Crypto News: Should other gas appliances make me worry?

Hi folks, it's Kristen in New York. You've probably heard the furor over gas stoves. One reader wonders about other gas appliances. But first...

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With all the attention on gas stoves, what about gas furnaces? -Amadeus, Vernal, Utah

In case you've somehow missed it, in the last few weeks the internet has been ignited (sorry) by a furious debate over the safety of gas stoves. Home gourmands, myself included, have panicked. If you take away my gas stove, you're taking away my right to perfectly silky scrambled eggs, right?

The most-cited data in favor of turning down the gas is a December study that attributes 13% of pediatric respiratory disease to gas stoves. Another study from 2013 similarly found that children who live in homes with the open-flame cooking appliances are 42% more likely to develop asthma.

There are a few nuances to this. First, no one is calling for you to tear out your stove immediately; experts are urging people to consider alternatives when it's time for something new, anyway. Additionally, the degree of risk depends on a lot of factors, including whether the area is well-ventilated. (Some chefs have even defended induction stoves as a perfectly great alternative.)

One of the key risks associated with natural gas appliances is they release nitrogen dioxide. The Environmental Protection Agency considers that a toxic, corrosive gas that can irritate the respiratory system. Gas stoves in particular have been shown to leak constantly, and they are often in areas we hang out in a lot in our homes — areas that aren't always well ventilated.

"The issue with other gas appliances is that they haven't been studied nearly as much as stoves," says Talor Gruenwald, one of the authors on the December study and a research associate at the nonprofit Rewiring America. "This is because they are required to vent to the outdoors, whereas for gas stoves the standards on ventilation are not terribly high."

But even if your gas-powered fireplace or furnace is well ventilated, that doesn't mean there's zero risk.

"In the studies that they have done, they have found that some gas appliances will sort of spill some exhaust into the home and could cause indoor air-quality issues," Gruenwald says.

If the air pressure in your home is lower than outside, he says, that's when this spillage can occur.

"Gas water heaters in particular are most at risk of this backdraft," he says.

Of course, again, there are many variables at play than can influence your risk, including the type of housing you live in and how well it's ventilated. If you are concerned about gas appliances in your home, though, last year's Inflation Reduction Act, can provide compensation for replacements. — Kristen V. Brown

Back in the early days of the global pandemic, in 2020, then-President Donald Trump suggested that maybe — just maybe — a potential solution for Covid could be injecting disinfectant into people.

Public health authorities and medical officials panicked.

But one family, the Grenons, had built a commercial and religious empire around a similar idea. They claimed their Miracle Mineral Solution was a cure for infections of all kinds, including cancer, autism and, yes, Covid-19. It was really little more than an industrial-bleaching solution. And it was deadly.

Smoke Screen: Deadly Cure, a new podcast from Bloomberg, Neon Hum Media and Sony Music Entertainment traces the rise and fall of the church of bleach. The first two episodes are out now on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Ask us anything — well, anything health-related that is! Each week we're picking a reader question and putting it to our network of experts. So get in touch via AskPrognosis@bloomberg.net.