[cdn-nucl-l] "Gas stoves may increase asthma risk"

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@aecl.ca>]

posted at
http://www.reutershealth.com/eline/open/1999110112.html
Gas stoves may increase asthma risk in adults 
NEW YORK, Nov 01 
(Reuters Health) -- Cooking with gas may aggravate asthma symptoms,
researchers warn. 
"Adults with severe asthma should avoid exposure to indoor pollutants,
including gas stove cooking," according to Dr. Mark Eisner and colleagues at
the University of California, San Francisco. Eisner presented his team's
findings on Monday at the 65th annual scientific assembly of the American
College of Chest Physicians, held in Chicago, Illinois. 
According to Eisner, home gas stoves release nitrogen dioxide, a gas that
can irritate the eye and respiratory tract. Patients with asthma may be more
susceptible to the effects of the gas than nonasthmatics. 
The California researchers examined rates of asthma-related emergency room
visits in more than 500 adults with asthma. They found that individuals who
used gas stoves seven or more times per week had twice the rate of
asthma-related emergency room visits compared with less frequent users or
people who did not use gas stoves. 
Frequent users of gas stoves were also more likely than other study
participants to require urgent visits to a doctor's office and to require
hospitalization for asthma. 
Eisner's group stresses that further study is needed to analyze other
factors that affect frequency of emergency room use, such as housing
conditions, income and race. 
© 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.