Elevated cancer risk traced back to popular appliance found in millions of American homes
A new study found that gas stove emissions result in a significantly increased cancer risk that is up to 16 times greater for kids than adults.
The Stanford-led team investigated the health impacts of the top five percent highest benzene-emitting gas stoves, which are used by 6.3million Americans.
Benzene is a known carcinogen that has been linked to multiple types of cancer, particularly leukemia. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that there is no safe level of long-term exposure to benzene.
These stoves emit benzene gas as they burn propane or natural gas. When inhaled, this toxic chemical causes changes to cellular function that can result in cancer and other health issues.
The team looked at benzene exposure in types of homes, finding apartments had the highest cancer risk, followed by attached homes, manufactured homes and then detached homes when there was high stove use and no ventilation.
According to the researchers, in non-ventilated apartments with high gas stove use, up to 16 out of every one million children could develop cancer from long-term benzene exposure.
For adults living in the same conditions, the risk is also significant, with up to eight out of every one million potentially developing cancer.
This is well above the WHO's safety limit for the carcinogenic effect of benzene, set at one case per one million people, which suggests these stoves may be driving a public health crisis.
Based on the fact that 6.3 million people in the US may be exposed to elevated benzene from gas stoves, the researchers estimate there could be 16 to 69 extra leukemia cases per year.
The team defined medium usage as using one burner in the morning and two in the evening for 30 minutes each, without the oven, reflecting typical daily cooking.
High usage involved more intense cooking: two burners in the morning, four in the evening (41 minutes each), plus oven use at 350°F for over two hours.
The researchers used past studies to estimate how much benzene is released during low, medium, and high cooking scenarios, then modeled exposure levels across different types of homes and ventilation scenarios.
By analyzing all these factors, the team determined how much benzene people who use these stoves are breathing in, depending on the room they're in, how long they stay there and how often they cook.
The researchers found that in non-ventilated settings with high stove use, benzene levels in kitchens peaked between 1.7 and 3.35 parts per billion (ppb), which is well above California's safety limit of 1 ppb.
But this toxic pollutant isn't just found in kitchens. After one to two hours of cooking, the researchers found that it wafts into other parts of the home too, including bedrooms.
This is particularly dangerous due to the amount of time people spend in bedrooms.
Apartments, especially small ones, had the highest bedroom concentrations at 3.3 ppb, but other housing types showed alarmingly high levels too, all of which were above the 1 ppb safety limit.
Proper ventilation significantly reduced these exposure levels. Using a high-efficiency stove hood reduced daily kitchen benzene levels by 0.21 ppb on average, and keeping all windows open throughout the day cut levels by up to 99 percent.
Even having windows open for just a few hours per day reduced benzene exposure by up to 42 percent.
Under low or medium stove use most homes stayed below the 1 ppb threshold, even without sufficient ventilation.
Based on these exposure levels, the researchers calculated the cancer risks for both adults (aged 18 to 65) and children (aged one to 17).
The researchers found that ventilation reduced, but did not eliminate, cancer risk. Only the extreme case of keeping windows open all day brought risks close to acceptable levels.
Based on these findings, the team estimated 16 to 69 excess cases cased of leukemia per year among Americans who have these stoves and fall into the 'high-use' category. What's more, these cases are mostly among children.
For those who fall into the 'medium-use' category, they estimate an excess 10 cases per year.
Although these numbers are based on estimates rather than actual case data, they point to a significantly elevated health risk for gas stove users, especially for kids.
'Overall, this study underscores the importance of effective ventilation and highlights the need for policies and strategies to mitigate benzene exposure from gas stoves, particularly for vulnerable populations such as children,' the researchers concluded.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Millions of people are suffering from brain fog. A new study will find out why
Millions of people who recover from infections like COVID-19, influenza and glandular fever are affected by long-lasting symptoms. These include chronic fatigue, brain fog, exercise intolerance, dizziness, muscle or joint pain and gut problems. And many of these symptoms worsen after exercise, a phenomenon known as post-exertional malaise. Medically the symptoms are known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The World Health Organization classifies this as a post viral fatigue syndrome, and it is recognised by both the WHO and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a brain disorder. Experiencing illness long after contracting an infection is not new, as patients have reported these symptoms for decades. But COVID-19 has amplified the problem worldwide. Nearly half of people with ongoing post-COVID symptoms – a condition known as long-COVID – now meet the criteria for ME/CFS. Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, it is estimated that more than 400 million people have developed long-COVID. To date, no widely accepted and testable mechanism has fully explained the biological processes underlying long-COVID and ME/CFS. Our work offers a new perspective that may help close this gap. Our research group studies blood and the cardiovascular system in inflammatory diseases, as well as post-viral conditions. We focus on coagulation, inflammation and endothelial cells. Endothelial cells make up the inner layer of blood vessels and serve many important functions, like regulating blood clotting, blood vessel dilation and constriction, and inflammation. Our latest review aims to explain how ME/CFS and long-COVID start and progress, and how symptoms show up in the body and its systems. By pinpointing and explaining the underlying disease mechanisms, we can pave the way for better clinical tools to diagnose and treat people living with ME/CFS and long-COVID. What is endothelial senescence? In our review, our international team proposes that certain viruses drive endothelial cells into a half-alive, 'zombie-like' state called cellular senescence. Senescent endothelial cells stop dividing, but continue to release molecules that awaken and confuse the immune system. This prompts the blood to form clots and, at the same time, prevent clot breakdown, which could lead to the constriction of blood vessels and limited blood flow. By placing 'zombie' blood-vessel cells