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.”
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.
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?
Ours was 50 amp, which seems to be pretty common for 30-36in wide cooktops
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.
Yeah we went with the GE Profile 36in induction cooktop.
It’s more responsive than either gas or electric coils. The catch is you need pans that a fridge magnet will stick to. A trip to the thrift store with a magnet worked out for us.
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.
Induction, or just standard electric burners under glass?
The latter.
Same. The upgrade in cleaning effort is beyond words. These are what the “rich people” had when I was a teenager. I’ve just inherited my first. I yearn for the induction model, though.
I bought an induction hot plate that I keep on the counter next to the stovetop. Not only do I get a fifth burner, it heats up confusingly fast. It’s incredible for boiling a large pot of water.
Thanks for sharing!
Any additional information you may like to share or any links or research you did before buying?
Pros and cons you have seen, over the weeks/years?
Good or cheap basic model, $700 plus?
I’m sorry, I don’t. My wife did all of the research and stuff for it because I was focused on health issues (also, she’s a librarian, so research is her thing). All I said was try to get one that didn’t involve some stupid app or whatever.
I’m not even 100% sure what model it is because I just looked and I can’t see if it says anywhere. It’s a GE and they have a whole ton of models on their website, so I couldn’t tell you, but I’m guessing she paid significantly less than $1000 for it.
She’s still asleep, but if I remember to ask her when she wakes up, I will.
Thanks for taking the time to explain what you can!
Sorry to hear about the health issues, I hope you are doing better!
edit: format
Anyone with more/better info or experience please feel free to chime in!
Quick search results:
Seems cheapest I found from:
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GE ~$528 no tax included, at local diy chain store and big tech store
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GE site: $588 no tax
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costco $679.99 no tax
Gas to Electric: An electrician will be needed to exchange the 110-volt outlet to a 220/240-volt outlet.
Gas:
Elec.:
https://www.hgtv.com/design/rooms/kitchens/gas-vs-electric-ranges-is-one-better-than-the-other
https://reviewed.usatoday.com/ovens/features/pros-and-cons-of-gas-vs-electric-cooking
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/appliances/g2875/best-electric-ranges/
Yeah we have a propane stove, I think it’s cleaner than natural gas, but we’re rural and we lose power more often than urban zones.
The study in this post says it’s not.
Yeah :(. No winning yet.
I think it’s cleaner than natural gas
My searching shows me a lot of astroturfing on both sides of that debate, which makes me think it’s either far more complicated than that or we don’t actually know.
Oh undoubtedly there is a lot of biases to sift through.
Apparently it’s a big PITA to get the model number because it involves opening the range up, so I told her not to bother, but she says the oven is both standard and convection if that helps.
Thanks for your effort!
That is appreciated!
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I’ve been considering replacing our gas stove with an Indication range.
We were going to, but they’re so much more expensive than electric. We did opt for a conventional plus convection oven though. That was definitely a good purchase.
Convection ovens are game changers for sure. Our current one is convection. We haven’t gotten an Induction range one yet due to the pricing.
Between the cost of the range and the fact that we would have to replace a bunch of our cookware, it just wasn’t worth what we would have to spend.
That’s fair
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.
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.
Sounds like the solution is to increase the cost of gas until it costs more than 5 figures to continue using it.
Putting the screws to poor people won’t improve the situation.
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.
Also want to shout out Technology Connections’ video.
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.
My new build house (built and bought last year) has a gas stove, furnace, dryer, and water heater. I’m in the US 🫠
Folks this is a garbage study. N=18, and then extrapolating the dangers based on aggregated stats of disease states?
Yeah. I still want an induction stove, but this doesn’t look good.
Same, I want both, with proper ventilation.
Gas for particular preparations where it’s traditional/ideal and induction for everything else
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.
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.
TBH the sample is less concerning than the experimental design, and by a lot.
That’s a fair point and needs to be explored. But the study does not do what it says on the tin.
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
Induction is the fastest and most even.
They are also more expensive.
Yeah, a lot of it is just artificial markup though. It’s a very simple technology.
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.
Chud cocks shotgun
“Gonna take mah stove outta my cold dead hands.”
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
I’m guessing this is a non issue in a well ventilated area?
“Well-ventilated” being a higher standard than you’d probably expect, but yes. Standard over-range extractor isn’t doing enough.
It’s like you didn’t even read the pithy article much less the study behind it.
“study”
I mean feel free to push back on any of the data the study provided. I mean I thought they could have done a better job with the effects of having a range hood but since that has been studied elsewhere and cited, I feel that it was acceptable with the scope they outlined.
