Study Finds Switching From Gas to Electric Stoves Cuts Indoor Air Pollution – State of the Planet

Switching from a gas stove to an electric induction stove can reduce indoor nitrogen dioxide air pollution, a known health hazard, by more than 50 percent according to new research led by scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Columbia Climate School.

The study was carried out as part of a pilot project titled “Out of Gas, In with Justice” led by Northern Manhattan-based nonprofit WE ACT for Environmental Justice. The pilot is the first to evaluate the feasibility and benefits of transitioning from gas to induction stoves in affordable housing. It is also the first study to evaluate the effects of residential cooking electrification in a public housing setting in the U.S.

This research comes as New York City passed a law in 2023 that will ban gas-powered heaters, cooking stoves and water boilers in all new buildings to meet climate goals. Similarly, in 2022, California adopted an electric-friendly statewide building code requiring buildings to be “all-electric ready.” Gas stoves are used in about 38 percent of U.S. homes but their prevalence varies significantly by state, reaching 62 percent in New York.

Twenty low-income households in a public housing building in the Bronx were recruited and randomized to have their gas stove replaced with an induction stove or serve as a control group. Between October 2021 and July 2022, homes were monitored continuously over three seven-day periods to assess indoor air quality (NO₂, CO, PM_2.5) and stove use before and after the intervention. The impact of cooking on indoor air quality was also evaluated during controlled cooking tests. Participants were invited to take part in a focus group.

Researchers found a 56 percent reduction in average daily NO₂ concentrations in the induction stove group compared with the control group using gas stoves.

“We have seen these high pollution numbers in most apartments with [gas stoves and] inadequate ventilation. Unless a vent moves air outside an apartment, then it is just mixing the pollution around your apartment,” said study co-author Roisin Commane, an atmospheric chemist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, which is part of the Columbia Climate School. In many New York City kitchens that use gas stoves, she added, it’s important to open the window when cooking or you may see similar levels of pollution in your apartment. 

During focus group discussions, participants using the new stoves unanimously reported being pleased with the transition. None of the participants opted to switch back to gas cooking despite having the option to do so at zero cost.

While the study did not measure the climate benefits of the intervention, there is ample research on the negative effects of gas stoves. Residential gas use accounts for 15 percent of the country’s gas consumption. Gas is composed primarily of methane, a greenhouse gas with more than 80 times the global warming potential of CO2 over a 20-year timeframe.

“A green energy transition should prioritize electric stoves, which both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the health of vulnerable populations,” said senior author Darby Jack, professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health.

“People of color and low-income individuals are more likely to live in smaller, older apartments that have poor ventilation, ineffective or broken range hoods and dated appliances that leak more gas. It is crucial for environmental justice that they are not left behind in this transition,” said study co-author Annie Carforo, climate justice campaigns manager at WE ACT.

This story was adapted from a post originally published by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.