Why Gas Stoves Are More Hazardous Than We’ve Been Led to Believe

This story was originally published by Undark and has been republished here with permission. “The association between the presence of a natural gas cooking appliance along with the increases in asthma in children is not supported by data-driven investigations that control for other factors that can contribute to asthma and other respiratory issues.” She also noted that the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which oversees safety and performance standards for consumer appliances like water heaters, furnaces, and stoves, and the EPA “do not view gas ranges as a significant contributor to adverse air quality or a health hazard in their technical or public information literature, guidance, or requirements.” While the EPA does not regulate indoor air quality, it does provide extensive information through its Indoor Air Quality program, based on its decades of analysis of the same pollutants found in outdoor air. “Existing regulations — including from the CPSC — have found no health or safety risk associated with normal use of gas appliances,” the APGA’s Casey added. The CDC did not respond to a request for a telephone interview with a staff scientist, but in an email message, Ginger Chew, a deputy associate director for science within the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health, said that, while the agency’s current guidance for health professionals on combustion sources and ventilation in the home was “up-to-date,” agency staff were nonetheless “actively reviewing the peer-reviewed literature” on indoor air quality and gas appliances. Interestingly, that group’s 2017 report noted that, while HEPA filter technology has improved in recent years to capture particles in indoor air, only one technology offers similar promise on the cooking front: “Other than replacement of gas stoves with electric stoves,” the report stated, “fewer methods are currently available for indoor NO2 reduction.” Until there’s more robust action from these agencies, Jones argues at the bare minimum doctors should be asking patients about the presence of gas appliances in their homes.