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Pr Alain Didier (pulmonologist-allergist)
Medical validation:
January 13, 2023
Gas cooking may be responsible for around 12% of childhood asthma cases in the United States and Europe. This is at least the surprising finding that emerges from two new studies.
Pollution, cigarette smoke, chemical irritants, pollens, moulds… Many factors can cause an asthma attack. But according to two new studies, gas stoves could also aggravate this chronic bronchial disease.
Asthma caused by gas: more than 1 in 10 children are affected
In total, two recent studies accuse gas cooking of being responsible for many cases of childhood asthma in the United States and Europe.
The first, published in theInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Healthis based on a meta-analysis of 41 previous studies combined with US census data.
According to his findings, nearly 12.7% of childhood asthma cases in the United States are related to cooking gas. The cause ? Gas cooking (hobs, ovens, stoves) emits many pollutants.
“Using a gas stove is pretty much like having a smoker live in your house”admits the lead author, Talor Gruenwald.
Pollution levels above WHO recommendations
The second study, released on Monday by the associations Clasp, Respire and the European Alliance for Public Health, estimates that over the past year, more than 700,000 European children have shown asthmatic symptoms caused by this type of cooking and that in France “more than 140,000 children” would suffer for the same reasons.
“Indoor air quality can have a major impact on our health and well-being. Few people are aware of the harmful risks posed by gas cooking appliances – cooking dinner could expose us to as many pollutants as second-hand smoke. Gas cooking appliances need health warning labels like cigarette packs. The European Union has an obligation to take these health risks into account“, confides in this respect the CEO of CLASP, Christine Egan.
The survey also reveals that cooking with gas emits “Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution levels above World Health Organization outdoor air recommendations”several times a week throughout the year.
Finally, the researchers assure that the pollutants emitted by cooking with gas – either nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, methane or even ultra-fine particles – could affect the brain and the systems adult respiratory and nervous systems.
Pay attention to the ventilation of your home
Results that are not surprising according to Alain Didier, head of the Pneumology and Allergology Department at Larrey Hospital, at the Toulouse University Hospital.
“We have long known that household pollutants are implicated in triggering asthma attacks in asthmatics. Nevertheless, the pollutants emitted by gas cooking can have more or less of an impact: it all depends on their concentration in the habitat and its ventilation.“, reveals Alain Didier, head of the Pneumology and Allergology Department at Larrey Hospital, Toulouse University Hospital.
To reduce the risk of inhalation at home, the professor recommends “to pay attention to the ventilation of your home and to limit all sources of combustion in your home.”
Another good reflex: equip your fireplace or wood stove “a filtration system to prevent the inhalation of fine particles, and therefore asthma attacks.”