Open burning is the burning of unwanted material in the open air where smoke and toxic fumes a released into the atmosphere directly, therefore, affecting the environment. Often, the practice is done outdoors where house hold waste materials are burnt as a means of waste disposal, away from an incinerator or a furnace chamber.

Open burning have a many effect. There are impact of smoke. Smoke and soot can travel long distances. Odors can be bothersome to people. Both odors and smoke residue can enter houses or can impact anything outside of houses, like cars or hanging laundry. The gases released by open burning can also corrode metal siding and damage paint on buildings.

Next, health impact of smoke is from burning clean wood and leaves. When household waste, like wood and leaves, are burned, they produce smoke, which contains vapors and particulate matter. Air pollution from smoke can impact human health. People exposed to these air pollutants can experience eye and nose irritation, difficulty breathing, coughing and headaches. People with heart disease, asthma, emphysema or other respiratory disease are especially sensitive to air pollutants. Other health problems aggravated by burning include lung infections, pneumonia, bronchiolitis and allergies.