Gas stoves and cognitive development: What the research shows.
SlateIf you spend any time among parents, at least in bougier circles, you’ll know that protecting your kids from environmental toxins is a passion bordering on obsession. “And I always say to folks that it’s one of the most underappreciated exposures that our kids have.” Gas stoves are a major source of indoor air pollution, releasing a toxic potpourri of inhalable particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and methane. But this study didn’t measure air quality in homes directly, so it’s unclear if the score drops were simply because people who cook with gas stoves are systematically different from people who cook with electric stoves. I’m more compelled by the studies linking gas stoves to asthma and respiratory problems, but even this literature isn’t a slam dunk. Yes, gas stoves likely make air quality even worse because they release additional chemicals, but it’s not clear how much more that pollution exacerbates what’s already a pretty small effect on brains.
History of this topic
Gas stoves may contribute to early deaths and childhood asthma, new Stanford study finds
LA Times
Cooking with a gas stove may be as bad as breathing secondhand cigarette smoke, study finds
LA Times
Gas stoves, climate change and your health : Short Wave : NPR
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