Does Cooking on Gas Stoves in Homes Cause Childhood Asthma?
A Study Conducted During the Pandemic Suggests the Answer Isn't A Simple One
Earlier this year, much ado was raised about studies purporting to support claims that childhood asthma was *caused* by gas stove cooking in homes. There's one little problem, and I wrote about this in The Maverick Observer, published yesterday.
"But in a study published in January 2021, researchers found that children who stayed home during forced lockdowns during the pandemic saw improved asthma rates. In Colorado, 32% of homes utilize gas stoves for cooking. Since a significant number of children stayed home for long periods of time during the pandemic lockdowns, there should be an expected and associated increase in asthma rates if one follows the RMI study’s conclusions. That didn’t happen, and instead, asthma rates for children improved and declined.
While the 2021 pandemic study is not the end-all-be-all study to end claims of links between gas stove cooking and asthma rates, it does illustrate a bigger problem today both in terms of how academic and scientific studies and their findings are reported by the media. In turn, this creates more confusion among the public about what’s risky, what’s not, and how to mitigate certain risks, such as childhood asthma.
But really, you should be OK to cook tortillas over a gas stove while your children watch, so long as you ain’t smoking cigarettes while you flip ‘em over."
Read more of my article at The Maverick Observer here.