Association of gas cooking with children's respiratory health: Results from GINIplus and LISAplus birth cohort studies

Previous studies have found inconsistent results on the association between asthma in children and gas cooking emissions. We aimed to assess the effects of the long-term exposure to gas cooking on the onset of asthma and respiratory symptoms, focusing on wheezing, in children from two German birth cohorts: LISAplus and GINIplus. A total of 5078 children were followed until the age of 10years. Asthma, wheezing, gas cooking, and exposure to other indoor factors were assessed through parental reported questionnaires administered periodically. Logistic and multinomial regressions adjusting for potential confounders were performed. The prevalence of asthma and persistent wheezing was higher among children exposed to gas cooking but the results were not statistically significant. Exposure to gas cooking was positively associated (P-value<0.05) with exposure to other indoor factors (dampness, environmental tobacco smoke, and pets). Our results did not show a statistically significant association between the exposure to gas cooking and children's respiratory health. Practical Implications: These analyses are consistent with the assumption of no effect of the exposure to low doses of nitrogen dioxide. The strong positive associations found between gas cooking and other indoor factors highlight the importance of considering other indoor factors when assessing health effects of gas cooking. Low-dose exposure to indoor nitrogen dioxide through gas cooking might not contribute to increase the risk of asthma and respiratory symptoms in children.