So gas hobs are bad for you?!

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

In all the discussions about hobs/stove tops and different fuels for cooking I have never seen of even been aware of the idea that gas hobs are bad for you.

Which is kinda crazy when you consider it’s obvious you’re burning a fossil fuel in an enclosed space.
I guess this is because I’m from a generation where I remember gas was endlessly promoted as an easily controlled clean fuel.
I suppose next to coal or wood it is

The article below simply explains the particulate levels in a kitchen after cooking with gas are very high, higher than a very busy road.

This thread isn’t for the tish and pish “my mum cooked always cooked on gas and she lived to 110” type responses.
Most of us are already of an age where we feel that way about a lot of new health advice and don’t much care

But have a read of this and if you were choosing a hob again (and young enough to care about your health) would it influence your choice of hob/stove top? Would you be more likely (even if you prefer gas) to consider electric instead?

Gas hob can raise indoor air pollution higher than busy UK road, study finds

 

[TastyReuben]

That was, believe it or not, a fairly big political issue the last few years here.

I don’t take it with a grain of salt, but I also put it in perspective as a 59yo person who grew up in a house burning wood for both heat and cooking. Lots of things are bad for me, they truly are, but all that has to go into my purchasing/use decisions, along with other factors (cost, availability, reliability, ease of use).

Would I run out and replace my gas cooktop (if I had one) based on this? No. Am I inclined to buy one once we move to a new place? No.

 

[badjak]

I haven't read the study yet that you linked to, but I've seen a lot of others
My thoughts are 2-way
- houses are better insulated than they used to be, so there may be more issues
- government wants us to use more electric or induction, so we are pushed that way

 

[Barriehie]

I haven't read the study yet that you linked to, but I've seen a lot of others
My thoughts are 2-way
- houses are better insulated than they used to be, so there may be more issues
- government wants us to use more electric or induction, so we are pushed that way

Agree here with badjak Also, 50 or so years ago when you turned on the exhaust fan in a kitchen it *really* exhausted to outside. Now with more greed in the builders pocket the exhaust fan just blows it back in your face; not even a piece of ductwork going out.

My microwave, over the stovetop, has a *serious* fan in it but it just blows the top of my hair back since it's dead heading into the cabinet bottom that it's mounted under. I'm all electric but still aware of how the house was put together.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

I like cooking on gas and I would buy another gas hob.
But not if I had children living at home, just because their health isn’t mine to waste.
I will continue to do long cooks on the hob outside rather than in the kitchen and use my extractor fan inside more often.

 

[badjak]

I do cook on gas and will continu to do so. The alternative is charcoal or wood
Mind you, my house is very well ventilated

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

That was, believe it or not, a fairly big political issue the last few years here.

I don’t take it with a grain of salt, but I also put it in perspective as a 59yo person who grew up in a house burning wood for both heat and cooking. Lots of things are bad for me, they truly are, but all that has to go into my purchasing/use decisions, along with other factors (cost, availability, reliability, ease of use).

Would I run out and replace my gas cooktop (if I had one) based on this? No. Am I inclined to buy one once we move to a new place? No.

I don’t think it’s been an issue here because England is a tiny land mass with a large population so there are bigger waste and pollution problems from congestion, industrial waste and plastic waste which take centre stage.

Oh and woodburners n wood burning stoves which are now banned in a lot of areas.

 

[TastyReuben]

I don’t think it’s been an issue here because England is a tiny land mass with a large population so there are bigger waste and pollution problems from congestion, industrial waste and plastic waste which take centre stage.

Personally, I don’t think the recent information that was released here would have gained much traction, had it not been for how politically polarized we are right now. Anything that can be used as a cudgel against “the other side” is fair game right now.

It’s really not all that new, I think. I remember when we first bought the house we have now, way back in 2004, we immediately looked at adding a natural gas fireplace (something MrsT has long wanted) and even back then, there were warnings about them affecting respiration and causing headaches in “susceptible people.”

 

[CookieMonster]

if your kitchen is the size of a shoe box, and there is no ventilation, it could be an issue if you are on death's door with a respiratory condition.

same issue with PFA. US, UK, Sweden, France all mounted extensive studies on how much PFA was on Teflon/nonstick cookware.
on hard finishes - like cookware.
only France could detect PFAs in the range of parts _per trillion_ - and they attributed that to electronic 'noise'

PFAs are/were widely used as flame retardants. the highest residual PFA levels were found on childrens' pajamas/sleepware.
so if you kid sleeps in the kitchen . . .