If you’re planning to barbeque over the Fourth of July weekend, consider grilling in ways that emit less air pollution.
Ali Ghasemi, who heads the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District, says he cooks with gas barbeques, one connected to the natural gas line in his house and another hooked to a propane gas tank.
“Gas and electric grills are more energy-efficient and produce fewer pollutants than charcoal,” Ghasemi told me.
Pollutants from charcoal include formaldehyde, a colorless gas the National Toxicological Program says is known to cause cancer, and acetaldehyde, a respiratory irritant the U.S. EPA lists as a “probable human carcinogen.” The cancer risk depends on levels and duration of exposure and factors specific to individuals, according to the EPA. The more likely effect of exposure from an occasional barbeque is irritation of skin, eyes, nose and throat….