A new research study by Yannai S. Kashtan, Metta Nicholson, Colin Finnegan, Zutao Ouyang, Eric D. Lebel, Drew R. Michanowicz, Seth B.C. Shonkoff and Robert B. Jackson (published by American Chemical Society, June 15, 2023) is, according to Boston Green Action co-founder Martyn Roetter, uniquely alarming. The study extends our understanding of the extent of harms that stoves can cause to human health, especially in lower income households with smaller home sizes and less effective ventilation.

The originality of this work goes beyond the well documented impact of the greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide and methane) of gas stoves on climate warming and of nitrogen oxides on respiratory diseases, notably childhood asthma. Significant new results are presented on these stoves’ emissions of benzene, a toxic chemical and Group 1 known human carcinogen. The authors demonstrate that concentrations of this carcinogen—for which no safe level has been established—exceed various indoor exposure benchmarks set by international and US and state agencies.