Gas Stove Emissions: Indoor air quality & health effects

About 38 percent of U.S. homes use gas-fired stoves and ovens for cooking. Combustion of so-called “natural gas” — which is primarily methane — creates many toxic air pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, benzene, and carbon monoxide. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a respiratory irritant linked with the development of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Benzene is a known human carcinogen with no safe level of exposure. Unburned gas, which contains hazardous air pollutants such as benzene, leaks from household stoves even when they are not in use. Scientists have shown that gas stove pollution travels efficiently out of the kitchen and around the home.

Building codes typically require that gas-fired furnaces, boilers, clothes dryers, and water heaters exhaust combustion byproducts to the outdoors. In contrast, gas stoves more often release hazardous pollutants directly into indoor air.

The link between gas stove emissions and respiratory distress in children has been shown in dozens of studies dating back almost 50 years. A 2024 study showed that, across the United States, gas stoves are likely responsible for approximately 200,000 current pediatric asthma cases.

The air inside homes with gas stoves has average concentrations of NO2 that are 50 to 400 percent higher than the air inside homes with electric stoves — often at levels that breach outdoor air health standards. The American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association have each recognized the links among gas stoves, NO2 pollution, and increased respiratory illnesses in children, and have called for a transition away from gas stoves and toward electrification of home appliances.

In this webinar, Dr. Yannai Kashtan will present findings from a recent study that found gas stoves are exposing 22 million Americans to NO2 levels that exceed established health thresholds. He will discuss these and other important health data linked to gas stoves. The webinar will also briefly address the growing building electrification movement, which has arisen primarily in response to the climate impact of fossil-fuel connected buildings but has vast health-protective potential. Brady Seals will discuss ways individuals can protect themselves at home, collective solutions such as community science air quality monitoring, policy solutions such as gas stove warning label bills, and global approaches to electric cooking options.