Advocates call on WA Department of Health to counter gas industry misinformation with trusted resources for public

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Nineteen health, environmental and social justice organizations submitted a letter to the Washington Department of Health today calling for the agency to inform the public on the health impacts from burning gas in homes and buildings. Gas equipment, including furnaces, water heaters and stoves, generates as much smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollution as Washington's coal and gas-burning power plants.

“Burning gas for heating and cooking generates many of the same pollutants as car exhaust, worsening air quality indoors and out, but many Washingtonians don’t know the risks,” said Dr. Mark Vossler, Past President of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. “The Washington Department of Health has a responsibility to research and amplify the deadly impacts of burning gas, and to help Washington residents make informed decisions on how to avoid exposure to toxins in their homes.”

The letter comes on the heels of a new report detailing how the gas industry long used Big Tobacco’s tactics to manufacture controversy over gas stove health research. Beginning in the 1970s, the gas industry responded to growing research linking gas stoves to respiratory illnesses by funding studies from private labs with a history of publishing information “consistent with the Sponsor’s interests and wishes.” Gas industry-funded efforts muddied the waters for regulators, thwarting health-protective regulations. 

“Millions of Washington children have grown up with toxic air quality in their homes due to the gas industry’s decades-long campaign to obscure the health risks from gas equipment – but

the next generation of children doesn’t have to suffer the same fate. The Washington Department of Health has a critical role to play in ensuring communities across the state know the risks of gas,” said Dr. Anna Janecek with Pediatricians for Climate Action. 

Burning gas in stoves and ovens releases harmful pollutants like carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde and NO2 directly into the indoor environments where Washington residents live and work. Gas stoves are associated with a 42% increased risk of current asthma symptoms in children and a 24% increased lifetime risk of an asthma diagnosis, and the EPA has found that older adults are at increased risk for NO2-related health effects.

“Gas stove pollution is both a climate concern and a major driver of indoor air pollution, and has been little explored for years,” said Megan Larkin, Washington Clean Buildings Policy Manager for Climate Solutions. “It is imperative that our state public health agencies work to educate the public about the health threats of burning gas indoors and push back on false and misleading information coming from the polluting gas industry.”

Health departments across the country could play an important role in countering decades of gas industry misinformation by providing communities with information from trusted academic institutions. In their letter, health groups including Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility and Washington Pediatricians for Climate Action joined traditional environmental and climate groups like the Sierra Club and Climate Solutions in calling for the Washington Department of Health to help inform the public by developing a literature review outlining the risks. 

Gas-burning equipment contributes to approximately 50 premature deaths in Washington each year due to outdoor air quality impacts alone. Analysis using EPA’s Co-Benefits Risk Assessment tool indicates that this pollution is responsible for additional negative health and economic effects, with total health impacts valued at almost $113 million annually.

As awareness of the pollution associated with the use of gas in buildings grows, governments across the country are taking action to transition to upgrading homes with healthier electric equipment like heat pumps. Regulators in states across the country have adopted or are exploring air quality standards that limit pollution from new gas-burning HVACs and water heaters, an important step to improve air quality. Earlier this fall, Washington State announced its intentions to explore a similar policy in a U.S. Climate Alliance press release. 

“Washington must continue to lead on the transition off of fossil fuels,” said Ruth Sawyer, Senior Field Organizer with the Sierra Club. “Passing healthy air standards will protect clean air and send a strong market signal to manufacturers while safeguarding our climate for generations to come.”

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