Switching From a Gas Stove to Electric Can Improve Asthma, Study Finds

Gas stoves release air pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, which has been linked to adverse health effects. bm_photo/Adobe Stock When it comes to the gas vs. electric stove dispute, you’ll have people arguing about which is best for cooking and cookware, which is the safest and which is the most affordable and most eco-friendly, but a study published in early July about the health effects of gas stoves may reinvigorate the debate. Conducted by the MetroHealth System, a Northeast Ohio hospital and academic medical center, in collaboration with six community organizations, the study found that participants with asthma reported improvements in their symptoms after switching from gas to electric stoves. According to one of the researchers, Dr. Ashwini Sehgal, a professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University, in an article published by the nonprofit news organization The Conversation, this is the first study to explore whether switching from a gas to an electric stove can reduce asthma symptoms.  What the study found The study included 85 adults and children in Northeast Ohio with “poorly controlled asthma,” which was based on their symptoms, use of emergency medication and activity limitations. Each participant logged this information not only one to four weeks before their gas stoves were replaced at no cost with electric induction models, but also two to three months after the replacement.  “We chose electric induction stoves because they heat up and cool down rapidly, and they are safer and easier to clean than electric coil stoves,” Sehgal wrote in his The Conversation article. While induction stoves use an electromagnetic field to heat your cookware, electric stoves rely on electricity to do so.  Before and after the stoves were replaced, air quality monitors were used to measure nitrogen dioxide levels for seven-day periods. Nitrogen dioxide, a gaseous air pollutant emitted by gas stoves, can harm the lungs.  After the switch from gas to electric, indoor nitrogen dioxide levels decreased by 70%, and according to Sehgal, participants’ asthma symptoms went from moderate to mild, demonstrating improvements “similar to — or even greater than — those reported in clinical trials of commonly used asthma medications.” Missed days of work or school decreased by about 80%, while ER visits and hospitalizations decreased by 70%.  Aside from asthma improvement, 98% of participants reported feeling satisfied or very satisfied with their new electric induction stoves, whereas 41% felt the same about their previous gas models.  An induction stove uses electricity, not gas, to work.Juan Algar/Getty Images The study’s limitations Sehgal notes that the study followed only a small number of people for a few months and did not include a comparison group with gas stoves. The results were also based on a self-reported questionnaire rather than medical records.  Results may not apply to people with mild asthma or to other US regions with different nitrogen dioxide levels.  Information wasn’t collected on other household sources of nitrogen dioxide, such as fireplaces or kerosene heaters, nor was data on participants’ allergy status, stove usage or additional medications.  As a result, further research is needed to confirm the study’s findings and to better understand long-term outcomes.  Researchers weren’t able to increase the study’s sample size or duration because the Trump administration terminated the project in May 2025, after it was selected for three years of funding by the US Environmental Protection Agency in December 2024.  Important considerations As Sehgal put it in his article, switching from a gas stove to an electric one will not cure asthma or serve as a replacement for medical care and other health precautions.  It should also be considered that replacing a stove may not be financially feasible for many. “Most of our study participants lived in homes tha