Yes, gas stoves could harm your health - what doctors now say
It may be time to reconsider the way you cook.
Who does not like the satisfaction of launching a burner and blowing up a flame, heat your pan at the perfect temperature in a flash? For those of us who prefer to cook with gas, recent news on A possible ban on gas stoves causes anxiety.
According to The New York Times , on 40 million houses in the United States —The 35% of households in the country - use gas stoves. "People love their gas stoves," Mike Sommers , said the president of the American Petroleum Institute, in the newspaper.
However, experts warn that gas stoves are potentially dangerous for our health, and many say that we would all be better to go to alternative cooking methods. Better life asked three different doctors to weigh on the controversy. Read the rest to discover what they said about health risks to have a gas stove in your home and what you can do to mitigate them.
Read this then: Never prepare chicken like that, CDC warns .
Gas stoves release pollutants in the air.
A gas stove works by burning natural gas, which can freeze chemicals Including nitrogen oxides (NOX), carbon monoxide (CO) and formaldehyde (CH2O), writes California Air Resources Board.
Steve Allison , PHD, Professor of ecology and evolutionary biology At the University of California, Irvine, explains: "Burning Gas releases pollutants in the air, in particular Nox. Unless the stove is adequately evacuated - and most are not - these pollutants build in the house , sometimes reaching levels that exceed air quality standards, "he said Better life . "In fact, cooking on a gas stove can worsen the quality of the indoor air that a blurring day in Los Angeles or Beijing."
Are you more inclined to order take-out dishes than put on your chef's apron? You may think you don't have to worry as much if you don't often use your gas stove, but Allison says that this is not the case. "Even when turned off, stoves can disclose natural gas and release pollutants in the air. Worse culprit are chemicals like benzene - a powerful carcinogenic - and methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. "" AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB
Read this then: Never wash these vegetables before eating them, warn the experts .
Exposure to gas stoves can cause asthma, bronchitis and cancer.
"The use of a gas stove can potentially have harmful health effects if the appropriate safety precautions are not taken," explains Randa Jaafar , MD, a Pain management doctor and anesthesiologist Based in New York. "Nitrogen dioxide (No2) is released when gas is burned, and it can cause respiratory problems such as bronchitis, asthma and even lung cancer," she said Better life . "Long -term exposure to NO2 can also lead to a decrease in pulmonary function and increased sensitivity to respiratory infections."
"A Recent scientific document Assigned 13% of infantile asthma in the United States to use the gas stove at home, "adds Allison." The percentage was even higher - more than 20% - in states like California, where a larger fraction of houses has gas devices. ""
Jaafar says that particles (PM) are another potential problem when it comes to cooking with gas. "PM is a type of air pollution that is made up of tiny particles that are released when fuels are burned. These particles can be inhaled and can cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems," she explains. "Long -term exposure to PMs can cause chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and heart disease."
Carbon monoxide poisoning is a concern with gas stoves.
"Another potential health effect of using a gas stove is exposure to carbon monoxide (CO)," explains Jaafar. "CO is an colorless and odorless gas that is produced when fuels like gas are burned. When inhaled, it can cause headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea and even death."
When used properly, gas stoves should not constitute a threat of CO poisoning, but if a leak or another dysfunction occurs, it can become a danger.
"Gas leaks can be difficult to detect, and of course, they can be a risk of fire," said doctor and consultant Laura Purdy , MD. "It is very important that parents pay attention to the buttons on their gas stoves, because it can be very easy for children to turn on the button and cause a fusion of gas without activating the pilot light," said -she Better life . "I definitely had cases where I felt gas and we had to call the gas company to come and make sure that there was no leak, but what happened was one Children touched the stove. "
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Good ventilation can reduce the health risks of gas stoves.
Make sure your kitchen has a lot of air flows is a way to help reduce the potential risks of using a gas stove - and this can be as simple as opening a window And manage a fan while you cook. However, no amount of ventilation can completely eliminate the risk of having a gas stove in your home, which leads some people to replace their household appliances.
"Due to the health risks of my children and the climate, I changed the gas stove in my California house for a magnetic induction model in 2021," said Allison. “The same year, I also replaced all the other remaining gas devices, so my home runners only on electricity. I now take advantage of an improved and affordable cooking experience without risk of asthma, cancer or fire to have natural gas in my house. "
If you have a gas stove, Jaafar highlights the importance of taking appropriate precautions. "It is important to have a carbon monoxide detector at home and make sure that the gas stove is properly ventilated to minimize the risk of exposure to the CO," she said.
