Research links gas stoves to 50,000 current cases of asthma in children

Air pollution from gas and propane heaters has caused about 50,000 current cases of asthma in children nationwide, and people living in smaller homes are more likely to suffer from it. This is evident from a new study released on Friday by researchers from Stanford and Harvard universities.

The study specifically looked at nitrogen dioxide, which is emitted by gas and propane heaters when the burners are on. The pollutant can cause asthma, coughing, wheezing and other health problems.

“Not only can it make asthma worse, it can even cause new cases, especially in children,” said Kari Nadeau, chair of the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and co-author of the study.

Nadeau, who is also a physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said the estimate of 50,000 cases of asthma is “conservative” because the study took into account only one of the many pollutants emitted by gas and air pollution. propane heaters. When looking at other pollutants such as carbon monoxide, “the full impact may be closer to 200,000 cases,” she said.

The study also found that people living in homes of less than 800 square feet experienced four times more long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide than people living in homes of more than 3,000 square feet. According to the study, American Indian and Alaska Native households were exposed 60% more than the national average. Exposure in black and Hispanic households was 20% higher.

Researchers have known about the link between gas stoves and indoor air pollution for decades, says Jonathan Levy, chairman of the department of environmental health at Boston University School of Public Health. But he said the new research helps quantify the effects and “reinforces that there are significant indoor air quality and health risks associated with the use of gas heaters.”

Marcos Luna, professor of geography and sustainability at Salem State University, said the study’s results were “striking.”

“These short-term exposures are really high,” Luna said, “higher than what you would get if you were standing in the middle of Kenmore Square in Boston.”

Luna co-authored a 2022 study that found that people of color, lower-income households and people with limited English skills across Massachusetts are more exposed to gas leaks than the general population. These same communities are also waiting longer to fix leaks.

He said this new research reaffirms that communities of color and lower-income communities face an “unequal burden” from environmental pollutants. “That level of inequality is something we’re just beginning to grapple with.”

The Environmental Protection Agency does not regulate indoor air pollution, even though Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors, according to the EPA.

“The (outdoor) air we breathe is cleaner today than it was when I was a kid, and that’s the result of changing policies and fuels,” said Robert Jackson, a professor in Stanford University’s department of earth system sciences. led the study. “But we have ignored and failed to take into account the risks people face indoors.”

Public health experts have raised increasingly urgent concerns about the use of gas stoves in recent years. A 2022 study found 21 hazardous air pollutants in unburned natural gas sampled from homes in Greater Boston. The same study found that benzene, a carcinogen, leaked from 95% of gas stoves sampled. And research has shown that gas stoves can leak pollutants even when they are turned off.

A 2017 study from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health found that gas stove use was the top trigger for childhood asthma in the state; the American Public Health Association calls gas stoves “a public health problem.”

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, approximately 38% of households nationwide, and 44% of households in Massachusetts, use a gas stove for cooking.

Experts recommend venting stove emissions outside or opening windows when cooking to reduce exposure to gas and propane stoves. Nadeau also recommends keeping children, the elderly and people with asthma away from the stove while cooking, and said she wears an N95 mask when using a gas stove.

Several states, including Illinois and California, have proposed legislation that would require warning labels on gas stoves.

Luna said the new research also supports local and national policies that try to wean consumers away from fossil fuels in cars and buildings, because the burning fuel emits greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Massachusetts, for example, has a pilot program that allows a handful of communities to ban fossil fuel connections in new construction.

“We are already on a path to reducing our use of gasoline, our natural gas in the state,” Luna said. “I think what we’re finding is that there are a lot of reasons to do that now.”