Natural Gas is Unnatural

Natural Gas is Unnatural by David Wimberly, Date Unknown, Alive
Multinational corporations and governments told us natural gas was “the clean fuel, the healthy fuel.” … Infants exposed to home gas heating had an increased risk of developing asthma, with gas being a more significant risk than tobacco smoke (Epidemiology, 2000). Children living in homes with smokers or where gas stoves were used for heat were nearly twice as likely to have asthma (Pediatrics, 2001). Individuals who used a gas stove seven or more times per week were at twice the risk of seeking emergency room treatment for asthma. There’s a significant relationship between regular gas stove use and hospitalization for asthma and urgent visits to a physician’s office. At the 65th annual scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians in Chicago, 1999, Dr Mark Eisnor cautioned adults with severe asthma to avoid gas stove cooking. “A significant adverse effect of gas stove exposure on respiratory health in children” more than doubles their risk for respiratory symptoms, including asthma. A meta-analysis of all published research in this area finds that, overall, research supporting the health safety of gas has serious statistical and/or methodological flaws (Am J Respir Crit Care Med, 1998). Acute short-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide from single episodes of gas cooking was associated with immediate airflow limitation. Continued exposure from repeated episodes of gas cooking in asthmatic women was associated with greater use of rescue bronchodilators (Thorax, 2001). Gas cooking generates very high concentrations of oxides of nitrogen plus more ultra-fine particles than electric cooking. Recent epidemiology suggests that cardiac effects cannot be excluded (Occup Environ Med, 2001).