Do gas stoves release benzene into your kitchen air?

What's actually in it

Gas stoves burn natural gas or propane to produce heat. The combustion process doesn't just make carbon dioxide and water. It also releases a cocktail of pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and benzene. Benzene is a known human carcinogen, classified as Group 1 by the IARC.

These pollutants don't stay above the burner. They spread through your kitchen and into the rest of your home, especially if your kitchen is poorly ventilated or your range hood doesn't vent outside.

What the research says

A 2025 study in Environ Res modeled benzene exposure from gas stove combustion in U.S. homes. The researchers calculated indoor benzene concentrations based on stove usage patterns, kitchen sizes, and ventilation rates. In many scenarios, benzene levels exceeded health-based guidelines.

Smaller kitchens with poor ventilation were hit hardest. A typical cooking session on a gas stove could raise indoor benzene levels to several times above the recommended exposure limits. The longer the burner runs, the more benzene accumulates.

The study also found that many common range hoods don't capture enough of the pollutants. Hoods that recirculate air instead of venting it outside do almost nothing for benzene. If you have a gas stove, opening a window and using a range hood that vents outdoors are the two most effective steps you can take. Switching to an induction cooktop eliminates combustion pollutants entirely.