While more and more studies focus on indoor pollution, scientists and NGOs are now warning regarding the link between cooking with gas and the development of many serious pathologies (asthma, mental disorders, cancer, etc.), in particularly in children.
It smells of gas for holders of a gas cooker. WhileAlternative Health already warned in the summer of 2022 regarding the dangers of this type of household appliance for respiratory and cardiac healthmany american studies recent as well as a new European scientific report sound the alarm. Thus, according to a new meta-analysis of 41 studies conducted by the Rocky Mountain Institute (United States), 12.3% of cases ofchildhood asthma in the USA would be linked to gas cooking (1). Indeed, when burned, natural gas generates toxic air pollutants in the form of microparticles, such as nitrogen oxide and dioxide. Known to be carcinogenic, these fine particles, the levels of which are monitored and regulated outdoors, are also major risk factors for asthma. However, a recent scientific report (2) conducted by the NGO CLASP, the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) and the Organization for Applied Scientific Research in the Netherlands (TNO) suggests that cooking with gas (indoors) emits levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) higher than the recommendations of l’OMS for outdoor air, several times a week throughout the year. It also indicates that, as in the United States, 12% of childhood asthma cases in the European Union might be correlated with the use of gas stoves. Thus, according to Christine Egan, president of CLASP, “ preparing dinner might expose us to as many pollutants as second-hand smoke. Gas cooking appliances need health warning labels like cigarette packets. The European Union has an obligation to take these health risks into account (3) ».
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Other research, notably Spanish (4) and Chinese (5), establishes a possible link between gas cooking and certain mental disorders in young people. Thus, the exposure of children (preschool age) to particles emitted by gas stoves would increase the risk of attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity. (ADHD)while prenatal exposure may promote hyperactivity from the youngest age. Even more surprising: according to a Californian study (United States) dating from October 2022 (6), even when turned off, the gas stoves would emit toxic gases and particles. Indeed, it was found, in samples of unburned gas present in 159 American homes, 12 toxic elements, including benzene (and this in quantities equivalent to passive smoking). This gas is already classified as “carcinogenic”, particularly for the bone marrow, and therefore constitutes a risk factor for leukemia.
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TNO scientists have also analyzed more specifically the impact of gas-powered hobs. They would issue carbon monoxide and other ultrafine particles which may have deleterious effects on the health of children and adults, all the more so with the development of teleworking. « It has been shown that the pollutants emitted by this cooking method also have negative effects on the brain (7) and nervous system (8) of adults. “, commented the Breathe association (national association for the improvement of air quality and the defense of victims of pollution) in a recent press release.
Clear recommendations for gas stove users
While 31.7% of French households cook with gas, it is recommended that they ventilate the kitchen frequently (several hours a day ideally) and, when possible, to install a extractor hood and use it for each cooking. In the United States, for example, only 1 in 5 households using a gas stove would consistently turn on this ventilation system, according to researchers at the Rocky Mountain Institute.
Finally, if your financial resources allow it, it is preferable to simply switch to electric hobs and stoves as CLASP and EPHA advise. Indeed, new European standards on cooking appliances are expected for the year 2024, but these future framework standards seem be limited to simple mitigation measures of this pollution and not to its eradication.
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It is in this general atmosphere of risk minimization by the public authorities that the association Respire, in collaboration with CLASP and EPHA, will soon carry out new measurements of toxic emissions in real conditions in 40 accommodations in France. The results will be presented in a new report scheduled for publication in the summer of 2023. To be continued…
Under no circumstances is the information and advice offered on the Alternative Santé site likely to replace a consultation or a diagnosis formulated by a doctor or a health professional, who are the only ones able to adequately assess your state of health.