Your gas stove could be dangerous for your health, experts say

Before you fire up the stove for your next meal, some health advocates are sounding an alarm about gas stoves.

If your stove operates on gas, there’s something you need to do before you turn it on.

When Matt Casale moved into his new home last year, the first thing he did was replace the gas stove with an electric one. Casale is an environmental advocate with the consumer watchdog US Public Interest Research Groups. He said there are hidden dangers from gas stoves.

“It’s not commonly known how significant of a problem it could be,” Casale said.

He pointed to a number of studies that say cooking with gas, even for short periods of time, can create unhealthy levels of toxic gases.

“In reality, every time you turn on the stove it’s releasing these pollutants into your home but there’s nothing on the stove that would tell you that,” Casale said.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, gas stoves increase a person’s risk for asthma and exacerbate COPD and cardiovascular disease. The National Environmental Health Association said gas stoves release “combustion-generated nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants” which it says “…are associated with increased risk and severity of childhood asthma.”

In 2017, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said “gas used for cooking” was the number one cause of childhood asthma -- even more so than pets in the home.

Advocates and most cooks say if you’re using gas, you need proper ventilation. The best and safest form of ventilation is having a system that sends that gas up and out of your house.

“If their ventilation system really does not ventilate outside, I would make investment to make that happen,” said Dr. Brita Lundberg, who leads a patient advocacy group.

Lundberg said everyone should use their fan when they cook, even if they think it’s too loud or annoying.

“My worry is it does bother people. Most of us don’t use that fan,” she said.

“Using ventilation is 100% necessary,” said chef Saba Duffy.

She said not only should you use that fan every time you cook, you should turn it on before you start cooking to get the air flowing before the gas does.

“If you’re using gas and you’re going to be searing or any high-temperature cooking, there’s going to be a lot of splatter and a lot of gas emissions,” Duffy said. “You do have to have that hood on to get the air out.”

If you don’t feel like you’re getting the proper ventilation for your gas stove, you can look into an electric induction oven. They do cost more, but safety advocates say they’re safer and more efficient to cook with.

If you have a gas stove, it’s highly recommended that you have a range hood. But if that’s not an option, you can open some windows while you cook, to create a draft and increase air flow. If you have a window fan, run it on exhaust when you cook. Buy an air purifier with a carbon filter to remove some of those particles from the air.

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