Gas Stove Pollution Harms Poor and Minority Americans Most, Study Finds

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

Scientists at Stanford University, Harvard University, and the Central California Asthma Collaborative found that poor Americans and racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately exposed to harmful gas stove pollutants.

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Previous studies have shown that gas stoves emit nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide — pollutants that can cause respiratory 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 gas stove nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution across household types, race, income and cooking habits, and then calculate the cost of preventable childhood asthma cases.

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To conduct the study, the researchers built a model to estimate nitrogen dioxide concentrations in gas stoves, by combining the federal indoor air quality model with field measurements collected from more than 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 stoves included in the U.S. Energy Information Administration's 2020 Residential Consumption Survey. After dividing those homes into 24 distinct groups based on floor plans ranging from studios to multi-bedroom homes, they estimated the severity of exposure to nitrogen dioxide.

The researchers found that American Indian and Alaska Native households face the greatest long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide, with levels 60% higher than the national average. Black, Hispanic, and Latino households follow closely behind, experiencing 20% ​​more exposure than average. Stoves alone expose each of these groups to more nitrogen dioxide pollution than is safe, according to the World Health Organization.

The study found that families with incomes of less than $10,000 annually face twice the exposure to gas stove pollution compared to families earning more than $150,000. Disparities based on race and income are due in part to differences in household size. However, the scientists noted that there may be other relevant factors that were not measured in their model, including social differences in cooking behaviour, ventilation and time spent indoors.

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Using well-established epidemiological relationships, the researchers also estimated that gas and propane stoves contribute to the deaths of up to 19,000 adults annually in the United States, as well as 200,000 cases of asthma among children and $1 billion in societal harm.

“Most of us spend 90 percent or more of our time indoors,” said Rob Jackson, professor of Earth system science at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and lead researcher on the study. “We need to take ownership and work to clean people's air because it is the air that most people breathe and we have ignored it for decades.”

The findings are consistent with what the group observed during a study of gas stove pollution in New York City public housing, said Annie Carforo, director of climate justice campaigns at the Manhattan-based group WE ACT for Environmental Justice. People of color and low-income people are more likely to live in smaller, older apartments with poor ventilation, ineffective or broken range hoods and older appliances that leak more gas, she said.

“This is a massive injustice that compounds on itself, which is 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 leverage to advocate for interventions, programs and policies that will intervene in low-income families first.”

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Removing gas and propane stoves is the best solution for individuals, the study authors said. Those who cannot afford immediate replacement or do not have a choice as renters can purchase a portable induction stove, use an air filter, open windows when cooking and use kitchen hoods that circulate kitchen air outdoors. But they also acknowledged that cost can be a barrier.

While the tax breaks in the inflation-reducing act could help lower the price of an electric stove, researchers said stronger regulations are needed to help households convert and keep gas out of new construction. But the ban on gas stoves has sparked a culture war in the United States.

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

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