Cooking with gas? It could be wreaking havoc with kids’ health
The Climate Council has released new research finding the use of gas is Australian households puts kids at a higher risk of asthma.
Additionally, the Kicking the Gas Habit: How Gas is Harming Our Health report also found that gas-powered cooking has more harmful impacts on Australia.
Using gas for cooking and heating harms our health, while the extraction process exposes communities to hazardous substances.
“Far from the ‘clean and natural’ image that the gas industry markets, gas cooktops are known to produce contaminants that increase the risk of childhood asthma, in particular, nitrogen dioxide and certain forms of particulate matter, like PM2.5,” the report said.
The Climate Council also found that children and those in poorer households are at the highest risk from gas use in home and schools.
How does gas at home affect kids?
Kate Charlesworth, Climate Council spokeswoman and report author, compared the risk of a child developing asthma from living in a home using gas to a child living with household cigarette smoke.
“Cooking with gas is estimated to be responsible for up to 12 per cent of the childhood asthma burden in Australia,” she said.
Asthma Australia CEO Michele Goodman called on families to do everything they can “to improve health outcomes for our children”.
“Australia has some of the highest rates of asthma in the world, and it is the leading cause of disease burden among school-aged children,” she said.
“Some people will be shocked to learn that cooking dinner on a gas stove could be contributing to their child’s asthma symptoms, we need education to improve awareness for indoor air pollution,” she continued.
To reduce the risk, Goodman says people should increase the ventilation at home by using “modern extraction fans over gas stoves, flues for gas heaters, and simple measures like opening windows.”
But, she said “this won’t eliminate the risk completely.”
Gas extraction also harms communities
The report also found that people living near coal seam gas developments in Queensland’s Darling Downs “were more likely to be hospitalised for tumours, as well as blood and immune diseases.”
It called on the government to shift away from gas and adopt cleaner energy alternatives like solar or wind power.
“Gas is a polluting fossil fuel. Governments can prevent health issues, and reduce harm, by helping households and the country move away from gas,” the report said.
Gas extraction and processing was also found to “involve many hazardous substances, including those that cause cancer, interfere with childhood development, trigger asthma and contaminate the local environment through airborne pollution and wastewater.”
What is the Climate Council?
According to its website, the Climate Council is the country’s leading climate change communications organisation that has been providing advice to the public on climate change and science-based solutions since its inception in 2013.
“We’re made up of some of the country’s leading climate scientists, health, renewable energy and policy experts, as well as a team of staff, and a huge community of volunteers and supporters who power our work.
“As an independent voice on climate change, we get climate stories into the media, produce hard-hitting reports, call out misinformation as we see it and promote climate solutions such as the transition to renewables.”