Fossil gas is an overlooked health hazard

Fossil gas is commonly described as “natural” and “clean”. However, these descriptions obscure the significant health risks associated with fossil gas across its entire lifecycle. Primarily composed of methane, fossil gas presents potential risks from extraction and processing through to distribution and combustion in our homes and workplaces and as a source of greenhouse gas emissions, with the resulting health harms from global heating. 

Doctors for the Environment Australia’s new report Gas and its overlooked health risks discusses these health impacts and highlights the benefits to human and environmental health available of moving on from gas.

Health risks from indoor gas combustion

Indoor gas combustion releases pollutants including nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, PM2.5 and volatile organic compounds such as the carcinogens benzene and formaldehyde. Almost half of Australian households use gas appliances, with additional exposure at work, particularly in hospitality settings.

A key health consequence is the development and exacerbation of asthma. Asthma affects approximately one in nine Australians, is the leading cause of disease burden among Australians aged 5–14 years, and contributes to more than 400 deaths annually.

Research indicates that children living in homes with gas stoves have a 42% higher risk of current asthma, while an estimated 12.4% of childhood asthma in Australia may be attributable to cooking with fossil gas, comparable to the 12.7% estimated in the United States. It is worth noting that research links household smoke exposure to a 14–33% increased risk of childhood asthma. In adults, gas exposure has also been associated with persistent asthma, shortness of breath and wheeze.

Reducing exposure to gas combustion therefore represents an important opportunity to prevent avoidable health risks, particularly for children and workers.

Health risks associated with fossil gas extraction

Fossil gas extraction, particularly unconventional gas development and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”), raises concerns about air and water quality and exposure to hazardous chemicals. Research has associated proximity to unconventional gas development with respiratory and cardiovascular effects, noise pollution, childhood cancers such as leukaemia, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. 

In the Northern Territory, healthcare workers have raised concerns about developments such as the Middle Arm fossil gas project, citing potential air pollution and increased respiratory and cardiovascular risks. Some Australian jurisdictions have introduced bans or moratoriums on fracking, while others continue to permit development.

We should be considering the potential health impacts of fossil gas extraction and production sites on the health of nearby communities and the environment.

Fossil gas and the climate-health crisis

The health consequences of fossil gas are also inseparable from its contribution to climate change. Methane, the principal component of fossil gas, is a highly potent greenhouse gas, particularly over the first decades following its release. Methane can escape at multiple points throughout the fossil gas supply chain, including during extraction, processing, transmission, distribution and use.

The resulting contribution to global heating has direct and indirect consequences for human health. Climate change is associated with increasing risks from extreme heat, bushfires, droughts and severe storms. It also contributes to deteriorating air quality, threatens food and water security, alters the distribution of infectious diseases and places additional pressure on health systems.

Climate-related health harms are already being experienced by populations around the world. Increasing temperatures and extreme weather events are contributing to mortality, illness, displacement and disruption of health services. Recent disasters highlight the human health costs —1400 people died in the Nepal landslide and the European heatwave caused 36000 excess deaths. 

Decisions concerning fossil gas should be understood with a public health lens. Continued investment in fossil gas infrastructure prolongs our dependence on a fuel whose production and use are associated with both direct pollution and additional greenhouse gas emissions and is damaging health.

The responsibility of health professionals

Health professionals have a longstanding responsibility to identify, communicate and respond to threats to public health. This responsibility extends beyond treating illness after it occurs to addressing preventable environmental and social determinants of health.

The evidence surrounding fossil gas therefore warrants consideration within public health policy. Where exposure to pollutants can be reduced through feasible alternatives, prevention should form an important component of policy responses.

Australia has previously demonstrated its capacity to respond to major environmental and occupational health hazards when scientific evidence has established unacceptable risks. The historical responses to asbestos, DDT and, more recently, engineered stone illustrate the role that public health evidence can play in reducing population exposure to hazardous substances.

Fossil gas should similarly be considered within a public health framework.

A transition beyond fossil gas

Moving on from gas with domestic electrification is an important development from a health perspective. Replacing gas cooking and other gas appliances with efficient electric alternatives can reduce household exposure to combustion pollutants and may improve respiratory health outcomes. Government support is needed for households, renters and low-income Australians for equity reasons.

Our governments should incorporate health impacts into energy, environmental and infrastructure decisions, avoiding further expansion of fossil gas extraction and accelerating investment in renewable energy, storage and electrification which does not have the same level of health concerns. 

Aligning energy policy with public health interests

Moving beyond fossil gas is an opportunity to prevent disease, protect workers and communities, reduce avoidable pressure on the health system and support a healthier future for Australians.

The evidence demonstrates that the health implications of fossil gas extend across its entire lifecycle — from combustion inside homes and workplaces, to exposure associated with extraction and industrial activity, to the broader health consequences of climate change.

Australia has an opportunity to place human health at the centre of its transition away from fossil gas. Doing so would align energy policy with a fundamental principle of public health: where significant and preventable risks to human health can be reduced, prevention should be prioritised.

To read more visit DEAs website: https://www.dea.org.au/gas_and_its_overlooked_health_risks

Dr Kate Wylie is an Adelaide-based GP and the Executive Director of Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA).