Study Shows Gas Stove Pollution Hurts Poor and Minority People Most in US

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(Bloomberg) — Cooking with gas poses a health risk, but new research shows the risk isn’t evenly distributed.

Poorer Americans and racial and ethnic minority groups are disproportionately exposed to harmful gas stove pollutants, scientists at Stanford University, Harvard University and the Central California Asthma Collaborative found.

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Previous studies have shown that gas stoves emit nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide — pollutants that can cause breathing problems — at levels considered unsafe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization. The new findings in Science Advances are the first to measure nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution from gas stoves in relation to housing type, race, income and cooking habits and then calculate the cost of preventable asthma cases in children.

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To conduct the study, researchers constructed a model to estimate NO2 concentrations in gas stoves by combining a state-level indoor air quality model with field measurements collected from over 100 homes of varying sizes in five U.S. states. They then applied their model to 7,632 homes with gas, propane and mixed fuel furnaces included in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2020 Residential Consumption Survey. After dividing these homes into 24 different groups based on floor plans ranging from studio to multi-room, they estimated the intensity of NO2 exposure.

The researchers found that Native American and Alaska Native households have the highest long-term exposure to NO2, 60% above the national average. This is followed by Black, Hispanic and Latino households, which are 20% more affected than average. Stoves alone expose each of these groups to greater levels of NO2 than is safe according to the WHO.

The study found that households earning less than $10,000 per year are twice as exposed to gas stove pollution as households earning more than $150,000. The racial and income disparities are due in part to differences in home size. However, the scientists noted that there may be other relevant factors not measured in their model, including social differences in cooking behavior, ventilation and time spent indoors.

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Using established epidemiological links, the researchers also estimated that gas and propane stoves cause up to 19,000 deaths in adults and 200,000 cases of asthma in children annually in the United States, and $1 billion in societal damages.

“Most of us spend 90% or more of our time indoors,” said Rob Jackson, a professor of Earth system science at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and principal investigator of the study. “We must take responsibility and act to clean up people’s air, because it is the air that most people breathe and we have ignored it for decades.”

Annie Carforo, climate justice campaign manager for the Manhattan-based group WE ACT for Environmental Justice, said the results are consistent with what the group observed in a study of gas stove pollution in New York City public housing. She said people of color and low-income people are more likely to live in smaller, older homes that have poor ventilation, inefficient or broken range hoods and outdated appliances that leak more gas.

“This is a massive injustice that builds on itself, and that’s why you see much higher rates of asthma in communities of color and low-income communities,” Carforo said. She added that the new research “gives us more power to call for interventions, programs and policies that target low-income households first.”

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The study authors said eliminating gas and propane stoves is the best solution for individuals. If you can’t afford an immediate replacement or don’t have the means to do so as a renter, you can purchase a portable induction burner, use an air filter, open windows when cooking, and use exhaust hoods that circulate kitchen air outdoors. However, they also acknowledged that cost can be a barrier.

While tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act can help lower the price of an electric stove, researchers say stricter regulations are needed to help households make the switch and keep gas out of new buildings. However, bans on gas stoves in the US have fueled a culture war.

“Our biggest problem is the political unreality of the whole situation,” said Kevin D. Hamilton, a registered respiratory therapist and senior director of government affairs at the Central California Asthma Collaborative. “All we can do is hope that researchers provide as much concrete data as possible to bring some sense to the discussion.”

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