Of current childhood asthma cases in the US, 12.7% (95% CI, 6.3% to 19.3%) are attributable to indoor gas stove use, according to a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and
Public Health. H. Dean Hosgood, PhD, and colleagues quantified the population-attributable fraction (PAF) for gas stove use and current childhood asthma using effect sizes that were previously reported by current asthma meta-analyses (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.12-1.57). The American Housing Survey and nine states with available data were used to obtain the proportion of children younger than 18 who were exposed to gas stoves. The researchers determined that the proportion of childhood asthma that was theoretically preventable without the presence of gas stoves varied across the states, from 21.1% in Illinois to 13.5% in Pennsylvania.
“Our results quantify the US public health burden attributed to gas stove use and childhood asthma,” wrote Dr. Hosgood and team. “Further research is needed to quantify the burden experienced at the county levels, as well as the impacts of implementing mitigation strategies through intervention studies.”
