Now, some chefs are endorsing this alternative. WATCH | Why scientists and chefs are ditching their gas stoves - and touting this alternativeĭuration 3:09 Gas stoves generate dangerous levels of indoor air pollution and leak climate-changing methane. The combined health and climate impacts of stoves are also starting to catch the attention of celebrity chefs, such as John Horne, Angus An and John Kung, who have become evangelists for electric induction stoves in a field where gas stoves were once considered an essential tool for anyone serious about cooking. "I am reluctant to throw away a perfectly good electric oven," he said. His gas stove has an electric oven, but it doesn't seem possible to swap out just the burners. What he found pushed him to work on electrifying his home too. Rob Jackson, professor of environmental sciences at Stanford University, co-authored a recent study that found gas stoves leak unexpectedly high levels of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, even when they're off - and they generate significant levels of indoor air pollution. "After that, as soon as it was feasible, I switched from a gas stove to induction," she said. Kahan immediately applied the new knowledge to her own life. University of Saskatchewan researcher Tara Kahan, right, stands beside the instruments she used to measure indoor air pollution from cooking and cleaning. "All of the researchers were pretty horrified." "It really took a long time to go away," said Kahan, associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Environmental Analytical Chemistry. Kahan's measurements found that not only did levels of nitrogen oxide pollutants sometimes exceed Health Canada guidelines for a one-hour exposure, but the pollutants often lingered for a couple of hours. For example, a 2013 meta-analysis of 41 studies found that children living in a home that used gas for cooking had a 42 per cent increased risk of having asthma. When Tara Kahan took pollution readings inside homes after cooking with a gas stove in 20, the University of Saskatchewan chemist and her colleagues were surprised by both how high the levels of nitrogen oxides were and how long they lasted.Įxposure to nitrogen oxides, produced when gas is burned, is linked to respiratory problems such as asthma and decreased lung function, especially in children. After taking measurements, many of these researchers are switching to electric stoves - and warning the public about the health risks of cooking with gas. Gas stoves produce more indoor air pollutants than even some scientists expect.
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