How to keep your family safe from gas stove pollution during the holidays

The holidays are a time to spend time with family, cook meals and enjoy each other’s company. As holiday cooking often entails spending a lot of hours in the kitchen, it can also mean we’re exposing ourselves and our families to harmful air pollutants from our gas stove.

Gas stoves can pollute inside our homes by combusting methane gas and emitting health-harming gasses like nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide. This can worsen symptoms for those with respiratory illnesses, and can even lead to the development of asthma, particularly in children.

 A Stanford-led analysis found that gas stoves create indoor air quality worse than homes with secondhand smoke. Children living in homes where people cook meals with gas-powered appliances have a 42% higher chance of experiencing asthma symptoms, and a recent report from RMI found that 20% of childhood asthma cases in California can be attributed to gas stoves. 

Learn to keep your families safe with proper ventilation of gas cooking, or better, consider switching to electric or induction cooking.

Check out our guide for safe holiday cooking.