Science Advances report also finds people of color and low-income residents in US disproportionately affected

Using a gas stove increases nitrogen dioxide exposure to levels that exceed public health recommendations, a new study shows. The report, published Friday in Science Advances, found that people of color and low-income residents in the US were disproportionately affected.

Indoor gas and propane appliances raise average concentrations of the harmful pollutant, also known as NO2, to 75% of the World Health Organization’s standard for indoor and outdoor exposure.

That means even if a person avoids exposure to nitrogen dioxide from traffic exhaust, power plants, or other sources, by cooking with a gas stove they will have already breathed in three-quarters of what is considered a safe limit.

When you’re using a gas stove, you are burning fossil fuel directly in the home,” said Yannai Kashtan, lead author of the study and a PhD candidate at Stanford University. “Ventilation does help but it’s an imperfect solution and ultimately the best way is to reduce pollution at the source.”

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I want to say now since we just got one that modern glass-top electric stoves are pretty great. They heat up quickly and they’re very easy to clean. So the latter part is already a huge advantage over gas stoves.

    We didn’t even get a fancy one or anything. A basic model.

  • cymbal_king@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Love my new induction stove! Our old gas stove was leaking and could have blown up the house. We’ve noticed a lot less waste heat too, metal pan handles can be grabbed without a hot pad, the kitchen doesn’t heat up as much from cooking. And it heats up blazingly fast.

      • cymbal_king@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        The heat goes down immediately with most pans. Cast iron retains more heat though.

        We went to the thrift store with a fridge magnet to buy our new pans, stainless steel lasts a long time

      • allrian@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        It is nearly instantly. Heat is generated in the pot directly, not in/on the stove, so there is nothing else which stores the energy, like the plates in older ones.

    • inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I’m looking to switch to a induction stove when my current gas stove dies. Do you happen to know what amperage was needed on yours?

    • tamal3@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Can i ask what brand? And what the oven runs on – i assume electric? I’m interested, but have always used terrible electric coils or gas.

  • Digitalprimate@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Folks this is a garbage study. N=18, and then extrapolating the dangers based on aggregated stats of disease states?

      • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        Same, I want both, with proper ventilation.

        Gas for particular preparations where it’s traditional/ideal and induction for everything else

      • Digitalprimate@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        There are plenty of valid reasons for wanting one. I’m not against them. They just don’t suit my particular use case, and I hate deliberately misleading studies.

    • catloaf@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      NO2 exposure hazards are already known, see the references in this study. This is only looking at NO2 production in homes, so I don’t think 18 is too small a sample size. It’s not like they’re trying to determine whether burning natural gas produces NO2, that’s a given. They’re looking at how much, how factors like hoods and airflow affect it, and how it goes throughout the house, not just in the kitchen.

  • JoshuaFalken@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Given the EPAs policy on natural gas leaks was to ask the gas companies if they’ve noticed anything, I’d say we’ve got some distance to go on stopping the sale of natural gas stoves.

    Climate Town has a good video on this subject - and others - that might be a good watch.

    • derf82@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      The biggest problem with leaving gas stoves is all the older homes that simply are not equipped for them. Many homes with gas not only lack 240v 30a outlets in their kitchens, they may have only 100 or even 60 amp service and may not be able to even add such a circuit. Upgrading to electric could easily cost homeowners 5 figures.

      • Hildegarde@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Sounds like the solution is to increase the cost of gas until it costs more than 5 figures to continue using it.

        • hark@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Putting the screws to poor people won’t improve the situation.

          • Hildegarde@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            With governments refusing to take action to wean society off of fossil fuels, screwing poor people is an inevitability. The stuff is finite, eventually it runs out and the prices become unaffordable before the end.

  • Tiefling IRL@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    5 months ago

    In NYC, this is actually a major concern since most kitchens don’t even have ventilation. Of my four apartments here, only one has had any form of ventilation in the kitchen.

  • lud@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    I’m surprised gas anything is still common in some countries. Here, gas is pretty rare nowadays and only some apartments in the biggest cities even have any gas lines.

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      5 months ago

      My new build house (built and bought last year) has a gas stove, furnace, dryer, and water heater. I’m in the US 🫠

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    5 months ago

    I get it. I do. But electric stoves are just meh. Gas burns quicker and more evenly. But if it comes down to it and I need to switch I will no problem. I just wish there was a solution to the cooking with gas issue as it cooks best imo

          • hark@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            I don’t know what the full range is doing differently, but the portable induction cooktops are very cheap and they seem like they do the same thing. Doesn’t seem like an induction range would be more expensive than a regular electric range other than artificial markup like you said.

    • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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      5 months ago

      We don’t have a gas stove but we do have a gas fireplace and water heater that have saved us a couple times now in winter when we’ve had prolonged power outages due to severe ice storms snapping half the trees in the area and taking all the power lines with them. This allowed us to have heat and hot water and if we had a gas stove, cooking as well.

      • Dorkyd68@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Yup yup. I’m in Oklahoma and am VERY familiar with ice storms that knock power out. Luckily I have a furnace that can run off of gas or electric, so I can still have heat so long as I power the outlet for said furnace off my truck. But the gas fireplace burns no matter the situation. My power got knocked out on the coldest day of the year last year. Wind chill was around -6 and gas literally saved my butt from freezing off

  • Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de
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    5 months ago

    I feel like this is considered common sense. Burning anything indoors increases exposure to bad chemicals. Well ventilated areas are required and we don’t have good regulation on that. Improve air quality with safe daily consumption and enforce it. Invest in public transportation, what is a safe level to reduce our exhaust output. People and companies then hold them responsible. : Common sense stuff

  • Kumatomic@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    5 months ago

    Wait until you find out about wood burning stoves and firepits. What they do to air quality inside your home even when you don’t have either is scary

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      5 months ago

      “Well-ventilated” being a higher standard than you’d probably expect, but yes. Standard over-range extractor isn’t doing enough.

  • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Edit: 6/17 quoted not 7/17


    Nitrogen dioxide irritates the airways and can exacerbate respiratory illnesses such as asthma. The Stanford study estimates that chronic stove-based nitrogen dioxide exposure is linked to at least 50,000 cases of pediatric asthma in the United States each year. The research, which measured NO2 in more than 100 homes before, during, and after gas stove use, found that pollution migrates to bedrooms within an hour of the stove turning on, and stays above dangerous levels for hours after use.

    The results also highlight the unequal racial and socioeconomic burden of exposure. The study found that American Indians and Alaska Natives are exposed to 60% more NO2 from gas and propane stoves than the national average. Black and Latino or Hispanic households breathe in 20% more NO2 from their stoves.

    People in households making less than $10,000 a year are breathing NO2 at rates more than twice that of people in households making over $150,000.

    “People in poorer communities are more at risk because their outdoor air is bad and and in many ways their indoor air is worse,” said Jackson. Low-income communities and communities of color are more likely to live near highways, ports, industrial sites and other polluting zones.

    “There’s an underlying assumption that people are only using their stove or oven to cook and to prepare meals,” said Diana Hernandez, sociologist at Columbia University who was not involved in the Stanford study. A recent survey conducted by Hernandez and her team found that over 20% of New Yorkers used stoves or ovens to heat their homes.

    Gas stoves also emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and cities across the US are adopting building electrification measures that would phase out gas stoves in new homes.

    6/17 quoted

  • AmidFuror@fedia.io
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    5 months ago

    ITT: Energy wasters (electric or gas) wrecking the environment by cooking food when they should be eating nothing but whole, raw, unprocessed vegetables. And maybe splurge on some fruit every now and then.