Gas stoves pollute our homes

A chemical linked to an increased risk of leukemia and other types of blood cancers seeps into millions of homes every time residents turn on a gas stove. Benzene is on the list of human carcinogens and has also been cited as a possible cause of leukemia.

Research conducted by Stanford University has highlighted how cooking with gas stoves can increase indoor benzene levels. Moreover, the research estimates that in the past year, more than 700,000 children had asthmatic symptoms caused by cooking with gas, equivalent to 12% of European children currently suffering from asthma (in Italy 230,000, black jersey worldwide continent). More than 100 million European citizens cook with gas, with more than half of homes in Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.

Benzene forms in flames and other high-temperature environments, such as in flares in oil fields and refineries. “We now know that benzene is also formed in the flames of gas stoves in our homes,” said study author Rob Jackson, a professor at Stanford University. “Good ventilation helps reduce pollutant concentrations, but we have found that exhaust fans are often ineffective at eliminating exposure to benzene.”

Overall, the researchers found that indoor concentrations of benzene formed in flames can be worse than average concentrations of secondhand smoke, that benzene can travel to other rooms away from the kitchen, and that concentrations measured in bedrooms can exceed national and international health standards. . The new work is the first to look at benzene emissions when a stove or oven is used.

Previous studies focused on stove leaks when they were turned off and did not directly measure the resulting benzene concentrations. Researchers have found that gas and propane stoves and ovens emit 10 to 50 times more gasoline than electric stoves. Induction hobs did not emit any detectable benzene. It is precisely in order to address these public health issues that the European Union is presenting an innovative legislative proposal that encourages the transition of gas hobs towards the use of induction hobs. The goal is to encourage an energy saving plan, as well as to have a cleaner environment, in line with new global standards.

This proposal is fully integrated with the commitment to renovate residential buildings to achieve a higher energy class, that is, homes that allow greater energy savings and a lower impact on the environment and people’s health.