Gas stoves are not only dangerous for the climate, but also for health

It’s on lights drink that our ancestors cooked their meat. And we may have kept this nostalgia in us a little. The desire to see the flames dance under our saucepans. This explains, at least in part, the success of cookers with gas. But Stanford University researchers (United States) warn us today. These stoves represent a danger both for the weather and for our health.

The work carried out by the researchers certainly only covers about fifty homes in California, but their results are clear. Cookers emit between 0.8 and 1.3% of the gas they consume in the form of methane (CH₄) unburned. And three quarters of these emissions are recorded when the cooker is… switched off! The fault, no doubt, with leaky connections.

By extrapolating to all American households – some 40 million gas stoves – the researchers therefore estimate that gas stoves have, through methane – a powerful greenhouse gas – that they release an impact on the climate comparable to CO emissions₂ of about 500,000 cars gasoline. An impact that increases by a third that which was already known to them, since when these cookers burn gas fossil, they naturally emit CO₂. Bad news for the planet.

A solution, electrify the cookers

Bad news also for the indoor air quality. Because the researchers observed that these emissions of CH₄ are accompanied by emissions of oxides ofnitrogen, the famous NOx. Their measurements show that using a gas stove for just a few minutes can expose a person to amounts of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) above the one-hour outdoor exposure limit set by the authorities. Especially if the kitchen is small, if the ventilation is poor or if the hood is not used. This would happen in 60 to 75% of cases.

Recall that theNOx inhalation – or other products not measured in this study such as formaldehyde where the carbon monoxide – can cause coughing spells, asthma attacks, breathing difficulties and sometimes even lead to hospitalization or premature death. “I don’t want to breathe all this anymore”, comments Rob Jackson, the lead author of the study, in a communicated.

Exactly, last month, the new york city has decided to prohibit gas connections for all new buildings. And the initiative is increasingly followed elsewhere in the country. Except in the States in which the operators of this fossil gas still retain their influence. However, “To reduce the risk, there is only one solution: switching to electric stoves. This will reduce both greenhouse gas emissions – if the electricity in question is produced from low-carbon sources – and the pollution of theair interior », concludes Rob Jackson.