Along with the pollution and micro fibre threats it also affects fire safety. For instance I have read that in the 1950s average time to flashover (when enough heat is generated from a fire to spontaneously ignite other objects) was 25 minutes. And it is now 15. This is due to the amount of oil in a modern house - carpets, furniture, clothing, etc being made of oil products; polyester, plastic, etc, as opposed to the slower to ignite products like wool, wood, etc.

Ironically cars and resulting congestion means that for the city I heard this discussed about (Auckland, New Zealand), in the 1950 a fire engine could reach any house in 15 mi utes but it is now up to 30 minutes at times of the day.