Cooking with gas poses a health risk, but recent research shows the danger is not evenly distributed.
Poorer Americans and racial and ethnic minority groups are disproportionately exposed to harmful gas stove pollutants, scientists at Stanford University, Harvard University and the Central California Asthma Collaborative found.
Previous studies have shown that gas stoves emit nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide — pollutants that could cause respiratory problems — at levels considered unsafe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization. The recent insights In Scientific advances are the primary to measure nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution from gas stoves in relation to housing type, race, income and cooking habits after which calculate the price of preventable childhood asthma cases.
To conduct the study, researchers constructed a model to estimate NO2 concentrations in gas stoves by combining a nationwide indoor air quality model with field measurements from over 100 households of various sizes in five US states. They then applied their model to 7,632 homes with gas, propane and mixed fuel furnaces included within the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2020 Residential Consumption Survey. After dividing these homes into 24 different groups based on floor plans starting from studio to multi-room, they estimated the intensity of NO2 exposure.
The researchers found that Native American and Alaska Native households have the very best long-term exposure to NO2, 60% above the national average. This is followed by Black, Hispanic and Latino households, that are 20% more affected than average. Stoves alone expose each of those groups to greater levels of NO2 than is secure in response to the WHO.
The study found that households earning lower than $10,000 per 12 months are twice as exposed to gas stove pollution as households earning greater than $150,000. The racial and income disparities are due partially to differences in home size. However, the scientists noted that there could also be other relevant aspects not measured of their model, including social differences in cooking behavior, ventilation and time spent indoors.
Using established epidemiological relationships, the researchers also estimated that gas and propane stoves cause as much as 19,000 deaths in adults and 200,000 cases of asthma in children annually within the United States, and $1 billion in societal damages.
“Most of us spend 90% or more of our time indoors,” said Rob Jackson, a professor of Earth system science on the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and principal investigator of the study. “We must take responsibility and act to clean up people’s air, because it is the air that most people breathe and we have ignored it for decades.”
Annie Carforo, climate justice campaign manager for the Manhattan-based group WE ACT for Environmental Justice, said the findings are consistent with the group’s observations during a study gas stove pollution in public housing in New York City. She said people of color and low-income persons are more more likely to live in smaller, older homes which have poor ventilation, inefficient or broken range hoods and outdated appliances that leak more gas.
“This is a massive injustice that builds on itself, and that’s why you see much higher rates of asthma in communities of color and low-income communities,” Carforo said. She added that the brand new research “gives us more power to call for interventions, programs and policies that target low-income households first.”
The study authors said eliminating gas and propane stoves is one of the best solution for people. If you possibly can’t afford a direct substitute or do not have the means to achieve this as a renter, you should purchase a conveyable induction burner, use an air filter, open windows when cooking, and use exhaust hoods that flow into kitchen air outdoors. However, additionally they acknowledged that cost could be a barrier.
While Tax credits Although the inflation reduction law may help lower the value of an electrical stove, researchers say stricter regulations are needed to assist households make the switch and keep gas out of latest buildings. Gas stove bans have fueled a Culture war However, within the USA.
“Our biggest problem is the political unreality of the whole situation,” said Kevin D. Hamilton, a registered respiratory therapist and senior director of presidency affairs on the Central California Asthma Collaborative. “All we can do is hope that researchers provide as much concrete data as possible to bring some sense to the discussion.”
