Health - Kitchen appliances emit unsafe matter

WASHINGTON: Your kitchen appliances, running on natural gas, one of the cleanest fuels, could be emitting dangerous superfine particulate matter.
Italian researchers measured particulate matter produced by natural gas domestic burners to assess risk of exposure to organic emissions, linked with increased mortality due to deposition in the lungs, brain, and circulatory system.

Patrizia Minutolo and others from Università Federico II and Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche in Naples and Riello's burner division used advanced optical diagnostic tools, particle collection methods, and particle size assessment to identify particulate matter with diameters between 1 and 10 nanometers.

The researchers concluded that while these particles were present in relatively high concentrations in the flame region of home heating burners, these were strongly oxidized, resulting in very low emissions.

Conversely, domestic stove tops emitted larger amounts of these very small particles. "These critical research findings provide important insights regarding the environmental health consequences associated with commonplace natural gas burners found in many homes," said Domenico Grasso, professor at the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, University of Vermont.