Our world is a closed system. Everything we put in the air and water and the ground, stays here. I'm no scientist, and I'm sure the scientific types will chime in.
That's why there are those out there who are very "green" about treading lightly in our world, leaving things as you found them,.........all that.
With direct relationship to wood stoves, I think of those communities that have outlawed the use of wood stoves, because their communities are in a deep valley. They, being surrounded by high mountain ranges, found that smoke (from wood stoves, and factories, and.........) tends to settle over their valley communities, and stagnate the air. (I don't know if that's because of barometric pressure, or because of prevailing winds, but anyway).
Someone in here put up a list in another thread, of the various chemicals found in wood fire smoke, and I was (frankly) amazed at the list. Seemed to me that being a "responsible wood burner" didn't necessarily eliminate all the chemicals on that list, but some. "Responsible" with regard to WHAT we burn.
My company sent me to China (Shanghai) not long ago, and while there, I noted the lack of any evidence of real nutrients in the soil, and the orange color to the air. Taking a breath, my throat would burn. What bothered me most about that (being thankful that I didn't live there), was that, just because they are on the other side of the planet from where "I" live, didn't mean that we here would not be affected. What happens on our planet, happens to the air and water for ALL of us, in some form or another.
The re-burning of the smoke from the wood fire, with a new EPA-rated stove, is supposed to be a help (because of the re-burning of the gases) to some degree, with the smoke we are putting into our neighborhood (and our world neighborhood), but to what degree, I don't know.
-Soupy1957