Why gas stoves could be the No. 1 polluter for many Bay Area residents

Why gas stoves could be the No. 1 polluter for many Bay Area residents

Erin Allday

Sun, February 15, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC

6 min read

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.

Several studies indicate that cooking with gas stoves can have long-lasting health effects, mostly to respiratory health but also potentially heart health too. (Neustockimages/Getty Images/iStockphoto)

When Robert Jackson began studying greenhouse gas exposure inside homes a few years ago, a team of fellow Stanford researchers camped out in his kitchen for a few days to monitor the emissions coming from his own gas stove.

They ran tests with all the windows closed and again with all of them open, and with air filters on and off. They turned on three burners at once, and cooked with and without the stove hood running.

The results of the study convinced Jackson that gas stoves are a significant public health problem. And they compelled him to replace his own gas stove with an electric one.

"Seeing it in real time was a surprise to me," said Jackson, a professor in Earth system science at Stanford. "This is a serious health issue, and I think electrification is the solution."

Several studies indicate that cooking with gas stoves can have long-lasting health effects, mostly to respiratory health but also potentially heart health too. For those who can afford it, switching to electric is almost certainly a healthier choice.

But buying a new stove isn't possible for everyone. Now, some scientists studying the issue say they have enough evidence that it's time to consider public policy to make it more affordable for people to switch to electric.

And in the meantime, they have advice for people with gas stoves to lower their exposure to nitrogen dioxide, the main pollutant of concern.

What are the dangers?

Cooking with gas releases nitrogen dioxide, NO2, the same toxic emission produced by gas-powered vehicles and coal-fired power plants that is responsible for most outdoor air pollution. Nitrogen dioxide is well documented as causing a variety of health problems, mostly respiratory. Children who are chronically exposed to the pollution are more likely to develop asthma, and the gas can exacerbate existing heart and lung problems in people of all ages.

The United States has made tremendous progress in reducing nitrogen dioxide in the air outdoors by introducing policies and standards to reduce auto emissions and other major sources of pollution.

But efforts to address indoor air quality have had less success. Berkeley in 2019 became the first city in the nation to ban new natural gas hookups in buildings as part of efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality, inspiring dozens of similar ordinances across California. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2023 ruled that Berkeley's ban conflicted with federal energy law, leading the city to repeal its ordinance and prompting other local governments to pause or roll back their own gas-ban policies amid ongoing legal and political battles.

"People spend 90% of their time indoors on average," Jackson said. "We have spent billions of dollars to improve air quality outdoors and almost nothing to improve air quality indoors, where we live most of the day."

Despite decades of raising concerns about emissions from indoor cooking, it's only in the past 10 or 20 years that scientists have begun bringing equipment into homes and studying people's exposure to toxic gas inside. Results of those studies clearly show that people who use gas stoves are exposed to far more nitrogen dioxide than those who cook with electric.

The exact harm caused by the nitrogen dioxide remains somewhat of a mystery because it's challenging to isolate that single exposure. Jackson estimated in a 2024 study that nitrogen dioxide exposure from gas stoves could be responsible for more than 50,000 current cases of pediatric asthma.

"What's safe, no one really knows," Jackson said. "But we know that breathing air with higher concentrations of nitrogen dioxide irritates airways and increases emergency room visits."

John Balmes, a professor emeritus at UCSF and UC Berkeley who studies air pollutants and respiratory health, said that he encourages patients with pre-existing lung or heart conditions to seriously consider switching to electric if they can afford it.

For everyone else, "whether the juice is worth the squeeze in terms of affordability, that's kind of an individual patient decision," he said.

Who is at risk

California has the highest share of households using gas stoves in the country - about 70% of homes have them, according to Jackson. But how much replacing their stove would help depends somewhat on where people live.

Jackson published a study last December that looked at nitrogen dioxide risk by ZIP code, weighing outdoor air quality and presumed exposure to indoor pollution.

They found that for people who live in areas with not-so-great outdoor air quality, the fumes from their gas stove probably make up about a quarter of their pollution exposure, or possibly even less. In other words, getting rid of their gas stove would be an improvement, but they would still be breathing a lot of unhealthy air.

But for people who live in areas with good air quality - including San Francisco and many other parts of the Bay Area - their gas stove may account for more than half of their exposure to pollution.

In fact, for 22 million Americans, getting rid of their gas stove would wipe out any known health risks associated with nitrogen dioxide, according to the study.

"It may be for many people in the Bay Area that the No. 1 thing they could do to reduce their exposure is electrify," Jackson said.

Reducing risk from gas

Scientists like Jackson worry most about gas stoves in low-income communities, where people may be exposed to even more nitrogen dioxide and have fewer options for reducing their risk. In some communities, people may be more likely to live in smaller homes or apartments and be cooking for larger families - thus releasing more fumes into a smaller space.

Replacing a gas stove isn't possible for everyone - it may not be affordable, and some renters may not be allowed to swap out major appliances. Some people also just prefer to cook with gas and accept there are some health risks.

But there are still ways to reduce nitrogen dioxide exposure, scientists said.

Running the exhaust hood can help, but only if the hood releases fumes outside - some just recirculate the air inside. Hoods also need to be clean and in good condition. Opening windows helps too, as long as it's not too cold or too hot outside.

Air purifiers also can reduce the nitrogen dioxide in the air when they're run while cooking. Even just cooking on a back burner may help a little because the fumes are farther away and more easily picked up by the hood.

People also can use less gas to cook. That could mean doing more prep work in a microwave or trying to reduce cooking times. People also can use electric appliances to replace some things they use the stove for, like boiling water or cooking rice. Jackson also suggested countertop induction units, which use electromagnetic induction for heat.

"I know we want to push forward with electrifying home appliances," Balmes said. "But the issue is how do we do it."

This article originally published at Why gas stoves could be the No. 1 polluter for many Bay Area residents.

About Our Ads

Source