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microns (PM2.5), and NO2, all of which are harmful to human health.12 This paper focuses on NO2 and cooking with gas. The relative contributions to childhood respiratory illnesses of NO2 and the co -pollutants listed above are not known. However, NO2 is an established marker for indoor air pollution resulting from burning gas. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) summarizes the deleterious health effects of NO2: "... over short periods [nitrogen dioxide] can aggravate respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, leading to respiratory symptoms (such as coughing, wheezing or difficulty breathing), hospital admissions, and visits to emergency rooms. Longer exposures to elevated concentrations of NO2 may contribute to the development of asthma and potentially increase susceptibility to respiratory infections. People with asthma, as well as children and the elderly are generally at greater risk for the health effects of NO2." 13 A meta-analysis of 11 pediatric studies found that a long-term increase of 15 parts per billion (ppb) of NO2 increased the likelihood of respiratory illnesses such as asthma by 20%.14 Cooking with a gas stove releases around 15 parts per billion more NO2 than cooking with an electric stove. A year-long prospective study of NO2 exposure in urban and suburban children with active asthma in Massachusetts and Connecticut found a dose -response relationship between the amount of NO2 exposure and asthma severity.ls Another study of children 14 and younger with asthma measured individual NO2 exposure using NO2 detection patches worn by participants and found significant associations between higher levels of individual NO2 exposure and asthma symptoms.16 Similar associations of outdoor NO2 and asthma are well documented." Nitrogen dioxide is a biologically plausible cause or promoter of asthma. The direct association between NO2 levels and respiratory illnesses is supported by data from animal studies" and NO2 exposures of healthy adults and adults with asthma.19.20 Nitrogen dioxide induces airway inflammation in humans21 and airway hyper -responsiveness in mice,22 two characteristic features of asthma. Cooking with Gas and Childhood Respiratory Illnesses Cooking with gas is associated with increased risks of current and lifetime asthma. The 41 study meta-analysis looked at the effects of indoor NO2 and cooking with gas on asthma and wheeze in children. The analysis showed that children living in a home with a gas cooking stove have a 42% increased risk of current asthma (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23, 1.64), and a 24% increased lifetime risk of asthma (CI 1.04, 1.47). The study also found that higher levels of indoor NO2 were associated with a 15% (CI 1.06, 1.25) increased risk of current wheeze in children. 23 Two nationally representative studies show higher prevalence of respiratory illnesses in children who lived in households with gas cooking stoves without using an exhaust fan vented outside the home. A cross-sectional study of US children participating in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANESIII) found that, in homes with a gas stove where parents reported using exhaust fans, the likelihood of an asthma diagnosis was lower than those who didn't report using exhaust fans with a gas stove (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.64, Cl 0.43, 0.97).21 Wheezing and chronic bronchitis were also lower in *M MOTHERS OUf FROM