A recent study shows that using gas stoves can increase levels of the carcinogen benzene in the home to dangerous levels hours after use.
The study, published last week in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, was the first to measure benzene emissions from gas stoves and ovens, and found that concentrations of the toxic chemical far exceeded the benchmark set by the Environmental Protection Agency was considered unsafe.
“We found that a single gas burner on high, or an oven set to 350 Fahrenheit, for 45 minutes increased benzene concentrations in the kitchen above the upper estimate of benzene concentrations found in secondhand smoke in about a third of cases that we measured,” says Yannai Kashtan. , a graduate student at the Stanford University Doerr School of Sustainability and lead author of this study, said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
The data was collected from 87 homes in 11 counties in California and three in Colorado.
Researchers found that the chemical spread slowly through the home, leading to high concentrations hours after cooking.
“Within half an hour, levels in the corridor start to rise,” Rob Jackson, a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, and co-author of the study, said during Tuesday’s briefing. “In some cases, it takes six hours or more for benzene to return to background levels.”
More and more evidence
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, acute benzene poisoning can cause symptoms such as drowsiness, dizziness, fast or irregular heartbeat, headache and even death at very high levels. Long-term exposure to benzene can reduce the number of red blood cells, leading to anemia, weaken the immune system and cause cancers such as leukemia.
A 2018 systematic review of research published in Global Pediatric Health also found that asthma diagnosis and frequency of reported asthma symptoms are higher in children exposed to airborne benzene.
A hot topic
Gas stoves have been the source of a lot of political controversy lately. In fact, other recent studies have found that emissions of pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide from gas stoves increase the incidence of asthma in children.
That prompted a member of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to publicly muse about regulating gas stoves, including possibly banning their sale at a later date, sparking outrage among Republicans and conservatives and prompting the commission chairman to reject such a plan.
The Department of Energy (DOE) proposed in late January to require greater energy efficiency of gas stoves, which would reduce their pollution. In May, Republicans in the House of Representatives held a hearing opposing that proposal, and earlier this month they passed bills intended to thwart any potential regulation of gas stoves.
“Gas stoves have gotten a lot of attention lately and one of the reasons they pose such a potential health risk is because they are the only fossil fuel appliance that removes indoor pollution,” Jackson said. “We would never voluntarily stand over a car exhaust and breathe in the pollution, but we do voluntarily stand over our stoves and breathe in the pollution they emit.”
The gas industry and its Republican allies in Congress say regulations that remove gas stove models from the market unfairly limit consumer choice.
“Fifty percent of the market will not comply with the DOE rule. That’s a significant number of gas cooktops,” said Matthew Agen, chief energy regulator at the American Gas Association. “A large percentage of desirable products with the features people are looking for will be wiped out.”
