Exposure to toxic emissions from gas stoves is giving kids asthma.
A new study that scientists call "eye popping" has found that
as many as 650,000 American children have asthma that was
caused by breathing in toxic chemicals emitted by gas stoves.
That's about the same number of kids who have gotten asthma
from inhaling secondhand smoke.
The findings elevate growing concerns about the dire health
consequences of using stoves fueled by natural gas.
Research conducted at Harvard's Center for Climate, Health
and the Global Environment (C-Change) previously discovered
that natural gas used in home stoves contains "at least 21 haz-
ardous air pollutants that may impact air quality and health."
Among those pollutants is nitrogen dioxide, which is known to
trigger asthma and other respiratory ailments.
In the current study, reported in the International Journal of Environ-
mental Research and Public Health, researchers found that one in eight
cases of childhood asthma — 12.7 percent — is caused by the nitro-
gen dioxide and other indoor air pollutants that gas stoves release.
"We knew this was a problem, but we didn't know how bad,"
said Brady Seals, a scientist at RMI, a nonprofit that conducted
the research along with epidemiologists in the U.S. and Australia.
Natural gas stoves are used in about 40 percent of homes in
the U.S. The fossil fuel has long been blamed for its contribution to
climate change, but the understanding of the impact it has due to
use in stoves has only recently been measured. A study by Stanford
University found that, during a 20-year timeframe, annual methane
emissions from all gas stoves in U.S. homes have a climate impact
comparable to the annual carbon dioxide emissions of 500,000
cars. That's in part because, regardless of the age of the stove and
whether it is being used, it can still leak natural gas into the air.
The RMI study is one of the first to document the link between
gas stove emissions and childhood asthma.
This is an environmental justice issue as well. Black and
Hispanic children are twice as likely as white children to be
hospitalized for asthma because poorer households are more
likely to have smaller kitchens that lack range hood fans and
other proper ventilation.
"This study's findings are directly relevant to discussions about
environmental justice," said Rob Jackson, one of the Stanford Uni-
versity researchers who studies methane leaks from gas stoves.
"No child should have asthma from breathing pollution from
gas stoves when safer electric options are available," said Jackson.
The safest of those options is to replace the gas stove with an
electric model. However, that can be an expensive proposition.
The recent Inflation Reduction Act championed by the Biden
administration includes a rebate of up to $840 for an electric
stove or other electric appliances and up to $500 to help cover
the cost of converting from gas to electric.
The Biden administration is also considering how to regulate
new gas stoves. "This is a hidden hazard," Richard Trumka Jr. of
the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) tweeted.
"Any option is on the table. Products that can't be made safe
can be banned." While the Clean Air Act gives EPA authority to
regulate outdoor air pollution, the agency is not empowered to
regulate indoor air pollution from stoves and other appliances.
Until consumers replace their gas appliances with electric ones,
they can take several steps to reduce the build-up of gas-related
indoor air pollution. Among the simplest and cheapest is to use
the fan on the range hood to suck emissions up and out of the
kitchen when the stove is being used. It's especially effective to
turn on the range fan before turning on the stove or oven.
Keeping kitchen windows cracked open to improve ventilation
will also help. An electric kettle, toaster oven, slow cooker,
microwave, and single-burner induction cooktop provide additional
ways to avoid using a gas range.
Diane MacEachern is a writer for Moms Clean Air Force and has
written many articles on the environmental problems with natural gas
stoves. She is an award-winning entrepreneur and long-time green
expert who was named one of America's EcoHeroes by Glamour
magazine. The recipient of the Image of the Future prize from the
World Communications Forum, Diane founded Big Green Purse to
enable women to use their consumer clout to protect themselves,
their families, and the planet.
STUDY: Gas Stoves Cause as Much
Asthma as Secondhand Smoke
By Diane MacEachern
Healthy Indoors | 21
