| In 40 million American homes, the "click" of a gas stove igniting is the sound of dinner. But millions of people are questioning whether they should keep this classic American appliance in their kitchen. For decades, a steady drumbeat of studies has pointed to the risks of burning methane in our homes, from asthma to chronic respiratory diseases, especially in children and the elderly. Does that mean you should ditch your gas stove? Scientists' best answer, at the moment, is: We're not sure yet. There's no doubt pollutants produced by gas stoves, including nitrogen dioxide (NO2), formaldehyde, benzene and particulate matter, harm your health. What we don't know is whether the amounts spewed by gas stoves into your home can make you sick. So we launched an experiment with RoundhouseOne, an environmental monitoring and analytics lab, to help shed some light on the dilemma. We tested how pollutants from cooking infiltrate a typical American kitchen equipped with a gas stove, and the steps Americans can take to protect their health. What did we measure? We deployed 12 commercial sensors for four weeks to gauge what the average American might be breathing in each evening, particularly nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter. Then we cooked burgers and pasta on a gas stove, and prepared the same meals on an electric induction burner to compare indoor air pollution levels. Why are scientists worried about gas stoves? Millions of Americans have been cooking on gas ranges with dubious ventilation since the early 20th century. Yet concerns about gas stoves have been simmering for most of that time. As far back as 1907, minutes from a meeting of the Natural Gas Association of America suggested "no gas of any kind" should be burned on a stove without venting outdoors. Gas stoves emit a cocktail of pollutants implicated in asthma and other respiratory problems, as well as heart and lung disease, and emergency room visits. Why hasn't pollution from gas stoves been regulated yet? Proving gas stoves make people sick has been trickier. "We know that being exposed to those pollutants is not beneficial to your health," says Michael Johnson, technical director at the Berkeley Air Monitoring Group, a consultancy researching household air pollution. "We also have a fair degree of certainty that concentrations [of pollutants from gas stoves] often exceed what's deemed healthy." What we don't know is whether the amounts spewed by gas stoves into your home can make you sick. What did you find out? Our findings suggest that some people — particularly those with respiratory or heart conditions, the elderly and children — may have reason to worry. Based on several safety standards, levels of pollution detected by the sensors regularly rose to hazardous levels. But the exercise also revealed some fairly easy and effective ways to minimize those risks. To see the full results (and video), check out my column. But here are a few measures you can take to protect your health (and your family's) in the meantime: Open a window and turn on the hood: The good news is that many of the same health benefits from ditching gas can be achieved for very little money with more airflow. Use a cheap induction burner or convection toaster oven: A countertop induction burner ($112 new, $50 used) and high-quality toaster oven ($169) can tackle most daily cooking without the need to ever turn on the gas. Break up with your gas stove over time: "If you are a healthy person without kids it's probably not going to matter that much," said Johnson of the Berkeley Air Monitoring Group. "But if you have underlying health conditions or young kids or older people at home, you might want to think about ways to transition to a clean source for cooking." Read the full column below to learn more. | 
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