The pilot program took place in a 96-unit public housing building outfitted with gas stoves in the Bronx. Twenty low-income households participated, and at the beginning of the study half were given induction stoves, which use electricity to heat the cookware directly and don’t emit pollutants.
Researchers performed a controlled cooking test and found that the baseline level of nitrogen oxide – which forms in the air from burning fossil fuels – in homes with gas stoves was 18 parts per billion . It rose to an average of 197ppb during cooking. That is almost twice the Environmental Protection Agency’s threshold for outdoor exposure deemed unhealthy for sensitive groups, such as people with respiratory illnesses, seniors and young children. Long-term exposure to NOcan exacerbate asthma, lung disease and increase the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses.level of 11ppb saw a negligible change to 14ppb during cooking.
In the focus group conducted by Columbia University researchers, all participants said that one of their greatest fears around gas stoves was their homes catching fire due to a gas leak, a stove malfunction, or the gas not being turned off properly. Participants overwhelmingly preferred cooking with induction stoves and at the end of the study no one asked to return to gas.
“Intervention studies such as this one are important to determine the benefits of electrification, especially for people living in lower-income housing who are most at risk,” said Rob Jackson, a professor of earth system science at Stanford University, who was not involved in the New York program.he co-authored revealed that gas stoves are constantly emitting methane, even when turned off.