Home Emergency Preparedness 11 Things You Should Never Burn in Your Fireplace These outliers will make you glad you read up. By Melissa Locker Melissa Locker Melissa Locker writes about food, drinks, culture, gardening, and the joys of Waffle House Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on March 18, 2023 Fact checked by Jennifer Hawk Fact checked by Jennifer Hawk Jennifer Hawk is a former English professor with 24 years of experience guiding even the most reluctant through the labyrinths of writing, rhetoric, and research. brand's fact checking process Share Tweet Pin Email On a chilly night, there's nothing quite like cozying up next to a fire with a good book and a cup of tea —or a cranberry margarita. While gas fireplaces are becoming more and more common (and may be better for the planet and your health), there's just something about the crackling of logs. If you've whipped up a tiny inferno, you may be burning through logs and considering tossing a few other things into the blaze. Turns out, that's not such a great idea. When you're burning wood in your fireplace, it contains small particles that can get into your eyes and lungs. If you're throwing things other than wood in the fire, those materials can contain toxic or harmful chemicals that are released when burned. Nothing ruins a comfy night by the fire like inhaling a bunch of toxins. Getty/Image Source Still wondering, "What can I burn in my fireplace?" The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the folks charged with making sure the air is clean, suggests only one thing is safe, and that's properly seasoned firewood that contains little-to-no moisture. What is properly seasoned firewood? It's wood that has been dried outdoors for at least six months before being burnt. That's because green wood, which has not been seasoned, burns slowly, creates a lot of smoke, and causes highly flammable creosote to build up in your chimney. Properly seasoned wood is dry, grayish in color, may be cracked, and may have loose or detached bark. Light it up with clean newspaper and dry kindling and let it burn. In addition to unseasoned wood, here are a few other things that the EPA recommends never burning in your fireplace, because of the potential for releasing toxic fumes and carcinogens. Wet wood, which produces more smoke than seasoned wood and can cause dangerous creosote build-up inside your chimneyHousehold trash, including cardboardPlastic or rubberStyrofoam or foamMagazinesCereal boxes, printed boxes, or wrapping paper with colored inkWood that has been coated, painted, or pressure treated, which can damage your fireplacePlywood, particle board, or any wood with glue on or in it, like wooden palletsOcean driftwood, because the salt can corrode your fireplaceRotted, diseased, or moldy wood, which can make those toxins airborneManure or animal remains Some of the items above might illicit an "well, obviously," but we'd all rather be safe than sorry, wouldn't you? Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources Southern Living is committed to using high-quality, reputable sources to support the facts in our articles. Read our editorial guidelines to learn more about how we fact check our content for accuracy. Schildgen B. What is the greener fireplace choice? Sierra. Cleveland Clinic. That cozy fire could be hazardous to your health. Vicente ED, Alves CA, Martins V, Almeida SM, Lazaridis M. Lung-deposited dose of particulate matter from residential exposure to smoke from wood burning. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021;28(46):65385-65398. doi:10.1007/s11356-021-15215-4 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Best Wood-Burning Practices.