New research from the Climate Council has found the use of gas in Australian homes is exposing children to a higher risk of asthma.
But the Kicking the Gas Habit: How Gas is Harming Our Health report also found that cooking with gas is having a doubly harmful impact in Australia.
The first is that gas commonly used for cooking and heating harms people’s health, while the second is that the process of extracting gas exposes communities to hazardous substances.
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“Far from the ‘clean and natural’ image that the gas industry markets, gas cooktops are known to produce contaminants that increase the risk of childhood asthma, in particular, nitrogen dioxide and certain forms of particulate matter, like PM2.5,” says the report.
Children and poorer households were also found to be at the highest risk from gas use inside homes and schools.
Climate Council spokeswoman and report author Dr Kate Charlesworth compared the risk of a child developing asthma from living in a home with gas cooking to a child living with household cigarette smoke.
“Cooking with gas is estimated to be responsible for up to 12 percent of the childhood asthma burden in Australia,” she said.
Asthma Australia CEO Michele Goldman has called on families to be “doing everything possible to improve health outcomes for our children”.
“Australia has some of the highest rates of asthma in the world, and it is the leading cause of disease burden among school-aged children,” she said.
“Some people will be shocked to learn that cooking dinner on a gas stove could be contributing to their child’s asthma symptoms, we need education to improve awareness for indoor air pollution,” she added.
“People can take steps to reduce their risk by increasing ventilation, such as modern extraction fans over gas stoves, flues for gas heaters, and simple measures like opening windows. However, this won’t eliminate the risk completely,” she said.
"‘Cooking with gas is estimated to be responsible for up to 12 percent of the childhood asthma burden in Australia.’"
The report also flagged gas extraction processes as a danger to Australian communities.
“Research conducted in Queensland’s Darling Downs found that people living near coal seam gas developments were more likely to be hospitalised for tumours, as well as blood and immune diseases,” the report found.
It called for governments to help move the country away from gas and to clean energy alternatives like solar and wind.
“Gas is a polluting fossil fuel. Governments can prevent health issues, and reduce harm, by helping households and the country move away from gas,” the report said.
It also found that gas extraction and processing “involves many hazardous substances including those that cause cancer, interfere with childhood development, trigger asthma and contaminate the local environment through airborne pollution and wastewater.”
Dr Charlesworth is now calling for the federal government to abandon plans to expand gas operations and invest in “scaling up clean, safe and affordable renewable energy”.
“Just as doctors spoke up on the dangers of asbestos and tobacco in the past, we have a responsibility now to sound the alarm on the dangers of gas,” she said.
“Gas is both directly hazardous to our health, and also as a fossil fuel, drives climate change, which worsens health risks related to extreme weather such as heatwaves, bushfires and intense storms.
What is the Climate Council?
The Climate Council is Australia’s leading climate change communications organisation, according to its website.
“We provide authoritative, expert advice to the Australian public on climate change and solutions based on the most up-to-date science available,” the website added.
“We’re made up of some of the country’s leading climate scientists, health, renewable energy and policy experts, as well as a team of staff, and a huge community of volunteers and supporters who power our work.
“As an independent voice on climate change, we get climate stories into the media, produce hard-hitting reports, call out misinformation as we see it and promote climate solutions such as the transition to renewables.
“The Climate Council was founded in 2013 by tens of thousands of Australians to create a new, independent and community-funded organisation in response to the abolition of the Australian Climate Commission.”