TThe United States consumes a lot of natural gas, consuming more than 30 trillion cubic feet of it last year, to me US Energy Information Administration – About 15% of it is burned by household appliances. On top of climate concerns – natural gas may be Less carbon polluting than coalbut the methane released during production is a potent greenhouse gas in its own right – there is a growing awareness of the risks this gas poses to our health.
according to New study Published today in the magazine Environmental science and technologyNot only the atmosphere, but your kitchen could be a victim of pollution, with low levels of gas escaping from stoves even when they are turned off. More than a third of homes in the United States have gas stovesThese leaks expose people to a range of toxic chemicals, including toluene, hexane, xylene, and especially benzene – a contaminant linked to anemia, reproductive disorders, and Different forms of cancer.
The study adds to a growing body of research looking at the environmental and health impact of gas stoves. else study Released in January, methane from natural gas stoves in the United States was found to be equal to emissions from half a million gasoline-powered cars each year. Today’s study looks more deeply into the health effects.
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“We have found that emissions from a gas stove while it is turned off can, in some cases, produce concentrations of gasoline in your home equivalent to living with a smoker,” said Eric Lebel, an environmental scientist at the Policy Institute. PSE Health Energy And one of the authors of the new paper, at a press conference to announce the results. “For cancer, the World Health Organization has clearly stated that there is no safe level of exposure to benzene.”
How dangerous is a gas stove leakage of health hazards?
In the new study, the researchers didn’t dare guess about just how severe the health risks posed by gasoline leaks. but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), like the World Health Organization, warns that benzene causes all kinds of damage to the body. In severe cases, it can affect the central nervous system, resulting in headache, dizziness, impaired gait, and nausea. Systemically, it can interfere with the production of blood cells, which can lead to anemia and leukemia. It can also cause eye inflammation, blurred vision, irregular heartbeat, respiratory infection, and immune system damage.
When results appear Another studyIn June, gas leaks from stoves in Boston homes were published, American Gas Association issued a statement Arguing that “while combustion emissions from gas ranges, ovens, and cooktops can contribute to some extent to emissions of recognized pollutants, there are no documented respiratory health risks from natural gas stoves from regulatory and advisory agencies and organizations responsible for protecting residential buildings.” Health consumer and safety. The quantities of gasoline leaking from stoves were “below the levels of conservative health checks” and would be “only a small fraction of typical background levels of gasoline in indoor and outdoor air,” the organization added.
Although the group is a commercial organization and thus has an in-game appearance, the warnings issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that the greatest danger comes from higher levels of exposure, with concentrations large enough that a telltale sweet scent can be detected—which is not like that. The case is in the low-level and odorless emissions reported in the new paper.
What we know about the California gasoline leak
Label’s study involved sampling gas leaks from stoves in 159 homes across seven geographic regions in California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego and Greater Los Angeles. The sample group cut across different socioeconomic neighborhoods and surveyed different brands and models of stoves and found that in each case, there were detectable levels of leaked gasoline.
The researchers expected some leakage of unburned gas when the stoves were in use, particularly the gas pulsations generated in the few seconds between burner operation and gas ignition. “Sometimes they click, they click, they click while they’re sparking, and there’s going to be some gas leaking out afterward,” Lebel said. However, an estimated 75% of the gasoline released is produced in the home when the stove is not in use. And that’s 75% adds. Extrapolating across the state as a whole, leaking gasoline from gas appliances is the equivalent of adding 60,000 passenger cars to the road — venting their exhaust straight into your kitchen.
Which state areas are most affected by gasoline emissions depends in part on the power company’s pipelines that supply any one neighborhood. The three major companies serving California are Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Gas, and San Diego Gas and Electric. Los Angeles and the northern San Fernando Valley area—both served by Southern California gas—had the highest levels of benzene concentrations in the study. More than 22% of samples from this resource were above average levels in homes provided by Pacific Gas and Electric and San Diego Gas and Electric.
“We’re not quite sure why that is,” says Liebel, although the findings have nothing to do with the type of stoves used in homes with high gasoline levels. We think it has to do with the source of the gas. California has two major gas import pipelines: one that comes from the Rockies and one that comes from Canada.” Southern California gas derives from both sources, and determining which one is dirtier when it comes to gasoline emissions will require a closer analysis than the study conducted, and looking at which cities or neighborhoods are the dirtiest She was getting Canadian gas and whichever she was getting Rocky Mountain gas.
Read more: The best stove for your health and environment
California isn’t the only state to have a study of this kind – but it’s one of only two. Earlier this year, Drew Michanowicz, a senior scientist at PSE Healthy Energy and one of the authors of the new paper, published a similar study of gas stoves in the Boston area and found serious gasoline leaks there as well—but nowhere near the scale than California.
“Even some of the lowest concentrations we detected in California are 10 times higher than the average we saw in Boston,” Michanovic says. “Some of the highest concentrations we’ve found in California are about 66 times higher than the highest levels we’ve seen in Boston.” Again, the explanation may be where the natural gas comes from, but this is harder to determine in Boston than in California, because companies serving the metropolitan area import their natural gas from mix of sourcesincluding Canada and Texas, as well as LNG from Algeria and Trinidad.
What you can do to reduce gasoline use in your kitchen
If stoves are leaking gasoline in Boston and California, surely they are doing it everywhere else as well, and what consumers can do to stay safe is limited. Sure, opening the windows and turning on the range hoods while you’re cooking helps vent the gas pulses, but that does nothing the vast majority of the time you’re not using the stoves.
Sniffing leaks doesn’t do much either. Sulfur-based compounds known as mercaptans are added to natural gas to give it its characteristic rotten-egg smell, especially to alert consumers to leaks, but the amount of gas escaping when stoves are not in use is usually less than most people can detect through the nose. Any leak that exceeds the odor limit requires immediate action, as it can pose an explosion hazard.
“You should leave your house immediately and call the gas company,” says Lebel. “It’s not a good idea to smell gas in your house.”
Long-term solutions include eliminating gas appliances entirely and switching to cleaner, safer electric models. In 2022, California environmental regulators approved a plan to phase out the sale of natural gas appliances by 2030, in an effort to reduce fossil fuel use in general. But that’s just one state in a 50-person nation — all of which should follow California’s lead, and most of them are unlikely to do so. In the meantime, gasoline continues to flow – invisible and odorless.
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