Gas stoves pollute homes with benzene, which is linked to cancer

anthoniix@kbin.social to News@kbin.social – 59 points –
npr.org

Benzene is among the pollutants gas stoves emit into homes, Stanford University researchers show. The toxin is linked to a higher risk of leukemia and other blood cell cancers.

24

The bottom of this EPA Document says that following the lifetimeimita of benzene exposure will result in a likelihood of developing cancer at 1 in a million chances.

The article didn't mention exposure limits, but I would think that stovetop production of benzene is far less than industrial sources of exposure such as the oil industry or on tankers, that the federal limits were created for.

... Huh. So it seems like a gas stove at home won't actually add thaaat much cancer risk?

Im bouta buy an induction stove top lmao

You'll love it. It's far faster than gas at heating and it can run low enough to melt chocolate without a water bath.

Just the ease of cleaning 100% justifies switching from gas to any flat-top electric. Even modern resistive ones. You don't even need arguments over which heats a pan faster or subjectively cooks "better", nor arguments about the danger of inside-the-house gas infrastructure or the possible health effects of the combustion.

Let's be honest, nearly all of the home cooks who swear that the gas ranges cook things better don't have a fraction of the expertise and authority to confidently make such a claim.

The new place I moved into a few years ago had a modern, cheap electric cooker with a resistive range. It has one 5000W electric burner. It works absolutely as well as my gas range in my old house did for cooking and possibly better -- it boils a pot of water faster and doesn't make the room hot. But the thing I notice and think about all the time is how I basically never cleaned the gas range because it was difficult and miserable. But I keep this electric one spotless with just a few swipes from a damp towel when I am done cooking.

We had electric for the past 15 years and bought a home with gas. We lasted a year before wanting to go back. The pollution point was enough to give us the reason to go back. Electric cooktop look better, are easier to clean and they don't have a burner smell. I am an asthmatic so pollution is a concern (we have multiple air purifiers throughout the house), and these studies were enough to convince us that going from gas to electric may not help, but it wouldn't hurt.

That's sad news. Gas stoves cook so much better for Asian style cooking.

Induction woks can do absolutely everything a typical home wok on a range can do.

If you're talking about the massive jet engine cookers they have in commercial restaurants then sure. But we're not talking about commercial gas stoves, we're talking about home stoves.

I've heard that before. I'm currently using a high quality induction stovetop, and I have to say it still cooks differently. It probably doesn't make a difference for western cooking, but it does for Asian cuisine.

Heat is heat. Why does it matter?

Edit: This guy doesn't seem to mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooNzRrHA9VY

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/01/j-kenji-lopez-alt-induction-gas-stove-electric-coil/672897/

To quote famous chef Kenji Lopez:

So certainly, some types of wok-cooked dishes, particularly ones that rely on that smoky wok hei flavor that comes from the aerosolized oil actually igniting in the gas flame, like a Cantonese-style chow fun. Or fried rice, for example, would have that sort of smoky flavor that you can’t get out of induction. But for most wok cooking, you don’t need it. There’s plenty of homestyle dishes that don’t have that flavor. For my Wok book tour, I brought around an induction wok cooktop. And it works just fine.

People have this idea that you can’t cook on a wok without a gas flame. But most of the recipes in my book work just fine without one. There are very few specific recipes where that gas flavor—that smoky flavor of burnt oil—is an important part of the seasoning of the dish.

What I often recommend to people who have electric or induction is, if you want to cook something like a beef chow fun, the way you can do it is to get a portable butane-gas range. And the few times that you want to make that dish, you can pull that out, put it under your hood, or take it outside. And then you have a little portable gas thing, even though the rest of your kitchen is all induction.

To achieve wok hei requires WAY more heat than you get on any conventional range, gas or otherwise.

To do it with a portal butane range, you'd need to modify it for much higher output. He's right to recommend this for a home cook, but you aren't going to get the kind of wok hei a cantoneese pro chef talks about on it -- it will just be easier to use a real, proper, round-bottom wok than on the typically-flat tops of gas ranges.

Look up what actual wok burners look like. It is not similar to the flame you get on a gas range. It's a totally different thing.

And... I see the issue. Those wok burners you refer to are pretty much standard issue in asian houses. I just looked up 'gas ranges' and chuckled at them. No wonder you can't cook anything on them.

something to note about portable propane stoves. they are sold in different BTU ranges. i purchased the highest BTU version available specifically for wok and searing use.

searing is great so far and i hope to have a good wok soon. 🤠

I use propane in my house and I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love the instant heat and instant cool. It works really well to for pan frying.
It’s awful at boiling water. It’s faster to use an electric kettle.
The cost of the propane is horrible too. $4.80+ a gallon.
I’d 1000% move to electric or induction, but it’s just another big expense. I’d also have to run a 208v/30a circuit to my kitchen :(
Electric prices have been steadily rising as well :/

There's some interesting stuff happening in appliances that include batteries for these situations. Impulse Labs, for example, though I am not sure that one has any real commercial future.

The price tags are super high, but when you think about the cost of running that additional circuit, plus the added advantages of the built-in, very large battery backups, the idea has legs.

The idea is that you can slowly charge up the large battery off any conventional outlet, then power the cooker off the batteries, since probably 18+ hours of the day you aren't using the oven. And the ~1500W of a typical outlet is plenty for running most smaller cooking tasks outside of a few big, short peak loads.

I grew up with electric, and was well into my thirties when I was renting a house with a gas stove. I thought it was fine, but the smell was off putting. Never really wanted one after that.

Technology Connections did a comparison:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUywI8YGy0Y&t=2345s

Certainly not a perfect comparison, but interesting if you have the inclination.

Im the opposite. I have had gas my whole life but my current place has no gas coming into it. I did have experince with the old school electric burners and those where scary as heaven but I like my glass top and its way convenient to have one less bill to pay. I also find that any difference in cost is made up for by not paying the delivery and other charges not related to gas delivery you pay every month. Outside of the winter it was the largest part of the gas bill.

restaurants with commercial gas ranges also have commercial exhaust hoods.

i wonder if a home with gas range AND effective exhaust systems would reduce or eliminate the indoor pollutants from the gas cook top?