October 16, 2024 – Cooking with a gas or propane stove can lead to respiratory problems such as asthma—and women in most parts of the world are particularly at risk because they generally spend more time cooking than men.
“Women are both exposed to cleaning products, which can have negative impacts on your immune system and your respiratory health, and then they’re also being exposed to the cooking fumes from gas stoves. That’s compounding the health impacts,†Mary Margaret Johnson, principal research scientist in Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental Health, said in an Oct. 3 article in Healio.
The article cited statistics related to how much women cook at home—for instance, one 2022 survey found that women cooked more than twice as many meals as men. The article also highlighted the risks that both women and children face from household air pollution related to cooking indoors. One study, for example, found that gas stoves may be responsible for 19,000 U.S. adult deaths each year, and that long-term exposure to NO2 from stoves may be the cause of 50,000 cases of pediatric asthma.
Johnson recommended avoiding using gas stoves or other types that burn combustibles or, if it can’t be avoided, she said to use a venting hood, open windows, or try to cook for shorter periods of time. “Whatever you can do to reduce the amount of time that you’re spending at the stove would be helpful,†she said.
Read the Healio article: Cooking, stove use among potential household health hazards for women
Learn more
‘No safe amount of exposure’ to gas stove pollution (Harvard Chan School news)
Photo: iStock/FotoCuisinette
