Do you have this in your kitchen? These results may be very disturbing

Nitrogen dioxide is much less known than the popular CO2. However, NO2 is also not one of the most pleasant substances for the human body. It is this substance that is responsible for the characteristic color of smog. What’s more, nitrogen dioxide can cause breathing problems and lung diseases. If we use a gas stove in our homes, pollution from this substance increases significantly.

A clear verdict

50% – this is how much NO2 pollution in rooms can be reduced by if we replace a gas cooker with an electric induction cooker. The results of the study were published in the journal Energy Research & Social Science. As indicated by the Science Daily portal, this is the first research project of its kind to assess the benefits of changing the type of cooker we use to heat food.

The study looked at twenty low-income households in a public housing building in the Bronx, New York. They were then divided into two groups (one with a stove replaced with an induction stove, and the other without, as a control group) and began a nine-month period of air quality monitoring. The switch to induction stoves showed a 56% reduction in average daily NO2 concentration compared to the control group. There was no change in the other parameters measured, namely CO and PM2.5.

At the end of the study, focus group discussions were conducted, where new users of induction cookers were definitely happy with the change. They also did not choose the option of returning to old gas stoves despite the lack of costs of such a decision. The change itself also affects the health of users. Even short exposure to NO2 can affect the severity of respiratory diseases. Induction itself is also considered a safer solution against gas that is more prone to explosion.