People cooking with a gas stove who do not turn on the extractor hood and open a window risk inhaling carcinogens at potentially higher levels than secondhand cigarette smoke, a doctor said last week.
Gas stoves generate invisible, fatal gases such as benzene and nitrogen dioxide when ignited, pulmonologist and critical care physician Ooi Hean (黃軒) wrote on Facebook.
Benzene has been listed by the WHO as a Group 1 carcinogen and is associated with leukemia, while nitrogen dioxide has been linked to asthma, chest pain and respiratory diseases, he said.
Photo: Wang Chun-chung, Taipei Times
Research has shown that levels of benzene from combustion by gas stoves are sometimes higher than those in secondhand cigarette smoke, Hean said.
A US study evaluating the association of health risks with benzene exposure for 6.3 million people showed that those frequently exposed to benzene emissions from gas stoves without ventilation have a higher rate of leukemia, which has caused an estimated 16 to 69 extra cases per year, he said.
The study showed that children’s incremental lifetime cancer risk from gas stove exposure was nearly 1.85 times higher than adults under similar circumstances, Hean said.
Children are more vulnerable to prolonged benzene exposure, as they are not fully developed physically, he added.
The study also showed that the level of benzene generated by gas stoves in a kitchen area would rise and diffuse to other areas of a home if a kitchen hood was not used and the windows were closed, he said.
Hean cited another study as showing that children living in homes with gas stoves were at a 42 percent higher risk of developing asthma than those living in homes without gas stoves.
Children in multifamily houses are more likely to develop wheezing, shortness of breath and chest tightness if they are exposed to nitrogen dioxide emitted from gas cooking, he said, citing another study.
It showed that the likelihood of developing such respiratory symptoms would increase with every increment of 20 parts per billion of nitrogen dioxide, he said.
Although the studies signaled a warning against gas stove usage, they were mostly conducted based on risk simulation and projection and could not lead to cause-and-effect conclusions, meaning that gas stove emissions do carry a carcinogenic risk, but are not certainly pathogenic, Hean said.
Nevertheless, people should be aware of confirmed carcinogens such as benzene and maintain good ventilation while using a gas stove, he said.
He recommended using hoods with high capture efficiency.
Nearby windows should also be opened with an electric fan to aid air circulation and ventilation, he said, adding that the method could reduce gas stove emissions by four to 10 times.
People should replace gas stoves with electric stoves, which would not create combustion pollutants and are health-friendly for small homes, Hean said.
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