Thread by @bradytoday

🆕 study out. Take a 👀, it's short: 4 pages. We found that 12.7% of childhood current asthma in the US can be attributable to gas stove use. @RMIBuildings @RockyMtnInst @Sydney_Uni @EinsteinMed @IJERPH_MDPI mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1…

In some states, that number is much higher. We had census data for 9 states. #Illinois was the highest at 21.1%. State PAF numbers depend entirely on how much gas is used by households in that state. In IL almost 80% of households w/ children cook with gas - compared to FL (9%)

In my OG home state of NY, the # is 18.8%. Said another way, if we theoretically got rid of all the gas stoves in NY, we could prevent an estimated 18.8% of childhood asthma.

How did we get these numbers? Well, it's just math. We took 2 previous peer reviewed studies and applied U.S. census data & statistical analysis. Huge shoutout to Talor G for his work on this @rewiringamerica 🧮

The 1st was done by @lukeknibbs_au in Australia. He calculated the population attributable fraction (PAF) for childhood asthma & gas stoves. Similar findings: 12.3% in Aus, 12.7% in US. We worked w/ Luke using the peer reviewed methodology he developed. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29642816/

Then, we needed an Odds Ratio for children in homes w/ gas stoves. The latest meta-analysis is from 2013. We searched to see if there were any new associations in the US/Europe but found this was still the best & used the US/Europe studies included. academic.oup.com/ije/article/42…

W/ the OR & the methodology, we just needed US figures. The American Housing Survey oversamples some states every year. We had data for 9 states & enough to come up with a national figure. census.gov/programs-surve…

About 1/3 of US households cook with gas. BUT we found that the proportion of households with children that cook with gas stoves is slightly higher: 42.8%.

Why focus on asthma? The strongest health evidence for gas stove pollution is on childhood asthma. Asthma is the #1 chronic disease in children globally. In the US, ~5M children have asthma. Our analysis shows 12.7% of that could be close to 650,000 kids. aafa.org/asthma/asthma-…

Asthma is a profoundly unequal disease. Black children are nearly 3x more likely to have asthma than white children. Gas stove pollution is a health equity & an environmental justice issue. aafa.org/asthma/asthma-…

The PAF calculation is a common epidemiological tool that can help show us what reduction we would see if the risk factor was removed/reduced to an ideal scenario. In this case, getting rid of gas stoves could reduce the proportion of childhood asthma by 12.7%.

Is a future without gas stove pollution possible? Regulators like @TrumkaCPSC from the @USCPSC say yes- it's "a real possibility” and it could happen sooner than we might expect. chicagotribune.com/news/environme…

This new study comes amid pressure on policymakers to address the health and consumer concerns of gas stove pollution. @uspirg pirg.org/edfund/updates…

We hope the #'s in this study will be a step towards quantifying the health costs💰 of gas stove pollution. We know it's not $0. For ex, direct pediatric asthma costs were almost $6 billion in 2013. Avg annual costs per child ranged from $3,076 to $13,612. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30315512/

We now have an estimate of what slice of childhood asthma can be attributed to gas stoves, based on the document associations between gas stoves + childhood asthma. But what does 12.7% actually mean?

Perhaps the most eye-popping 😵 comparison for me is that the PAF of children's exposure to secondhand smoke is also around 12%. clintransmed.springeropen.com/articles/10.11…

We know exposure to secondhand smoke, especially for kids, is bad. How long will it take for us to take action on gas stove pollution?

Luckily we have good alternatives- like electric / induction stoves. And stove incentives up to $840 starting this year. We need a whole suite of interventions & options, especially to protect renters & low-income households. consumerreports.org/appliances/inf…