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Date Published: 28/01/2022

Natural gas stoves: posing problems for health and the environment

Experts discover that gas cookers emit methane even when they are turned off

Man has been cooking with fire for millennia, but the recent hike in natural gas prices, coupled with the threat of further increases due to the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, means that people in Spain and elsewhere may soon have to find alternatives. And cost isn’t the only factor, as a recent study published in the US has shown that gas stoves release an enormous amount of methane which not only contributes hugely to global warming, but can actually make us sick.

Natural gas is composed of more than 90% methane and although the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere is much greater than that of methane, the global warming potential is about 86 times greater over a 20-year period.

Spanish living: Gas bottle basics

Methane also threatens air quality by increasing the concentration of tropospheric ozone, exposure to which causes an estimated one million premature deaths annually worldwide due to respiratory disease. Kitchen appliances such as gas stoves directly expose people to their emissions, which can include formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and nitric oxides, substances that can trigger asthma and shortness of breath.

The most worrying finding of the study, however, is that more than three-quarters of methane emissions occurred while stoves were turned off. What’s more, researchers found no relationship whatsoever between the age or cost of a stove and its emissions.

“I don't want to breathe any more nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide or formaldehyde,” said study lead author Rob Jackson.

“Why not reduce the risk altogether? Switching to electric stoves will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and indoor air pollution,” he suggested.

Now read: Spain rejects EU plan to classify natural gas as green energy

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