As members of the health, medical and scientific community, we have joined together under the banner of Clean Cooking for Public Health to voice our concerns regarding the impact on human health and wellbeing of the continued use of gas for cooking.

All gas cooking appliances release pollutants that are harmful to human health and the environment, leading to an increased disease burden and societal costs.
We therefore call upon European, national and local decision-makers to establish policies that:

Gas burning appliances release a number of dangerous pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), and particulate matter.

The use of a gas stove in the household has been associated with increased risk of childhood asthma and asthma severity¹, adverse effects on the cognitive function and higher risk of developing ADHD symptoms², and reduced lung function in children³. 

Children are known to be particularly vulnerable to environmental health threats such as air pollution, because of their higher breathing rate and still developing respiratory and immune systems⁴. 

According to recent research, 12% of the current paediatric asthma cases in the EU could be avoided if gas cookers were removed – that is an estimated 700 000 children who would not suffer from asthma symptoms in the absence of gas stoves⁵. Globally, children living in households that cook with gas have a 32% increased likelihood of having current and lifetime asthma⁶. 

Additionally, exposure to pollutants from cooking with gas is a matter of health equity. Marginalised groups are likely to live in smaller and more poorly ventilated houses, while people with pre-existing chronic diseases may be more likely to spend longer periods of time indoors, thus being at risk of breathing in higher concentrations of pollutants from indoor sources. Even short-term exposure to increased levels of NO₂ is dangerous for people living with respiratory disease, as it may lead to respiratory problems such as coughing, wheezing or difficulty breathing, and even to hospital admissions; meanwhile, long-term exposure can potentially increase susceptibility to respiratory infections⁷.

NO₂ is one of the main pollutants of concern in the case of cooking with gas, especially as it is associated with negative health outcomes at levels lower than previously thought. The NO₂ annual recommended values saw the most significant change across all pollutants in the latest World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines (AQG), being lowered by a factor of 4⁸. At the same time, the WHO recognises gas appliances as one of the major factors in people’s overall exposure to nitrogen dioxide⁹. Indeed, households cooking with gas are likely to reach NO₂ levels that exceed WHO Air Quality Guidelines and would be illegal outdoors under the EU Ambient Air Quality Directives¹⁰.

Ventilation – if used properly – may be a helpful, temporary, individual-level exposure reduction strategy. However, the risks of indoor gas cooking cannot be eliminated and, at the societal level, policies need to aim at replacing sources of air pollution with clean alternatives, such as electric cooking appliances.

We caution against the use of hydrogen-blended gas. Research shows that hydrogen is not a viable cooking solution, due to both potential increases in harmful pollutants while cooking¹¹, and because of indirect emissions that result from the production of hydrogen¹².

Finally, the scientific consensus is clear that the climate crisis now represents the biggest health threat facing humanity. With gas cooking contributing to climate change, including due to methane leaks¹³, phasing it out is one of the clearest cases of the potential of health and climate co-benefits.

Despite the evidence, current European policies do not protect people from the dangers of gas cooking. While Europeans spend about 90% of our time indoors, and air pollution is recognised as the single largest environmental health risk in Europe, sources of indoor air pollution are underregulated.

In this context, we add our voices to the growing movement of medical associations, health and environmental NGOs for the phase out of gas cooking appliances and for clean air in our kitchens.

Join Clean Cooking for Public Health and make your voice heard