Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program

Kelly Cowan, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics and a pediatric pulmonologist at the UVM Children’s Hospital

(JANUARY 18, 2023) Kelly Cowan, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics and a pediatric pulmonologist at the UVM Children’s Hospital, spoke with WCAX-TV about a new study that concluded that more than 12.5 percent of current childhood asthma in the U.S. is due to gas stove use.

“Don’t, don’t panic,” said Cowan, who researches indoor air quality and children’s health and says asthma isn’t that straightforward. “The problem of what causes asthma is really complicated. And there’s clearly more than one factor. We know that indoor air quality is really important, but for children with asthma, it’s more complex than just one thing.” And that means it’s not as simple as saying, “We have this much asthma because of gas stoves.”

However, Cowan said, this has launched an important conversation about overall air quality for children. Cooking with gas produces more pollutants than cooking with electricity as the gas emits harmful by-products, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde.

“There’s a lot of good, everyday things we do in our homes—like cooking, cleaning, heating—that do produce parts of air pollution in our homes. And those are things that we want to think about improving,” the doctor said. For people who have a gas stove, Cowan recommends running a range hood, cracking a window when possible, and/or using a HEPA filter in the kitchen. That’s what Efficiency Vermont recommends as well.