Using a single gas-stove burner can raise indoor
concentrations of benzene, which is linked to cancer risk, to above what is
found in secondhand tobacco smoke and even to levels that have prompted local
investigations when detected outdoors, according to a new study.
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For the peer-reviewed study, researchers at Stanford’s Doerr
School of Sustainability measured benzene emissions from stoves at 87 homes in
California and Colorado and found that natural gas and propane stoves emitted
benzene that frequently reached indoor concentrations above health benchmarks
set by the World Health Organization and other public agencies.
The same concentrations seen in secondhand smoke
In about one-third of the homes, a single gas burner on high
or an oven set to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes raised benzene levels
above the upper range of indoor concentrations seen in secondhand tobacco
smoke, the researchers found. They noted that similar concentrations, when
identified in 2020 near schools in Greater Los Angeles and the Colorado Front
Range, led to investigations by authorities there.
“I found it startling,” said Yannai Kashtan, lead author of
the study, “that concentrations that were enough to trigger a public outcry
when they were detected outside are concentrations that we’ve found repeatedly
inside, just from stoves in people’s homes.”
Studies show the dangers are piling up
A mounting body of research has documented significant
indoor air pollution and negative health effects from gas stoves. Gas stoves
emit other harmful pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and
formaldehyde, and can also leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas, even when
they are turned off.
A study published in December estimated that 12.7 percent of
childhood asthma in the US was linked to gas-burning stoves.
But the latest study, published this week in the journal
Environmental Science and Technology, was the first to focus on quantifying the
benzene that comes off a stove’s flame in the process of combustion.
The United Nation’s International Agency for Research on
Cancer and the US Environmental Protection Agency define benzene as a human carcinogen.
Breathing in the chemical can increase the risk of leukemia and lymphoma among
other serious health effects. Doctors say no level of exposure is safe.
The Stanford team measured emissions from the food itself,
frying up some fish, as well as bacon, and found negligible benzene emissions.
Emissions in the home from electric and induction stoves are also negligible,
the Stanford research and other studies have found.
Stoves have become a ‘culture war’ issue
Concerns over the health effects of gas stoves have already
prompted some cities and states to seek to phase out gas connections in
residential buildings. The federal government is moving to strengthen
efficiency standards for gas stoves.
Still, the issue has become politicized. On Wednesday, House
Republicans pushed through a bill that would prevent federal funds from being
used to regulate gas stoves as a hazardous product.
The measure wasn’t expected to pass the Senate, but
underscored the divisiveness of the issue among the nation’s politicians,
despite the science.
Kashtan, a doctoral candidate who is the lead Stanford
researcher, noted that the study focused on single-family houses in California
and Colorado, which tend to be larger than apartments in big cities such as New
York. More recent testing by the Stanford team detected higher concentrations
of some pollutants from gas stoves in tiny New York kitchens and found that
those pollutants quickly traveled throughout the home and lingered, sometimes
for hours.
Dr. Janice Kirsch, an oncologist and former investigator on
a large-scale study of childhood leukemia who was not involved in the Stanford
research, said the levels of benzene that the researchers found coming off gas
stoves in people’s homes were alarming.
“We knew that when you burn methane, you get benzene. But to
actually do the measurements is groundbreaking, and levels are higher than what
was expected. It’s way more dangerous,” Kirsch said. “Benzene is the stuff
nightmares are made of.”
What concerned her particularly was that mounting research
showed how people were being exposed to harmful chemicals both outside their
homes, from things such as traffic, factories or wildfire smoke, and indoors.
But inside, at least, people have somewhat more control over
their exposure. “That gives us a way forward,” Kirsch said. People could buy
relatively inexpensive induction hot plates, she said, or use toaster ovens and
electric kettles when possible. “And ventilate,” she said. “You have to
ventilate.”
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