Thread by @saeverley

With all the talk about #gasstoves and alleged health threats, it's worth providing some background on where the research currently is on this issue, and how the feds suddenly decided these appliances are a health risk.

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First of all, the largest analysis of any link between gas stoves & childhood asthma (500,000+ children sampled worldwide) found “no evidence of an association between the use of gas as a cooking fuel and either asthma symptoms or asthma diagnosis.” pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24429203/

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That study finding no evidence of a link between gas stoves and asthma is being ignored by most of the groups claiming an inherent health risk. Unfortunately, many in the media are also ignoring it or simply unaware of it.

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Another study found that peak NO2 emissions from gas stoves when using even the least effective ventilation fan was 15 ppb, considerably lower than the 100 ppb NAAQS for short-term exposure. sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

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That's an important piece of info: Numerous studies examining indoor air quality point to ventilation as the most practical solution. Range hoods exist for a reason.

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Moreover, research shows that what you cook accounts for the vast majority of emissions.

For example, olive oil – one of the most common cooking ingredients – generates 17x more emissions than gas stoves.

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osti.gov/servlets/purl/…

Again, this is why ventilation is so important. Even if you mandated an expensive shift from gas to electric, you wouldn't be addressing the largest source of emissions in the kitchen.

This is also why EPA and other agencies have focused on ventilation.

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So how is it that this alleged "growing body of research" is linking gas stoves to negative health impacts?

In addition to the studies cited above concluding the opposite, let's take a look at some of those recent studies that supposedly support those claims.

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In 2020 UCLA researchers issued a study claiming to link gas stoves to asthma, in which they compared max peak concentrations to averaged standards, which is not a valid comparison. Here are some of the headlines that study generated.

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Interestingly, when the UCLA team's data are compared to the correct metric, it shows emissions well below established health standards. See this review of the UCLA paper for more on that.

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calrest.org/sites/main/fil…

Also of note, the 2020 UCLA study was bankrolled by the Sierra Club, which is running multiple anti-fossil fuel campaigns. The researchers fully disclosed the funding from Sierra Club.

ph.ucla.edu/news/press-rel…
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In January 2022, researchers at Stanford published a study linking gas stoves not only to health hazards but also climate change. Here are the headlines that study generated.

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How did they arrive at that conclusion? The environment they created involved encasing a kitchen in plastic sheets, removing any ventilation, and then turning on the gas.

No, really. From the study itself.

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pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ac…

It should go without saying that an airtight kitchen encased in plastic sheets is not representative of any real-world kitchen that any of us actually use.

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Of note: the UCLA study linking gas stoves to asthma from 2020 (referenced above) also assumed no ventilation in the kitchen.

Notice a trend here?

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Another study released in the summer of 2022 claimed a link between residential gas use (i.e. stoves) and potential health risks. Here are the headlines that generated.

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pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ac…

While the researchers did discover "trace amounts" of VOCs and called it a "hazard identification study," they didn't actually study exposure. As is well known, it's not the presence that determines health risks, but rather the volume/dose of exposure.

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The presence of benzene or other substance doesn't necessarily mean you're at risk for contracting illnesses associated with that substance. There are varying levels of all sorts of things all around us.

That's why you have to determine what the actual exposure is.

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There are many other studies, and proponents of gas stove bans claim they all point to inherent health hazards.

In reality, they paint a far more nuanced picture and really point toward the need for more range hood use (i.e. ventilation) regardless of stove type.

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So in summary, the recent discussion about a potential ban on #gasstoves is not based on just one flawed study. It's based on several, as well as a misreading of a much larger body of research pointing toward another solution entirely.

/end