(Bloomberg) -- Gas stoves in European homes are associated with tens of thousands of premature deaths, a study has found.
Nearly 40,000 early deaths each year in the EU and UK can be linked to exposure to nitrogen dioxide from burning gas for cooking indoors, a study by scientists at Jaume I University in Spain has found, the first such estimate for Europe. The stoves were also associated with hundreds of thousands of pediatric asthma cases in the EU and UK, the study estimated.
Around a third of European households use gas stoves at home. When used for cooking, the stoves emits nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, which are both linked with respiratory illnesses and premature death, as well as greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide that contribute to climate change. Natural gas is also widely used for home heating in the region. Overall, households contribute about 25% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU.
“From the perspective of public health, gas stoves are toxic,” said Juana Maria Delgado-Saborit, the study’s lead author, in an interview with Bloomberg Green. The problem of early deaths “is far worse than we thought.”
The study, which is not yet peer-reviewed, was funded by the nonprofit European Climate Foundation, and it’s part of a wider project on clean cooking organized by the European Public Health Alliance. It follows a report published last year, which found widespread pollution above legal limits in European homes. Separate research found that more than 12% of current childhood asthma cases in the US can be attributed to gas stove use.
Consumers should make sure to ventilate rooms when using a gas stove to minimize the health effects, Delgado-Saborit added, and consider changing it for an electric alternative when they can. She said the premature deaths figure was likely an underestimate because gas stoves also release other pollutants that weren’t considered in the study. The problem was generally worst in countries with high levels of gas cooking — such as the UK, Romania, Poland and Italy.
Many European governments have introduced targets for the phase-out of gas, in the interests of meeting climate goals. The European Commission is currently reviewing its design standards for gas stoves, which could involve setting tougher limits on NO2 emissions, energy efficiency and pollution labeling.
The report is the largest study in terms of population to consider the impact of gas stoves on health, said Christian Pfrang, a professor in atmospheric science at the University of Birmingham, who was not involved in the research. “It very much should act as a wake-up call for decision-makers, because it very clearly illustrates the impact that gas hobs can have on people’s health.”
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