The paper discusses an emission measurement program in Boise, ID, designed to identify the potential mutagenic impact of residential wood burning on ambient and indoor air. One facet of this field sampling involved obtaining emission samples from chimneys serving wood burning appliances in Boise. A parallel project was undertaken in an instrumented woodstove test laboratory to quantify woodstove emissions during operations typical of Boise usage. Test results showed wide variability probably due primarily to the difficulty in duplicating conditions during stove start-up. Total woodstove dilution sampling system (WSDSS) emissions showed the expected inverse correlation with burnrate for the conventional stove and nearly flat for the catalytic stove. While there appeared to be little or no correlation of total WSDSS emissions with altitude, the sum of the 16 polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) quantified showed a direct correlation with altitude: higher PAH emissions at the higher altitude. Two woodstoves were operated in the test laboratory over a range of burnrates, burning either eastern oak or white pine from the Boise area. A conventional stove, manufactured in the Boise area, was tested at altitudes of 90 and 825 m. A catalytic stove was tested only at the high altitude. Pine produced a higher PAH emission rate than oak.