We try to do the best we can as parents to keep our kids healthy and safe. Many parents do not realise that indoor air pollution is not regulated in Australia. And that gas cooktops cause indoor air pollution that can harm the health of their children.
When you combust methane on your cooktop the air pollutant is nitrous dioxide. This aerosol air pollution increases the risk of asthma by 12% and sensitises children to house dust mites. Most people would not allow smoking in the house. And yet most people are not aware of pollution they are exposed to with a cooktop.
Cook tops can emit other pollutants when they are off. Including carbon monoxide, methane, benzenes and formaldehyde. If gas cook tops that are not serviced there is high risk of these emission. All these pollutants have been measuring in studies. Benzene has also been shown to be carcinogenic.
Young children are more at risk as there are at home during the day. During winter most people are less likely to ventilate their house. Nitrous dioxide has been shown to reduce lung function and impair cognitive development in children. Other at-risk groups are those with chronic heart and lung disease and the elderly.
I advise my patients with children and my elderly patients and those building new homes or refurbishing their kitchens about the harmful air pollution from gas cook tops.
There are air quality monitors that are now not too expensive to buy that can measure particulate and aerosol pollutants.
What is needed?
Increase public education. Advice about ventilation and servicing appliances and improving ventilation: If the kitchen has a range hood ducted outside the house, it should be turned on every time the stove is used. Opening a window or door also helps.
If it’s an option, replace gas stoves with induction versions. A cheaper alternative is to use a portable induction cooktop which plugs into a power point. These cost about $100 -$200 and can greatly reduce the need to use a gas stove.Induction cooks tops.
Many people find cooking on an induction stove is faster and more flexible than gas, and the stove top is much easier to clean. Not every saucepan works on an induction stove. The cook top needs its own heavy-duty circuit and in an old house the meter box may need upgrading. They cost anywhere from $500 to $2000.
When switching from a gas to an induction stove, the energy cost per unit of energy is greater for electricity than for gas. Although this balance is changing with the rising cost of gas. The induction stove waste much less energy heating the kitchen. The higher efficiency balances the higher energy price, and the cost of cooking is about the same when switching from gas. There is a cultural attachment to gas and the flames.
What can we do?
My mum was 80 years old when she switched to induction. When she turned on her gas cooktop all 4 burners lit up. I was so worried about her risk of being burnt and the air pollution. It took her a while to get used to the cook top. But she loves it now because it is so easy to clean.
Run Cooking classes with induction
I love cooking and love my induction cooktop. I have been conducting cooking classes for communities for three years.
Dr Kim Loo
