How bad are gas stoves for your health? Some Minnesota families get real-time data

Wendy Zuniga was busy in the kitchen over the holidays.

Between baking desserts and cooking on the stovetop, Zuniga spent hours preparing food at her home. On Christmas Eve, as she and her son put pies and cookies in the oven and took them out, an air quality monitor on her counter tracked spiking levels of pollutants.

Cooking releases pollutants, especially when powered by natural gas, which is a source of nitrous oxides, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde. The health impacts of those pollutants are under growing scrutiny from scientists and health experts.

Zuniga spent a month using a uHoo monitor, which tracks several pollutants in real time. When she reviewed the data, levels were the highest on Christmas Eve, when carbon dioxide and monoxide levels jumped.

“When you get real data, you can’t ignore it,” Zuniga said.

That data is part of an educational effort by Minnesota nonprofits Fresh Energy and Comunidades Organizando el Poder y la Accíon Latina (COPAL), where Zuniga works. The project aims to educate Minnesotans about health risks posed by gas stoves, and to encourage them to take advantage of programs to replace polluting cooking equipment with electrified alternatives.

Around 38% of Americans cook with natural gas at home, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Getting more Minnesotans to make the change to electrically powered cooking could improve health outcomes and help the state reach its greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Dr. Curt Nordgaard, a pediatrician at Hennepin Healthcare who serves as an environmental health consultant with Fresh Energy, was the first to host the air monitor in his home. Nordgaard grew up in Minnesota and completed his medical residency in Boston. He sees climate change as a pediatric issue, with impacts hitting children the hardest.

When Nordgaard moved back home a few years ago, he bought a home with a gas range. He typically cooks with a plug-in induction cooktop, but used the gas range when he had the monitor in place. The spike in indoor pollutants was significant, he said.

“It’s such an underappreciated influence in our lives,” Nordgaard said.

Gas stoves are increasingly associated with childhood asthma, he said. A 2022 study attributes nearly 13% of childhood asthma cases in the United States to gas stove use at home. Using gas stoves can also trigger asthma attacks in children who already suffer from the condition.

When Nordgaard has visits with asthmatic patients and their parents, he talks through potential triggers. That’s where indoor air quality comes into play. He’ll ask about indoor cigarette smoking, pest infestations and strong-smelling chemicals. When he asks if the family has a gas stove, he initially gets puzzled looks. Then people start connecting the dots, he said.

“They really start to put together that the stove could be part of their child’s asthma,” he said.

Zuniga lives in a multigenerational Mexican American household with her parents and son, and makes traditional dishes that include roasting chiles and pan-frying in oil. Having the air monitor in her home was eye-opening, she said.

“It’s not something you think about affecting your health,” Zuniga said.

Beyond household health impacts, making the switch to electrically powered cooking can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Overall emissions in Minnesota are down 14% since 2005, the year the state uses as a benchmark, according to a report released in January. That means the state is not on track to meet its goals to cut emissions in half by 2050.

Emissions from electrical generation in Minnesota are down 50% from 2005 levels, according to the report. That change is driven by the transition away from coal to renewable energy. But greenhouse gas emissions from residential buildings are up 38%, driven by gas-powered heating and appliances, such as stoves.

It can be expensive to replace a stove for homeowners and difficult for renters, but there are steps people can take to cut down on emissions.

Nordgaard recommends opening a window if you are cooking or finding other ways to increase kitchen ventilation.

Another option is to shift as much cooking as possible to electric options: reheating more food in the microwave, using an electric kettle to boil water, and cooking with an air fryer or plug-in pressure cooker.

Portable induction cooktops are available for under $100 and can go with people when they move.

The federal Inflation Reduction Act includes rebates worth up to $840 for households looking to transition to electrically powered stoves. That program could roll out in Minnesota this year, but President Donald Trump issued an executive order pausing all Inflation Reduction Act funding in January, sparking speculation the rebates will be canceled.

Melody Arteaga, an environmental organizer at COPAL, said the organization is collecting data to help community members make better decisions inside their homes, not to scare people. COPAL has a portable induction cooker that they’re able to give out to people who are curious to try a new method of cooking.

That’s critical for immigrant families who are accustomed to gas-powered cooking, Zuniga said.

“Culturally, we’re really afraid of change,” she said.

About the partnership

This story comes to you from Sahan Journal, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering Minnesota’s immigrants and communities of color. Sign up for a free newsletter to receive Sahan’s stories in your inbox.