Sign Up to Participate!
Sydney, New South Wales, march 7th-11th: SIGN UP HERE
Melbourne, Victoria, march 13th-17th: SIGN UP HERE
We are now seeking people with gas stoves in their home to participate in this study! If you live in Sydney or Melbourne, and use a natural gas stove to cook, you may be eligible to participate. We ask that you fill out our Participant Registration Form (click the box corresponding to your city above) to sign up. After submitting the form and verifying your eligibility to participate, you will be contacted to arrange a 25-minute home visit. At the arranged time, a PSE researcher will collect a sample of gas from your stove.
About the Study
Much is still unknown about the health impacts of using natural gas in our homes. The Kitchen Pollutants Study aims to improve our understanding of the relationship between indoor air quality and human health and the potential health hazards of unburned natural gas.
By signing up to participate (see above), you will help us answer the question: What is in natural gas besides methane? In the current phase of the project, researchers are focused on the chemical makeup of natural gas, including concentrations of dozens of health-damaging air pollutants. PSE Healthy Energy’s staff scientists will take direct samples from volunteers’ homes to quantify these pollutants. PSE has conducted similar work in California, the results of which have been published in a peer-reviewed journal. You can view the results of that research here. We are currently planning on collecting samples in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, in early 2023.
Our natural gas sampling procedure involves us taking a sample of unburned gas from kitchen stoves (see photo below). We will connect a hose to the stove and collect a sample of gas in a canister to send to a contracted lab for analysis. No damage or modifications will be done to the stove during this process. We are seeking residents and community groups to sample their stoves across these cities.
In Melbourne, we will also be collaborating with researchers from Stanford. This portion of the study aims to discover what pollutants enter the kitchen while cooking with a gas stove. This is a more time intensive process, and involves tenting off the kitchen for around five hours. See the registration form for your region for more information on whether this kind of sampling will be occurring in the area.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this project please email us at NaturalGasStudy@psehealthyenergy.org or call/text us at 510-263-6189.
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