Aches and feeling tired? Check out your gas stove

Do you suffer from persistent fatigue or aching muscles?  The culprit could be your gas stove.

The stoves release large amounts of nitrogen oxide (NO2), and as well as causing aches and fatigue, the gas can also be responsible for asthma, obstructive pulmonary disease, preterm birth, diabetes, and lung cancer.

Cooking on a gas stove pushes NO2 levels in the home way above safe thresholds, say researchers at Stanford University, and these dangerous levels remain constant for several hours after the stove has been switched off.  The problem is even worse in smaller homes where there can be a greater concentration of the gas.

Cooking with a gas stove exposes people to higher levels of NO2 than they would encounter from every source outdoors, the researchers say.

The researchers monitored gas levels in 133 million residences.  Although fumes from cars and trucks were the most common source of NO2 gases for most people, the researchers identified 22 million Americans who were exposed to levels above safety thresholds just by cooking with a gas stove.  Those living in small properties—such as apartments in cities where outside NO2 levels were already high—and in rural communities, where cooking with gas is more common, were especially vulnerable.

Just switching to an electric stove would halve a person’s annual exposure to the gas, the researchers say.

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