The problem of smoke pollution on the Moor began about six years ago with the advent of the disposable barbeque. These are shallow aluminium trays covered with a metal grille and which contain charcoal. They can usually be purchased for less that £2. Although charcoal is supposed to be a smokeless fuel, the charcoal used in disposable barbeques gives off prodigious amounts of smoke.

A study carried out by the French environmental group Robin des Bois found that a two hour barbeque produces 220,000 times as many cancer causing dioxins as a single cigarette and seven times as many dioxins as an incinerator at the point of discharge. In addition to dioxins, barbeques release hydrocarbons (which contribute to global warming), sulphur dioxide (which contributes to acid rain) and particulates (soot, which contributes to global dimming and vitamin D deficiency in cities at northern latitudes).

On a warm day in late Spring and early Summer, there can be over a hundred barbeques on the Moor belching out smoke and fumes for several hours. In May 2008, the amount of smoke being produced on the Moor meant that residents of neighbouring properties had to keep their windows shut. Kathleen Mason wrote recently to the Yorkshire Evening Post to express the concerns felt by many local residents about the hazard posed to their health by the high level of smoke pollution on the Moor.