Health risks of cooking with gas

[mikereed100]

I used to scoff at electric ranges on boats. Now, not so much.

"While many Americans might think illness linked to indoor cooking and heating is a problem confined to smoke-filled kitchens in the developing world, the natural gas-burning stoves and furnaces found in millions of U.S. kitchens and basements can produce a range of health-damaging pollutants, including particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and formaldehyde. Over the past four decades, researchers have amassed a large body of scientific evidence linking the use of gas appliances, especially for cooking, with a higher risk of a range of respiratory problems and illnesses."

https://undark.org/2020/12/02/hazard...-new-scrutiny/

[Chotu]

I feel like the food itself or stuff burning on the pan or burner creates more issues.

But, I have all kinds of lung problems. LOL. So maybe I’m wrong.

Seems quite low in particulates, but definitely produces plenty of CO

[Pete7]

Oh great, we will all be eating sushi at this rate, wait isn't that dangerous too?

How much of a problem is this now we all live in houses with double glazing and feet of insulation in the walls and roof. Compare that to a drafty Victorian house with fire places and chimney's, sash windows etc.

We are stocked up with fire wood ready for the winter.

Pete

[capn_billl]

Unless you want to run a generator your options are.

Propane
Nat gas
Alcohol
kerosene
Mat gas
Butane

None of those are optimal, but at least propane works. (I have a gas & CO detector located under the stove).

The black coating on my deck after a rain tells me the air has a higher particulate count than the air in my boat.

[rslifkin]

Even with electric, cooking puts a good bit of crap into the air. In general, I'd worry less about fuel type and more about galley ventilation. Particularly having some kind of powered exhaust vent over the stove to pull most of the cooking fumes out of the boat.

[Gene Neill]

(rubs temples, clicks on to next thread)

[StuM]

> How much of a problem is this now we all live in houses with double glazing and feet of insulation in the walls and roof.



Or to keep it on topic for CF: How much of a problem is that on a boat.

[roverhi]

Everything is going to kill you, just ask California. Think we are turning into a nation of paranoids. There a ton of concerns on a boat that would be time better spent making them safer.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Oh great, we will all be eating sushi at this rate, wait isn't that dangerous too?

How much of a problem is this now we all live in houses with double glazing and feet of insulation in the walls and roof. Compare that to a drafty Victorian house with fire places and chimney's, sash windows etc.

We are stocked up with fire wood ready for the winter.

Pete

After the 1970’s energy crisis in the US houses were built like you describe, and it didn’t take long to find out that’s unhealthy with the formaldehyde and other pollutants given off of adhesives and carpets etc.
Around that time Mobile Homes had to be built with fresh air ducts incorporated into the furnaces, Mobile Homes as they are sold across State lines have to meet Federal standards and those are often more stringent than local building codes.

Point being is that in my opinion, especially in the tropics where the boat is opened up for ventilation that indoor air pollution is simply not an issue. New boats and houses are much worse than older houses because the chemical found in adhesives and plastics in carpets off gassing decreases with age, but in an opened up boat it’s just not going to accumulate.
But in a house, it’s a real issue, not having carpets helps a lot as does having stone countertops etc.
My house is ICF or Insulated Concrete Forms, and is about as sealed as is possible, it’s a 15 yr old house and I’ll be replacing the little carpet there is when I can find matching tile with what’s in the rest of the house. The pollutants from a gas stove are trivial to the chemicals given off of modern materials.
BTW, that’s the “new car smell”

[doublewide]

Cooking on a boat is outdoor cooking. You can't get much safer than that.

N.B. risks posed by the burning of propane and the browning of foods must be orders of magnitude smaller than other risks that we willingly choose to take. (Smokers who are clean-air activists; People who drive home from the bar; stuff like that.) Consider addressing the big risks in life before the little ones, I say.

[Cheechako]

Humans are dying from birth.

[kas_1611]

Open a hatch, which technically you should do anyway when cooking with any combustable fuel.

And lets be honest we all ingest far worse chemicals daily if we eat a "western" diet with all the sweeteners, preservatives, flavourings, colours and other stuff.

[jim King]

Good ventilation while cooking. How about a ventilation tube going to one of your windows attached to a mask at the galley?

[roland stockham]

Building codes specify that a gas range must have a a hood which ventilates to outsside the house. I am not aware that small boat regulation are similar because boats are normally so much better ventlated because of issues like condensation. Generally you should have ventilation open anytime the is a flame burning or cooking. If you don' have usable ventilation cose to the stove that can be opened in rain at sea I would suggest fitting a dorade abouve the galley to take care of all the safety issues and remove cooking smells

[JPA Cate]

For comfort in hotter places, having a rear facing hatch to suck out cooking heat and odors is nice. Opening port lights in the galley help, too, and there are "eyebrows" available to help keep out rain.

This boat has the dorades placed about 6 ft. forward of the stove, and that, too, helps create airflow to take away the particulates, etc.

In 35 yrs., we have never worried about the health effects of cooking on the boats we've had, all with propane for the fuel.

Ann