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Abstract Cooking with a gas stove releases combustion-generated nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants into household air. Both nitrogen dioxide in household air and cooking with gas are associated with increased risk and severity of childhood asthma. The impact on children can be substantial because at least one third of households in the U.S. cook with gas stoves, children spend most of their time indoors, indoor air is unregulated, and asthma is the most common chronic disease in children. The association between gas cooking stoves, household air pollution, and childhood asthma is not widely appreciated. We propose a public information campaign, public policies addressing household air pollution risks associated with cooking with gas, requirement of warning labels on gas cooking stoves, and further research on the efficacy of available interventions.
Introduction
Burning fossil fuels in vehicles, furnaces, electricity plants, and for other uses generates nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and other compounds that pollute the air people breath, all of which contribute to poor health. Air pollution increases the risk of asthma, the most common childhood chronic disease across all socioeconomic classes and the most frequent cause of hospitalization among children (Zahran et al., 2018). The impact of combustion-generated outdoor air pollution on asthma and other health outcomes is recognized and subject to environmental regulation. The association of combustion-generated household air pollution and asthma is less well known and household air pollution is not regulated.
Cooking with gas stoves increases household air pollution, which is associated with asthma and increased asthma severity. Household air pollution is a particular concern for children, who spend a majority of their time in homes and who are biologically more susceptible to air pollution because of higher breathing rates, developing lungs, and immature immune systems (Bateson & Schwartz, 2007). The aim of this special report is to discuss the health effects on children of cooking with gas and to discuss policy changes that could reduce the risk of asthma in children.
Methods
We searched PubMed in 2017 for articles including U.S. populations using the search term "gas stoves" with a human-only filter. Following our review, we searched for studies of the biological plausibility of nitrogen dioxide increasing the risk of respiratory illnesses in children, the health impacts of outdoor...