Cases of childhood asthma would be associated with the use of gas stoves, according to a study


According to research published in December 2022, 12.7% of childhood asthma cases in the United States are associated with the use of gas stoves, a primary appliance in more than 40 million homes in that country, but which emits compounds harmful to health even when not used.

In this sense, “using a gas cooker is like having a smoker at home,” he told the AFP agency. Talor Gruenwaldthe lead author of the report.

The article combines data from 41 previous studies—including one conducted by the same authors in Australia in 2018—with data on US household characteristics obtained from a census.

According to Gruenwald and his colleagues at the Rocky Mountain Institute, an institution dedicated to research on sustainability issues, the article’s results corroborate “dozens of previous studies” that had concluded that gas pollution “can cause asthma.” ”. However, other experts point out that there is still no definitive evidence of that cause-and-effect link.

Emission of harmful gases

Air pollution is a major risk factor for several respiratory diseases, and one of the main pollutants emitted by gas cookers is nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a compound that contributes to both the development of asthma and its severity.

Outside, vehicular traffic is usually the main source of NO2; while indoors are gas stoves, he writes in an article in The Conversation jonathan levychair of the Department of Environmental Health at Boston University.

Although cars emit more NO2, when driving in an open space, the gas dissipates faster. On the other hand, this would not happen in a kitchen room that has poor ventilation or that is not equipped with an extractor hood.

However, NO2 is not the only polluting gas: gas stoves also emit carbon monoxide, methane and benzene, even when turned off, as another study in January 2022 showed.

Some experts recommend using induction cookers (without burners and based on electricity) instead of those that use gas to work. Photo: Pexels

Alternatives to gas stoves

Citing the many potential harms of gas stoves, scientists, activists and even local governments have increasingly called on households and businesses to ditch them for electric or induction (burnerless) stoves, as they produce polluting emissions. much lower.

Source-larepublica.pe