I really shouldn’t have to. As the study noted the homes they found with poor indoor quality had poor outdoor quality. Which means the oven really has little to do with it.
NOX is a product of incomplete diesel consumption. Do you want less NOX? Newer tighter regulations on trucks and give cops the power to pull over any truck with obvious air problems. After you do that let me know what the data in poor industrial areas shows. This whole study is garbage, it’s like proving that homes without air-conditioning are hotter than homes with it, int eh same area. Yeah kinda figured.
Oh and don’t give me any bullshit about how trucks can’t get NOX down. All ships flagged in the EU did it 6 years ago.
WTF are you talking about? You’re not even in the realm of the study anymore with your rantings here.
from the abstract:
Gas and propane stoves emit nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution indoors, but the exposures of different U.S. demographic groups are unknown. We estimate NO2 exposure and health consequences using emissions and concentration measurements from >100 homes, a room-specific indoor air quality model, epidemiological risk parameters, and statistical sampling of housing characteristics and occupant behavior. Gas and propane stoves increase long-term NO2 exposure 4.0 parts per billion volume on average across the United States, 75% of the World Health Organization’s exposure guideline. This increased exposure likely causes ~50,000 cases of current pediatric asthma from long-term NO2 exposure alone. Short-term NO2 exposure from typical gas stove use frequently exceeds both World Health Organization and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency benchmarks. People living in residences <800 ft2 in size incur four times more long-term NO2 exposure than people in residences >3000 ft2 in size; American Indian/Alaska Native and Black and Hispanic/Latino households incur 60 and 20% more NO2 exposure, respectively, than the national average.
They took samples before and after gas stoves were turned on inside various rooms in various houses and they state all of that in the study that that shit came from the stove and increased the levels of NO2 above WHO standards and not the outdoor environment. They’re stating that gas stoves are problematic especially in lower income dwellings.
Also FTFS:
Consistent with previous research (10, 24, 25), we find that combustion from gas and propane stoves represents a major source of long- and short-term NO2 exposure that can exceed U.S. and WHO guidelines just by using a stove, independent of any outdoor NO2 exposures.
So again WTF are you on about?
N=18. No control.
Not convinced.
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
Seems to me the solution is to make outdoor air better rather than demand people just freeze to death during a blackout.
Joe Manchin enters the chat
What’s with the recent push in MSM against gas stoves?
Lobbying by landlords. It is far cheaper for them to have individual apartments (with paper thing walls) that are responsible for their own heat vs a big concrete brownstone with a super efficient boiler moving energy around.
This is why the “study” explains how it “really” benefits the poor. You know the same way slave owners were altruistically helping their slaves. But the shills will lap it up. Who gives a shit right? The important thing is landlord capital not if poor people die because of a blackout.
Anything to criminalize yet another thing. Rich pieces of crap flying around on private jets and not a single world from WHO.
Fuck off and actually look into what the WHO says about air pollution in regards to transportation.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health
And NIH is in on the research too: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8888033/
You fuck off they want my gas stove and ignore the people flying around on private jets
Nobody is taking your stove you absolute waste of air. Some of us prefer to understand the risks vs benefits, and studies like this are informative.
Yes person attacks are very convincing
Lol you took a WHO study personally and are complaining when people are pissed when you insult them?
That sounds about right. I saw a “study” that was designed to justify a policy, took it personally as a person who will be directly impacted by the policy, and yeah got upset when the best argument presented was a personal attack.
Now you going to start demanding some accountability from the people flying on private jets and yachts who cause more air pollution issues per hour than a small car centric meat eating town does in a year or are you going to find ways to support landlords not having to give free heat to tenants? I am asking to be polite btw, I know which you are going to do.
who will be directly impacted by the policy, and yeah got upset when the best argument presented was a personal attack.
You deliberately ignored or hand-waved away all the adverse health effects of Gas Stoves and when people called you out on that, you’re saying it’s a personal attack?
Now you going to start demanding some accountability from the people flying on private jets and yachts who cause more air pollution issues per hour than a small car centric meat eating town does in a year
Who said I wasn’t? Two things can be done at the same time. You’re saying “I refuse to change unless everybody else changes” which sounds asinine.
or are you going to find ways to support landlords not having to give free heat to tenants?
It’s not my responsibility to innovate for your business. You’re supposed to be the business owner who has to be accountable for the impacts of your product on the society and the environment. After all you take all the profits but you don’t want any of the responsibility?
I am asking to be polite btw, I know which you are going to do.
Just like you assumed that phasing out LPG stoves is bad only because it forces you to actually do work to add value to your customers
Unless you’re strapped behind a jet engine and breath that, you’re really, REALLY, offtopic.
