Heating oil is non-toxic, contains no carcinogens, and is biodegradable.
Competitor innuendos and exaggerated media reports that depict oil heating as an environmental hazard are unjustified. Residential oil tanks do not present a threat to human health or the environment. A properly maintained oil tank can last for decades. Oilheat has the least environmental impact of any type of space heating and hot water fuel, attributable to it's high efficiency and clean burning. Natural gas and propane are similarly benign, while electric, coal and wood heat are far more detrimental to air quality.   

Modern Oilheat systems are among the cleanest of combustion devices.
New oil burners release near zero levels of smoke and combustion discharge. Residential oil burners produce less than one-third of one percent (.003) of total particulate emissions in the U.S. each year. Emissions from residential gas burners are about the same as from equivalent size oil burners, according to government research agency studies. Neither fuel releases particulate matter of any consequence. While electric heat at the point of use has no emission at all, the power plant creating the electricity may be giving off significant emissions depending on how power is generated. 

 OILHEAT IS EFFICIENT

Heating and hot water system efficiency is a measure of the amount of usable heat extracted from the potential energy of the fuel. For example, if your heating system is evaluated at 85% efficiency, it means that 85 cents of every dollar spent for heat and hot water are consumed within the home. The balance is exhausted through your chimney or flue exhaust. It's the combination of high efficiency and minimal exhaust of emissions are desirable traits for a home heating fuel. Oil-fired equipment has always provided these features for both heat and hot water. There are many ways to compare heating system efficiency. The most widely accepted measure is the U.S. Department of Energy's Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE). Using the AFUE benchmark, Oilheat gets excellent ratings - Take a look: 

• Efficiencies of new oil equipment range from 83% to 94%. 
• The average gas unit sold has an AFUE in the low 80's,
• while ratings on individual gas units vary from 78% to 95%. While the high end efficiency of some natural gas systems may look attractive, they exhibit higher water vapor in the exhaust than an Oilheat system- which can be corrosive to the heating unit.
• Air to air heat pumps between 51% and 62%; 
• Geothermal heat pumps 76% to 82% AFUE. 
• Electric resistance heat has between 27% and 31% AFUE; Electric heat is inefficient because nearly 66% of the heat value of the fuel is lost in the generation and transmission.