies have suggested a link between solid fuel consumption and COPD, most of them focused on

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"In addition, we looked at associations with other respiratory diseases that we know little about."

Further analysis revealed that people who switched from using coal or wood to electricity or gas reduced their risk to only 14%.

Dr. Zhengming Chen, lead author of the study, added, "While we can not deduce a cause-and-effect relationship from these observations, our findings provide a compelling argument for accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals of nations.