Using a gas stove can raise indoor concentrations of benzene, a cancer-linked chemical, to above what is found in secondhand smoking or even beyond levels found next to oil and gas facilities, a new study has found.
According to The Guardian, the research, which measured benzene levels in 87 homes in California and Colorado, found that gas and propane stoves frequently emitted benzene at rates well above ‘safe’ benchmarks set by the World Health Organization and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Leaving a single gas hob on for 45 minutes raised benzene levels to above that found in secondhand tobacco smoking, or at the boundary of oil and gas plants.
According to the study, emissions are 10 to 25 times higher than that from electric coil stoves.
The researchers, from Stanford University, noted that even low doses of airborne benzene raise the risk of a variety of cancers, including lymphomas and leukemia, by damaging people’s bone marrow.
Elevated levels of benzene can linger for six hours throughout a house or apartment after a gas stove is turned off, the study reported.
A study from earlier this year found that one of eight childhood asthma cases in the US are linked to the use of gas stoves.
A research published last year also showed that emissions from gas stoves in US households have the same warming effect as half a million gasoline-powered cars.