at the centre of these post-viral diseases, our hypothesis weaves together microclots, oxygen debt (the extra oxygen your body needs after strenuous exercise to restore balance), brain-fog, dizziness, gut leakiness (a digestive condition where the intestinal lining allows toxins into the bloodstream) and immune dysfunction into a single, testable narrative. From acute viral infection to 'zombie' vessels Viruses like SARS-CoV-2, Epstein–Barr virus, HHV-6, influenza A, and enteroviruses (a group of viruses that cause a number of infectious illnesses which are usually mild) can all infect endothelial cells. They enable a direct attack on the cells that line the inside of blood vessels. Some of these viruses have been shown to trigger endothelial senescence. Multiple studies show that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes COVID-19 disease) has the ability to induce senescence in a variety of cell types, including endothelial cells. Viral proteins from SARS-CoV-2, for example, sabotage DNA-repair pathways and push the host cell towards a senescent state, while senescent cells in turn become even more susceptible to viral entry. This reciprocity helps explain why different pathogens can result in the same chronic illness. Influenza A, too, has shown the ability to drive endothelial cells into a senescent, zombie-like state. What we think is happening We propose that when blood-vessel cells turn into 'zombies', they pump out substances that make blood thicker and prone to forming tiny clots. These clots slow down circulation, so less oxygen reaches muscles and organs. This is one reason people feel drained. During exercise, the problem worsens. Instead of the vessels relaxing to allow adequate bloodflow, they tighten further. This means that muscles are starved of oxygen and patients experience a crash the day after exercise. In the brain, the same faulty cells let blood flow drop and leak, bringing on brain fog and dizziness. In the gut, they weaken the lining, allowing bits of bacteria to slip into the bloodstream and trigger more inflammation. Because blood vessels reach every corner of the body, even scattered patches of these 'zombie' cells found in the blood vessels can create the mix of symptoms seen in long-COVID and ME/CFS. Immune exhaustion locks in the damage Some parts of the immune system kill senescent cells. They are natural-killer cells, macrophages and complement proteins, which are immune molecules capable of tagging and killing pathogens. But long-COVID and ME/CFS frequently have impaired natural-killer cell function, sluggish macrophages and complement dysfunction. Senescent endothelial cells may also send out a chemical signal to repel immune attack. So the 'zombie cells' actively evade the immune system. This creates a self-sustaining loop of vascular and immune dysfunction, where senescent endothelial cells persist. In a healthy person with an optimally functioning immune system, these senescent endothelial cells will normally be cleared. But there is significant immune dysfunction in ME/CFS and long-COVID, and this may enable the 'zombie cells' to survive and the disease to progress. Where the research goes next There is a registered clinical trial in the US that is investigating senescence in long-COVID. Our consortium is testing new ways to spot signs of ageing in the cells that line our blood vessels. First, we expose healthy endothelial cells in the lab to blood from patients to see whether it pushes the cells into a senescent, or 'zombie,' state. At the same time, we are trialling non‑invasive imaging and fluorescent probes that could one day reveal these ageing cells inside the body. In selected cases, tissue biopsies may later confirm what the scans show. Together, these approaches aim to pinpoint how substances circulating in the blood drive cellular ageing and how that, in turn, fuels disease. Our aim is simple: find these ageing endothelial cells in real patients. Pinpointing them will inform the next round of clinical trials and open the door to therapies that target senescent cells directly, offering a route to healthier blood vessels and, ultimately, lighter disease loads.
Economist
3 hours ago
- Economist
How US Space Command is preparing for satellite-on-satellite combat
TOWARDS THE end of last year a pair of military satellites, one American and the other French, prepared for a delicate orbital minuet. They were about to conduct a so-called rendezvous and proximity operation (RPO)—in which one or more satellites approach another to inspect or manipulate it—near an enemy satellite. They have not said which, but it is not hard to guess. 'The French have talked about Russian manoeuvres [near French satellites] over the years,' says General Stephen Whiting, speaking at the headquarters of US Space Command in Colorado Springs. 'And so…we demonstrated that we could both manoeuvre satellites near each other and near other countries' satellites in a way that signalled our ability to operate well together.'
Reuters
4 hours ago
- Reuters
Medical group urges Kennedy not to fire US care task force
WASHINGTON, July 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should not fire an advisory panel that determines what cancer screenings and other preventive health measures insurers must cover, an influential doctors' group said on Sunday. The American Medical Association sent Kennedy a letter on Sunday expressing its concern after the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday he planned to remove all of the panel's members. The Department of Health and Human Services said Kennedy had not yet made a decision. "On behalf of the physician and medical student members of the American Medical Association, I am writing to express our deep concern with the recent reports of your intention to remove all of the members of the United States Preventive Services Task Force," John Whyte, the AMA chief executive officer, wrote. HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the AMA letter. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, had said Kennedy planned to dismiss all 16 panel members in what would be the latest in a series of far-reaching actions by Kennedy, a long-time vaccine skeptic, to reshape U.S. regulation of vaccines, food and medicine. In June he fired all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel of vaccine experts, replacing them with seven handpicked members, including known vaccine skeptics. "USPSTF members play in weighing the benefits and harms of preventive services such as screenings, behavioral counseling, and preventive medications, and making evidence-based recommendations for implementation in primary care settings," the AMA letter said. "We urge you to keep the previously appointed USPSTF members and continue the task force's regular meeting schedule to ensure recommendations are put forth, updated, and disseminated without delay," it said. The AMA passed an emergency resolution in June asking for a Senate investigation into the firing of ACIP members. The group also sent Kennedy a letter at the time calling for an immediate reversal of the changes.
