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The best solution appears to be replacing gas <br />stoves with electric (or electric induction) <br />stoves, which can be expensive. A randomized <br />study evaluating interventions to reduce <br />indoor NO2 concentrations in homes with gas <br />cooking stoves found that replacing gas with <br />electric stoves resulted in a 42% decrease in <br />median NO2 concentrations, while homes that <br />received a new exhaust fan hood over a gas <br />stove did not have a statistically significant <br />decrease in median NO2 concentration. <br />Cooking, like other behaviors, may be difficult <br />to modify. It's possible NO2 concentrations did <br />not decrease because people did not use the <br />new over -stove exhaust fans.33 One survey <br />found that less than 35% of people regularly <br />use cooking stove exhaust fans when they <br />were available .14 Alternatively, fans were used <br />and did not expel enough of the NO2 produced <br />by the gas cooking stove. A study of <br />commonly -used stove ventilation hoods in the <br />United States found that hoods captured less <br />than 30% of the pollutants coming from front <br />stove burners.3s <br />Acknowledgements <br />Awareness <br />Many people in Massachusetts do not know <br />about the association between cooking with a <br />gas stove and childhood asthma. Informal <br />conversations with health department staff, <br />health workers, families, and others found that <br />few were aware that cooking with gas was <br />associated with higher risk of asthma or more <br />severe asthma. <br />Recommendations <br />While more research is needed on <br />interventions to protect children from gas <br />stoves, there is clear evidence that cooking <br />with gas can harm children. We believe that <br />information that cooking with gas is associated <br />with increased respiratory illnesses and <br />increased asthma severity should be widely <br />disseminated. <br />Health care providers treating children with <br />asthma should ask if the family cooks with a <br />gas stove. <br />Parents, public health staff, teachers, and <br />many others should know about this <br />association so that they can make informed <br />decisions about protecting children from <br />preventable respiratory illnesses and asthma. <br />This summary of research is a joint project of HEET (https://heetma.org) and Mothers Out Front <br />(https://www.mothersoutfront.org). <br />*Corresponding author, Andee Krasner, MPH, info@heetma.ore. <br />Updated: July 15, 2019 <br />5 <br />h e e MOIHERSOUTFROM <br />