That Gas Stove You're Cooking On Could Be Giving Your Kids Asthma, Study Finds

According to the study, approximately 650,000 children in the United States suffer from asthma as a result of using gas stoves.
Stoves release carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, which increases the risk of respiratory damage.
Climate advocates point to the study to help phase out fossil fuels.

Most parents know that secondhand smoke can cause asthma in children. Perhaps surprisingly, cooking on a gas stove carries similar risks.

This is according to a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Studies and Public Health that linked 12.7% of childhood asthma cases in the United States to air pollution from gas stoves.

Burning gas releases pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde, which increase the risk of respiratory damage.

"It's avoidable," Brady Seals, chair of the RMI Carbon Zero Buildings Program and co-author of the study, told Insider. "We hope that this research will raise awareness and give policymakers the information they need to do something about this issue."

The findings build on an analysis of a previous study that estimated that children who lived in homes with gas stoves were 34% more likely to develop asthma. This risk factor, combined with 2019 data showing more than a third of American households cook primarily on gas, suggests that nearly 650,000 children could develop asthma from gas stoves, according to the study.

Sales, who advocates for employers to electrify buildings, said there have been decades of research on the link between gas stoves and childhood asthma, but it has either fizzled out or been shelved. Today, some climate advocates are putting the pieces together to advance their case for phasing out fossil fuels in buildings, which account for about 13 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

“The phrase ‘if it’s bad for the climate, it’s bad for your health’ is what prompted us to start researching this topic about three years ago,” Sales said.

RMI and Rewiring America, another electrical group that helped write the study, reintroduced building codes that prohibit gas connections in new construction. Dozens of cities, mostly in California, have this policy in place as of 2019.

The move was met with an opposition campaign led by the gas industry and its allies in state legislatures. At least 20 predominantly red states have passed laws prohibiting local governments from restricting the use of fossil fuels in buildings.

The American Gas Association, a trade group that represents the natural gas industry, criticized the methodology behind the childhood asthma study in a statement because the researchers used health risks. .

The gas industry also often reports that proper ventilation greatly reduces the concentration of pollutants from gas furnaces.

While that's true, Sales said, many states and cities don't require gas ranges to be vented outdoors, unlike appliances like furnaces and water heaters. Hoods and fans aren't guaranteed to clean the air, and people don't always use them.

The Seals added that federal agencies need to step up oversight. The Environmental Protection Agency does not regulate indoor air quality, but it can issue non-mandatory guidelines that help state and local governments influence building code updates. Sales said the Consumer Product Safety Commission can also regulate pollutants from gas ranges or require warning labels.

Commission chair Richard Trumka Jr. said in December that the agency was moving in this direction, saying a blanket ban on new gas stoves was a "real possibility." That same month, congressional Democrats called on the agency to take action to protect people from harm.

Read the original article on Business Insider