Abstract
BackgroundGas stoves emit pollutants that are respiratory irritants. U.S. children under age 6 who live in homes where gas stoves are used for cooking or heating have an increased risk of asthma, wheeze and reduced lung function. Yet few studies have examined whether using ventilation when operating gas stoves is associated with a decrease in the prevalence of respiratory illnesses in this population.MethodsThe Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was used to identify U.S. children aged 2–16 years with information on respiratory outcomes (asthma, wheeze, and bronchitis) who lived in homes where gas stoves were used in the previous 12 months and whose parents provided information on ventilation. Logistic regression models evaluated the association between prevalent respiratory outcomes and ventilation in homes that used gas stoves for cooking and/or heating. Linear regression models assessed the association between spirometry measurements and ventilation use in children aged 8–16 years.ResultsThe adjusted odds of asthma (Odds Ratio [OR] = 0.64; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.43, 0.97), wheeze (OR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.42, 0.86), and bronchitis (OR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.37, 0.95) were lower among children whose parents reported using ventilation compared to children whose parents reported not using ventilation when operating gas stoves. One-second forced expiratory volume (FEV1) and FEV1/FVC ratio was also higher in girls who lived in households that used gas stoves with ventilation compared to households that used gas stoves without ventilation.ConclusionsIn homes that used gas stoves, children whose parents reported using ventilation when operating their stove had higher lung function and lower odds of asthma, wheeze, and bronchitis compared to homes that never used ventilation or did not have ventilation available after adjusting for other risk factors. Additional research on the efficacy of ventilation as an intervention for ameliorating respiratory symptoms in children with asthma is warranted.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1476-069X-13-71) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Gas stoves emit pollutants that are respiratory irritants
The unadjusted prevalence of wheeze (14.2% vs. 19.3%, pvalue = 0.01, N = 7,380) and bronchitis (3.2% vs. 5.0%, p-value = 0.02, N = 7,378) were lower among children residing in households that reported using ventilation when operating their gas stoves compared to households that did not use ventilation when operating their gas stove
The unadjusted prevalence of asthma (8.86% vs. 13.54%, p = 0.04) and wheeze (15.7% vs. 23.26%, p = 0.003), but not bronchitis (3.94% vs. 4.48%, p = 0.62), was lower among children residing in households that reported not using a gas stove for heat compared to households that used a gas stove for heat
Summary
Gas stoves emit pollutants that are respiratory irritants. U.S children under age 6 who live in homes where gas stoves are used for cooking or heating have an increased risk of asthma, wheeze and reduced lung function. There is considerable evidence that air pollution - coarse and fine particulate matter, ozone, sulfur dioxides, and nitrogen oxides - is associated with increased rates of asthma, asthma morbidity, respiratory illness and diminished lung function in children [3,4,5,6,7,8]. There is considerable evidence from epidemiological studies in developed countries that gas stoves used for cooking and/or heat are associated with an increased risk of asthma and respiratory symptoms in children [9,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33]. Other studies that have examined the relationship between gas stoves or nitrogen dioxide levels in homes do not observe significant associations with asthma symptoms in childhood [34,35,36]
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