Use a Gas Stove? Beware of HIDDEN Cancer Risk!

The phrase, now we’re cooking with gas, has always had a positive connotation.

But do you know who came up with that slogan?

The natural gas industry, of course!

They wanted to convince folks that cooking with gas was superior to cooking with electricity.

I’d say the marketing campaign was successful. After all, 90 years later, most people STILL assume cooking with gas is the better option.

But while it might boil your water a bit faster, gas cooking is NOT superior when it comes to your HEALTH.

In fact, your gas stove could be hiding a sickening secret.

You know those blue flames you see when your gas stove fires up? They contain a pollutant called benzene.

And it has been linked to cancer.

If this pollutant sounds familiar, it’s because it’s one of the chemicals in cigarette smoke that makes it so bad for you.

But it gets worse.

A recent study found that the levels of benzene emitted from a gas stove are GREATER than those from a cigarette—and they can spread throughout your entire house.

After studying the benzene levels of 87 homes, researchers determined that natural and propane stoves “emitted detectable and repeatable levels of benzene that in some homes raised indoor benzene concentrations above well-established health benchmarks.”

And to be perfectly clear about what that could mean, benzene has been linked to a type of cancer called leukemia and other blood cell cancers.

Even with just ONE burner on high—or the oven set to 350 degrees—you’ll be breathing in MORE cancer-linked benzene than you’d get from secondhand smoke.

But those fumes come from the gas itself—NOT from the smoke created when cooking the food.

Now, what this study DOESN’T say is that cooking with gas stoves will make you sick or raise your cancer risk. We don’t know enough yet to say that for sure. We need more research to be completed.

But it DOES give us plenty of reason to be cautious—and to consider healthier alternatives whenever we have the option.

P.S. Your gas stove may not be the only source of cancer-linked benzene lurking in your home. A summertime staple that’s likely in your bathroom RIGHT now could contain up to THREE times the amount allowed by the FDA. CLICK HERE to discover what it is.

SOURCE:

“Gas and Propane Combustion from Stoves Emits Benzene and Increases Indoor Air Pollution,” Environ. Sci. Technol. June 15, 2023, doi. org/10.1021/acs.est.2c09289