Did you know that more than three billion people still cook with solid fuels like wood, charcoal and coal? Of those who use such fuel sources indoors, over four million of them die prematurely due to overexposure to harmful pollutants. Improving indoor ventilation could markedly reduce this fatality count worldwide.
Cooking appliances in most first-world countries no longer rely on solid fuels; however, this does not make their exhausts less harmful. For instance, gas stoves introduce pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide into the home. In fact, a recent study in California found that sixty percent of homeowners who cook with gas stoves at least once a week generate indoor pollution levels that exceed federal outdoor standards.
Improving Ventilation in the Kitchen
Gas stoves emit more fine pollutants than electric burners, but both contribute to indoor air pollution in some way. Moreover, the different cooking methods produce different levels of pollution. Frying, for instance, is known to produce the finest particles.
To suck up pollutants at the source, your kitchen should have a range hood above the stove. When cooking, set its fan to the highest setting. That said, it must connect with the outside; otherwise, you are simply recycling air back into the home.
For further protection against indoor pollution, you should also consider an air purification system. Also called an air cleaner, this system removes small particles from the air to prevent them from entering and potentially disrupting your cardiovascular, circulatory and respiratory systems. There are various kinds of air cleaners—large systems that connect to existing HVAC hardware and small, portable machines—so do some research based on your budget and space size before buying a system.
